Love in the Afternoon was conceived and brought to the screen by Billy Wilder as a homage to his friend and mentor in Hollywood, Ernest Lubitsch. This French novel Ariane had been filmed before in fact, by the Germans just before the Nazis took over and had starred Elizabeth Bergner.

Audrey Hepburn proved to be a worthy successor to Bergner. Whatever success Love in the Afternoon has is due to her performance. She radiates beauty and charm and no wonder Gary Cooper is so fascinated by her. Wilder would consider no one else for the lead and waited for Hepburn to be free while she was on a lengthy location shooting for War and Peace.

But it's Cooper who's the weak one here. He was not Billy Wilder's first choice. Cary Grant for the third and final time missed out on being in a Billy Wilder film having previously turned down Five Graves to Cairo and Sabrina. The part was offered to Yul Brynner also. But Gary Cooper turned out to be available when Hepburn was and he got the role. Wilder later admitted the bad casting, but he also said that it was his ill luck to get Cooper at the start of the health problems that would eventually kill him. He said Cooper got old overnight. In fact he looks as old as Maurice Chevalier and Chevalier as Hepburn's father was 13 years older than Cooper.

Maurice is a detective who specializes in tracking down and confirming spousal infidelities. He's been hired by John McGiver to find out if his wife has been seeing millionaire playboy Cooper. Daughter Hepburn however is crushing out on Gary big time and unbeknownst to Maurice she takes it upon herself to warn him.

The old popular standard Fascination is heard through out the film and in the same year it came out, the 20+ year old standard was revived in a million selling hit by Pat Boone.

It was not an easy shoot despite those familiar Parisian location. In a recent biography of Wilder, the story is told that he had tremendous difficulty in shooting the picnic and row boat scenes. It seems as though the location was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and they were unmerciful to cast and crew. Wilder took several takes just to get enough usable footage.

Audrey Hepburn fans will be mad for Love in the Afternoon, Gary Cooper's though might wince when seeing it.

This film by Billy Wilder features beautiful B&W photography. Gary Cooper stars as a supposedly smooth womanizer (Frank Flannagan) who cares little for the women he beds. Audrey Hepburn plays a younger woman (Ariane Chavasse) who is intrigued by his intrigues and becomes personally involved.

Shot in France, the film conveys a cosmopolitan air that almost sells the idea that these two might connect emotionally. But Cooper is not smooth enough to pull if off (no surprise) and the relationship between the two does not convince. It's not an issue of age; it's about chemistry and personality. Bogart in "Sabrina" offered the same problem, though less so. As an example of another pairing that worked well despite a sizable age difference, consider Stewart and Kelly in "Rear Window".

Frankly, I'm surprised that such obviously poor pairings plague numerous films, but apparently some believe that box office draws can overcome such issues.

The first thing I noticed about this lilting romance (on the widescreen DVD) was the beautiful, shimmering, black and white photography. Set in Paris, with some scenes filmed there, Director Billy Wilder weaves a captivating, simple tale of a 20ish woman (Hepburn), who lives with her father (Maurice Chevalier), who schemes to snag a 50ish cad (Cooper). At first the age difference is very apparent, with Cooper seemingly mis-cast as a womanizer, but he grows on you, with a sweet, gentle, quiet, attractive performance. Hepburn is stunning and spunky in one of her best performances. The song "Fascination" is used to great effect. Filmed in 1957, the only way to show the title occurrence is to have a camera shot following Hepburn's dis-robed fur coat falling to the hotel room's floor, as she embraces Cooper. The ending is suspenseful, with cute narration epilogue by Chevalier. A wonderful film.

This odd combination of story, characters, and cast could easily have fallen apart irretrievably in the first few minutes. That it holds together is due primarily to Audrey Hepburn's unsurpassed charm and Billy Wilder's resourceful story-telling technique. It ends up being enjoyable most of the time, sometimes very much so, in spite of itself.

