Ariane – Liebe am Nachmittag (1957)

Ariane – Liebe am Nachmittag: Directed by Billy Wilder. With Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver. A middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.

“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 u0026quot;Fascinationu0026quot; is used to great effect. Filmed in 1957, the only way to show the title occurrence is to have a camera shot following Hepburnu0026#39;s dis-robed fur coat falling to the hotel roomu0026#39;s floor, as she embraces Cooper. The ending is suspenseful, with cute narration epilogue by Chevalier. A wonderful film.”