Movie Review: Love in the Afternoon

Love in the Afternoon.  This has to rank as one of Audrey Hepburn's worst movies.  I barely made it through the movie.  The most irritating moments in this movie were the musicians that constantly followed Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper) around everywhere.  Though it is meant to be amusing, it just gets tiring after awhile.

Ariane Chavasse (Audrey Hepburn) is in college majoring in Music.  Her father, Claude Chavasse (Maurice Chevalier), is a private detective.  He is approached by a Monsieur X (John McGiver) who is convinced that his wife is having an affair with a middle-aged playboy, Frank Flannagan.

Ariane begins to track her father's research and becomes infatuated with Frank Flannagan.  She learns that Frank is having an affair with Monsieur X's wife.  She also learns that Monsieur X plans to take things into his own hands (he has a gun).  So she heads off to the hotel where she warns Frank about the impending danger.

Ariane and Frank then carry on a brief affair.  Then off he goes.  Do they eventually re-connect?

The major problem I had with this movie was the idea that Frank could woe Ariane.  If I did my math right, when this movie was released, Gary Cooper was 56 while Audrey Hepburn was 28.  That's a 28 year difference.  In reality, Frank looks 56 while Ariane looks like she is a 20 year-old college student, which makes the age gap look more like 36.  Of course, these romances do occur in real life, but it is not the norm.

Also, even though Frank is portrayed as a playboy via news clippings, it really never feels that way via his interactions with Ariane and his various other female lovers.  Instead, he appears to just be a well-mannered, wealthy individual who loves women, many that he probably shouldn't be wooing.  That hardly makes him a playboy in my mind (the women, yes; the lifestyle, no).

Unfortunately, for those Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn and Billy Wilder (director) fans out there, I think you can take a pass on this movie.