Sunday, May 12, 2013

Love in the Afternoon

After eavesdropping on a conversation between her private eye father (Maurice Chevalier) and a client, who threatens the life of a notorious Lothario (Gary Cooper) who has seduced his wife, a young Parisian woman (Audrey Hepburn) rushes over to the charming American's hotel, and soon falls under the elder man's spell, much to the consternation of her father. Love in the Afternoon is a charming film with several inspired sequences and yet another reminder of what a fine auteur Billy Wilder was, working from a script written with regular collaborator I.A.L. Diamond. Hepburn and Cooper are magnetic in their roles, overcoming their considerable age gap and occasional lulls. I also didn't care much for the schmaltzy, soft-served ending.