The story is rather strange - for it to "work" you have to buy into a number of unlikely possibilities, and even then, you have to accept the main characters as sympathetic even when they don't deserve it. It's the kind of hollow concept that you see much more often in present-day movies, which are made for audiences who don't care about plausibility, and who are easily persuaded that a shallow, pseudo-romantic attraction between two characters automatically makes them sympathetic.

None of that is to imply anything against the stars. Audrey Hepburn is so engaging as Ariane that it makes you want her to be happy, even though much of her behavior is fatuous. Maurice Chevalier is enjoyable and is obviously well-cast, and John McGiver also adds some good moments. Gary Cooper's character doesn't work very well, but that should not be blamed at all on Cooper. The character just is not as appealing as the scriptwriters presume him to be, and Cooper should actually be commended for making him as likable (or as un-unlikable) as possible.

Wilder's skill made some strange stories work pretty well in his time, and he also deserves much of the credit for keeping this one afloat. There are also some very good sequences in the screenplay, for all that it was uneven in general. The odd thing about "Love in the Afternoon" is that if you can tolerate the poor setup and get past the obvious flaws, you can really enjoy most of the movie, because it does have several positive things to offer.

Immensely charming comedy set in Paris where a Cinderella-type role masterfullly played by Hepburn gets closely involved with a wealthy womanizer . As the rich playboy called Flannagan (Gary Cooper) becomes interested in the daughter , Ariane Chavasse (Audrey Hepburn) , of a sympthetic private detective , Claude Chavasse (Maurice Chevalier) , who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client (John McGiver) who decides to shoot him . To be aware the beautiful daughter rushes to Flannagan to prevent his murder . And of course , she winds up falling in love with him . An oh-so-very shy young girl , but she lists 20 men in her past! . It's got the hit tune "Fascination" .Love is a game any number can play... especially in the afternoon...It's more likely in Paris and more LOVELY IN THE AFTERNOON!

Amusing and funny movie in ¨Billy Wilder's Sabrina¨ style also starred by Audrey Hepburn about the classic love story in which a duo of oppossite characters , after a series of incidents resulting in the two eventually become attracted to each other . This romantic comedy is intelligently and pleasingly written to gives us lots of fun , laughters and smiles . The hit of the show is undoubtedly Audrey Hepburn who gives one of the best screen acting as the naive and good girl , while Gary Cooper gives a nice acting in his usual style as a middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective. Here Gary Cooper seems more relaxed and agreeable than usual ; however , Cooper's a little old for the Casanova role , but Hepburn is always enchanting . And , of course , Maurice Chevalier is awesome as likeable and understanding father .

Emotive and romantic musical score and atmospheric black and white cinematography by cameraman William Mellor . This slick, smooth comedy is stunningly written I. A. L. Diamond and Billy Wilder himself , based on the novel "Ariane, jeune fille russe" by Claude Anet . Being competently directed by the genius Billy Wilder . It belongs his first and better period during the 40s and 50s when realized sensational and acerbic films as ¨Double indemnity¨, ¨Ace in the hole¨ , ¨Sunset Boulevard¨, ¨Stalag 17¨ and ¨Seven year itch¨ ; subsequently in the 60s and 70s he realized nice though unsuccessful movies as ¨Buddy buddy¨,¨Fedora¨ , ¨Front page¨and ¨Secret life of Sherlock Holmes¨. Rating : 7/10. Above average , essential and indispensable watching ; extremely funny and riveting film and completely entertaining . It justly deserves its place among the best romantic comedy ever made . It's the kind of movie where you know what's coming but , because the treatment , enjoy it all the same .

There is likely no more romantic ending to a Hollywood movie than the one in this soufflé-light 1957 romantic comedy, where Audrey Hepburn tries to keep up with a departing train upon which Gary Cooper stands and listens intently to her babbling about her fictitious sexual conquests. Hepburn plays Ariane, a young cellist and the daughter of a Parisian private investigator named Claude Chevasse. She has an unbridled interest in her father's often tawdry cases, chief among them the affairs of Frank Flannagan, a millionaire industrialist and aging playboy who finds himself in various trysts with married women around the world. A certain Monsieur X has come to Chevasse to catch his wife in a suspected extramarital fling with Flannagan. Overhearing Monsieur X's intention to kill his wife and her lover, Ariane decides to warn Flannagan, and they embark on an afternoons-only affair under the pretense that she is as much a worldly bon vivant as he is. Things come to a head when Flannagan becomes infatuated with this mysterious "thin girl" and recruits Crevasse to find out who she is.

