Love in The Afternoon (1957 Film) - Production

Production

Love in the Afternoon was the first of twelve screenplays by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, who met when Wilder contacted Diamond after reading an article he had written for the Screen Writers Guild monthly magazine. The two men immediately hit it off, and Wilder suggested they collaborate on a project based on a German language film he had co-written in the early 1930s.

Wilder's first choices for Frank Flannagan were Cary Grant and Yul Brynner. "It was a disappointment to me that never said yes to any picture I offered him," Wilder later recalled. "He didn't explain why. He had very strong ideas about what parts he wanted." The director decided to cast Gary Cooper because they shared similar tastes and interests and Wilder knew the actor would be good company during location filming in Paris. "They talked about food and wine and clothes and art," according to co-star Audrey Hepburn, Wilder's only choice for Ariane. Talent agent Paul Kohner suggested Maurice Chevalier for the role of Claude Chavasse, and when asked if he was interested, the actor replied, "I would give the secret recipe for my grandmother's bouillabaisse to be in a Billy Wilder picture."

Filming locations included Château de Vitry in Val-de-Marne, Palais Garnier, and the Hôtel Ritz Paris. It was Wilder's insistence to shoot the film on location in Paris.

Music plays an important role in the film. Much of the prelude to the Richard Wagner opera Tristan und Isolde is heard during a lengthy sequence set in the opera house, and Gypsy style melodies underscore Frank's various seductions. Matty Malneck, Wilder's friend from their Paul Whiteman days in Vienna, wrote three songs for the film, including the title tune. Also heard are "C'est si bon," "L'ame Des Poètes" by Charles Trenet, and "Fascination," which is hummed repeatedly by Ariane.

For the American release of the film, Maurice Chevalier recorded an end-of-film narration letting audiences know Ariane and Frank are married and living in New York City. Although Wilder objected to the addition, he was forced to include it to forestall complaints that the relationship between the two was immoral.

The debt Allied Artists incurred while making Friendly Persuasion prompted the studio to sell the distribution rights of Love in the Afternoon for Europe to gain more financing. The film was a commercial failure in the United States, but it was a major success in Europe, where it was released under the title Ariane.