In Paris, detective Claude Chavasse is hired to follow a wife suspected of infidelity with the notorious American libertine Frank Flannagan. When the husband learns that his suspicions are accurate, he tells Claude of his plan to kill Flannagan. Claude's daughter Ariane overhears the threat and warns Frank of the coming trouble. She then plays the part of a worldly socialite with a list of conquests as long as Flannagan's. The bemused ladies' man returns to America the next day and Ariane, completely in love, follows his romantic escapades in the news. She sees him again in Paris the following year, and resumes her worldly guise, telling tales of former lovers when they meet at his hotel in the afternoon. Frank, amazed by the mystery girl and surprised to find himself jealous of her past, hires Claude to uncover more information about her. When the detective realizes what has happened, he asks Frank not to break his daughter's heart.
AMAZON.COM REVIEWS FOR LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957): Fairy-tale Paris doesn't get more enchanting than Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon, an ode to picnics on the grass and champagne at the Ritz. Audrey Hepburn (who had already made Sabrina with Wilder) is at her best as the inexperienced cellist with a fascination for millionaire American playboy Gary Cooper. Maurice Chevalier (who else?) is Hepburn's father, a private detective with ample evidence of Cooper's crowded history of l'amour. Alongside the sheen of the romance is Wilder's unerring sense of craftsmanship; watch how inanimate objects such as a liquor tray, a white carnation, or the little dog in the suite next door are developed into sublime running gags. The age difference between the two leads has often been questioned, but perhaps this is what gives the gossamer material the whiff of welcome melancholy. The final three minutes leave no doubt that Wilder hatched the best endings in Hollywood history. --Robert Horton
AWARDS FOR LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957):
- Directors Guild of America, USA
1958
Nominated
DGA Award
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Billy Wilder
- Golden Globes, USA
1958
Nominated
Golden Globe
Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy
Maurice Chevalier
Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy
Audrey Hepburn
- Laurel Awards
1958
Won
Golden Laurel
Top Comedy
Top Female Comedy Performance
Audrey Hepburn
- Writers Guild of America, USA
1958
Won
WGA Award (Screen)
Best Written American Comedy
Billy Wilder
I.A.L. Diamond
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