Master filmmaker Billy Wilder leaves his unmistakable stamp on this confection with a clever, ironic script co-written with his long-time partner I.A.L. Diamond in their first collaboration. The dialogue is full of their trademark sparkling banter, and leave it to Wilder to use a Gypsy string quartet to act as a chorus for Flannagan's sexual shenanigans. Hepburn is her usual impeccable self as Ariane and especially good fun when she layers the deceptions about her checkered past. Cooper played this type of boulevardier role in the 1930's under masters like Ernst Lubitsch, and it is quite enjoyable to see him come back to this milieu two decades later as an aging lothario. Looking weather-beaten after years of Westerns and adventure pictures, he was given a lot of grief because of the age difference between him and Hepburn, but I actually find the gap quite touching and Cooper surprisingly game. Maurice Chevalier is ideally cast as Crevasse even if has to play down his naturally effervescent manner. Granted the film runs a little too long at 126 minutes, but it is fine, light entertainment similar to Wilder and Hepburn's previous collaboration, the classic 1954 "Sabrina". The print transfer on the 2005 DVD is fine though not outstanding. Unfortunately there are no extras included.

The plot is very cute and romantic. A private detective's innocent young daughter lives vicariously through her father's case files. Predominate among them is millionaire jet-setting Frank Flannagan, stealer of women's hearts. The detective gets involved when the stolen hearts belong to married women. One day the daughter overhears a jealous husband swear blood vengeance against Flannagan. The daughter devises a plan to thwart the killing, and in the process falls heads-over-heels in love with him. At first she's just another fling to him...but then love blossoms in his heart too.

Shot on location in Paris, Maurice Chevalier plays the detective, and John McGiver the jealous husband. They are both great. Audrey Hepburn is wonderful as the daughter, but.....a Gary Cooper looking every one of his 56 years is cast as the the playboy!

This miscasting is just too much to overcome. There are only four characters in the movie which runs over 2 hours. When one is so unbelievable as Cooper the movie is irreparably damaged. It's a crying shame.

This charming romance restores ones belief that the improbable, no matter how unlikely, has, to paraphrase Conan Doyle, the ring of a singular truth and beauty. The author and director clearly knew a lot about love. I guess my admiration for this film proves that after 30 years in a single blissful relationship, I am still an unabashed romantic. This film is what it's all about. I feel sorry for those art-film historians who fail to be overwhelmed by the depth and charm of this piece and would rather pick it apart with their overly dissecting, maddeningly analytic tweezers, missing the point entirely. Their lives must be rather cold and empty.

This film works. Wilder's genius pulls it off. How many among us know of numerous life-long loves where the age difference between the lovers would appear prohibitive but proves to be only a minor obstacle to a lasting relationship. In my experience life imitates art. In this work it is the very difference in their ages and the differing circumstances of their lives that attract Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn's characters. It is the differences that are extra-normal that make this story so believable. He is attracted to her utterly captivating refined insouciance and she to his masculine-straight forward worldly charm. He is the best of the fantasies she has constructed from her father's (Maurice Chevalier's) detective business files, and she is precisely the down home girl with her wits about her who knows his world and his past and loves him anyway.

Why is it the desire of all those incapable of suspending disbelief even a smidgen to turn every work of art into a highly predictable, formulaic mouthful of insipid pre-stamped pabulum. How shallow. Or perhaps I am not only overly romantic but additionally overly democratic. I am proud to see that at least the positive vote count for this film, that is the large number of 9 and 10 votes, more accurately reflects the quality of this timeless vignette, than do the rather sour comments that I have just read. If you have half a heart you will laugh and cry and truly love this film!

Critics originally said this film was no good based largely on Gary Cooper's age. I concur with that assessment. I kept wondering why Audrey Hepburn's character would be attracted to an old man. But more so, why is she attracted to a man who makes his life nothing but a series of conquests?

I have seen almost all of Billy Wilder's films and enjoyed them (some immensely), but this one just never felt right with me. The attraction seemed too awkward, the film ran a bit too long... I just could not see it. And for the father to support such a thing was even more astounding.

If I have to say one nice thing about the movie, it is how it brings out the classic double standard of men and women with dating. The playboy travels from country to country, glorified in the newspaper for being a man of loose morals. But when he confronts a woman who has seemingly done the same, he panics.

I am not a fan of romantic movies but there are a small handful that I love and by far the one I love most (of the less bigger scale types like "Gone With the Wind") is "Love in the Afternoon". I love the story, the camerawork and especially the lead players...Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn. I love these two so much that it's hard to put another great screen couple above them. They make the whole story come alive in their own way. Coop with his dry but lovable wit and charming good looks, and Audrey with her universal charm, wholesomeness and great beauty. I have read in the book "The Complete Films of Audrey Hepburn" that Cary Grant and Yul Brynner were the first two choices to play Coop's part. Thank God that neither were able to. Coop as the character of Frank Flannagan makes the film more romantic and his ever-popular sweet-guy, no-airs-of-any-kind persona makes the film less stuffy than it would with Grant or Brynner. Audrey of course is the perfect Ariane and they shine together in each other's arms. Call it a cliche but that comment fits this film perfectly. See it if you're in the mood for good, romantic farce.

Parisian private detective Claude Chavasse (Maurice Chevalier) finds evidence of a woman cheating with the infamous American womanizer millionaire Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper). The husband Mr. X (John McGiver) threatens to kill Flannagan. Claude's daughter Ariane (Audrey Hepburn) overhears the threat and calls the cops. When they won't help, she goes to warn Frank herself. She saves the day by pretending to be his date and falls for the older man. The next day, she returns pretending to be a nameless socialite with many lovers. He leaves Paris continuing his womanizing ways. After some time, he runs into the mysterious girl at a concert and she lies to him with a long list of former lovers. He hires Claude to investigate her.

It's a charming rom-com by the great Billy Wilder. Audrey Hepburn is adorable. Perhaps Cary Cooper is a little bit too old and not up to the standard at the time. It's more than the age difference. He's a little bit stiff and not that debonair. His character is quite cold and unromantic. The problem is that the older Cooper fits and it's harder for him to grow out of that cold character. It doesn't help that he's getting ill which would eventually kill him a few years later. However the list is hilarious and Hepburn is so very adorable with her fake french accent. She is so funny. It's a nice rom-com with a couple of really good laughs.

Hard to watch Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper together. When they kiss you cringe. He was mid 50s and looked 80. She was 27 and when she didn't have some of the worst hairstyles ever to be put on a leading lady she was wearing pig tails which made her look 17. Coop did not look like Audrey's father, he look like her great grandfather. Bottom line is they make a repulsive couple

Could not wait for this movie to end. Audrey Hepburn falling for an old man, who is a womanizer and destroyer of marriages? Plus the guy has no charm whatsoever. And her father helps this farcical coupling? Give me a break! Another fantasy put out by old guys running Hollywood, who are convinced that every 20 year old woman is madly in love with them.

Love in the Afternoon is a late 50s Wilder classic. At least semi-classic. The story is about a French girl who falls in love with a swinger from Paris. The girl is Audrey Hepburn and the man is Gary Cooper. The first act lags. The only thing keeping me glued to the screen is Hepburn, who has such a screen presence (she's pretty).

Recent comments have also noted Gary Cooper's miscasting. I'm not sure. I agree it's hard to believe Hepburn's character falls for him. The movie just doesn't work in his favor in the first act. It does begin to work eventually. The turning point would have to be at the picnic where he obviously starts to fall for her. Cooper falling for Hepburn: more realistic. From that point everything takes off. Cary Grant could have pulled off the attraction, but I don't think he could have pulled off the 2nd and 3rd act, and Cooper did. When he's sad (dictaphone/wine cart/sauna scenes) he's a top form comic actor. Anyways - I digress.

No one can produce the feeling of heartache with so much sadness and glee as Wilder can. The gypsy band should have earned a best supporting actors nomination.

Who else is better to play a lovesick and inexperienced girl than Audrey Hepburn. Especially in 1957 when she was actually 28, but looked closer to 18. Unfortunately, her leading man is an aging Gary Cooper who at 56 years old looks more like 70. I don't mind age differences in so much as the characters seem well matched. The pairing of Hepburn and Cooper just wasn't right. Audrey (Ariane) is delightful as always and portrays a naive girl with real panache, grace and style. Poor Cooper (Flanagan) looks like he's about to croak any minute. Cooper looks awkward mostly, but manages to achieve a cute grin and innuendo of playboy. The plot just seems to drag as they both meet every afternoon without him knowing her identity. I felt like, let's get on with it and pick up the pace. But it just drags and meanders as they meet, talk and dance to Flanagan's Gypsy musical quartet. Watching Maurice Chevalier dip his scone in his coffee and then chomping on it was a visual I could have done without. Also, the thought of pretty little Audrey with the aging Cooper gave me the jeeves.

But don't despair, because the ending is very good and as Hepburn (Ariane) runs along side the moving train with tears in her eyes, explaining to Cooper that there will be plenty of boys, it's all too sweet and good.

Now this is a remarkable movie. Very funny, very romantic - and with an absolutely lovely performance by Audrey Hepburn. I don't understand the bullshit about the miscasting of the male lead. Gary Cooper might be too old for Audrey Hepburn, but he plays this role in his usual underplaying manner, and this works much, much better than most other actors would have been in his role. And because of his charisma the Hepburn-Cooper teaming is not a mismatch. Other greats of that era couldn't have been better: Cary Grant would have been too cool, Peck has never been the Frank Flannagan-type. Younger stars would've been totally outplayed by Audrey. One of Billy Wilder's best films, and if you know his filmography, that means something. Chevalier is very good and sympathetic in the supporting role. And this is one of many films you would ruin with color! I hope the days of those lunatics are over who computer-colored some of the beautiful b/w classics.

I have to agree with many of my fellow reviewers...Cooper was just not right for the part. Cary Grant would have been perfect. But Hepburn, and the beautifully shot Paris (the second best character of this film) make a viewing well worth your time.

So, what was with Billy Wilder? I have to look into his bio to review his personal life at the time. "Sabrina" suffered the same miscast pairing with Audrey and Bogart. Undeniably Cooper and Bogart are cinematic legends. But when making a May/December romantic piece, the chemistry has to be believable. I mean seriously, Hepburn falling for Bogart supplanting her lifetime attraction to the incredibly sexy, and younger, William Holden?? Come on Billy!

William Wyler (...how oddly similar to "Billy Wilder"!) got the concept exactly right with "Roman Holiday". Although Gregory Peck's age difference wasn't quite as pronounced as the others above, the chemistry was undeniable. One of the best films ever. Will forever renew my intense love of Rome. And Eddie Albert rounded out the perfect casting, in this order: Hepburn, Peck, Rome, Albert!

It's no surprise that Love in the Afternoon is my favorite Gary Cooper movie: I'm a sucker for May-December romances. Plus, pitting him against someone as glamorous as Audrey Hepburn helps sand down his wooden edges.

In this romantic comedy filmed on location in Paris, Maurice Chevalier runs a detective agency for people with unfaithful spouses. His daughter is the innocent, sweet Audrey, and of course, she falls for the one man her father would completely disapprove of: an older American playboy who was caught cheating with the wife of one of her dad's clients! Audrey finds out that the wronged husband, John McGiver, is planning on killing Gary, so she rushes off to warn him in time. She becomes both a savior and a woman of mystery to Gary, since she doesn't reveal her real identity with her warning. Wanting to make herself more attractive to the experienced gentleman, Audrey pretends to be a woman of the world.

This is a very funny, very cute, and very French romance. It's a must-see for Audrey fans, and it's enough to make anyone, even me, like Gary Cooper.

LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON is a sweetish and sophisticated romantic comedy. A young student of the cello, whose father works as a private detective, is seduced by an old womanizer. Their relationship is very romantic with a series of comic misunderstandings.

Mr. Wilder made a humorous plot between love and morality. The story is simple. One seemingly naive young girl, who is full of adventurous spirit falls in love with the old, clumsy and insensitive womanizer. Dialogues are subtle. Love is presented as a game of cat and mouse. It is in the air, but can not figure out. An easy flirtation turns into a gentle farce. Emotions simply erupt, with strong sentimental moments, at the end of the film.

Audrey Hepburn as Ariane Chavasse is a small Cinderella who can skillfully and mysteriously flirt. It is impossible to resist the beauty and tears in the eyes of Ms. Hepburn. Gary Cooper as Frank Flannagan is falsely awkward womanizer, who for the first time in his life shows emotions. Mr. Cooper, during the making of this film, was 56 years old. He looked too old and cumbersome for such exhibitions. Despite everything, the chemistry between the main protagonists is extremely high. Maurice Chevalier as Claude Chavasse is the "culprit" for love.

Love matures at the end.

I agree with most of the IMDb reviewers in their appreciation for "Love in the Afternoon." It is a charming love story, made especially touching by the beautiful performance of Audrey Hepburn. A fine actress throughout her career, Hepburn's golden age was clearly the 1950s when her youthful innocence and eager, expectant face made the vulnerability of her characters seem entirely believable and very sympathetic. Having the aging Maurice Chevalier as her father in "Love in the Afternoon" was an inspired bit of casting, and the two of them seemed to fit perfectly as father and daughter.

But, of the major actors of the late fifties, Gary Cooper was probably the worst possible choice to play the young Hepburn's first great love, Mr. Flannagan. It is not so much that Cooper was too old a man to be the love interest of Hepburn's character, Ariane, although Cooper certainly looked very old and tired in the movie. Because Ariane is shown to be both innocent and impressionable, one could imagine her falling in love with an older and more sophisticated gentleman. In the movie "Funny Face," Hepburn plays a character like Ariane who falls in love with the equally aged Fred Astaire, and that relationship seems quite believable.

The problem with casting Cooper in "Love in the Afternoon" is that Mr. Flannagan is supposed to be a rather heartless, love-'em-and-leave-'em kind of guy, while Cooper's entire career in later life was devoted to playing honest, honorable, loyal men of strong and unshakable convictions. Perhaps the definitive Cooper role in the 1950s was the sheriff in "High Noon." To have him play an aging, indifferent roué was an almost absurd bit of miscasting which, for me, did not seem believable for a minute.

"Love in the Afternoon" is a beautiful love story – often touching and, thanks to the gypsies, sometimes very funny. What a shame that Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and Fred Astaire himself were not available to play the movie's leading man.

The many comments I have read about "Coop" are essentially without merit. Many younger women--in film AND in "real" life--find vivacious, bright, charming men attractive. In movies we have more than one Fred Astaire flick, and another one or so with either Bogart or Cary Grant or Harrison Ford. Reality? How about Picasso, Chaplin, and any Techie billionaire with a Trophy wife.

No: problem here is that Cooper was obviously ill, and looked terrible in more than one scene. Additionally, I did not sense/feel the usual pizazz that Wilder could produce in some of his better films, such as, say, "Some Like It Hot." Ms. Hepburn is always charming; too thin for my taste, but a good actress in almost anything that she's done. Maurice is charming, although I prefer him singing ("Thank Heaven for little girls").

An OK film with little to recommend it other than Hepburn.