Why Billy Wilder’s 1957 Romantic Comedy Was a Flop in America but a Success Abroad
In short: Produced for 2.1 million dollars, Love in the Afternoon was a commercial failure in the United States, where audiences struggled with the casting of Gary Cooper. Yet, the film found success in Europe, serving as a sophisticated homage to the legendary director Ernst Lubitsch and his distinct style of romantic comedy.
Directed by Billy Wilder, the 1957 film Love in the Afternoon marked the first collaboration between Wilder and screenwriter I. A. L. Diamond. Based on the 1920 novel Ariane, jeune fille russe by Claude Anet, the story follows a young cello student, Ariane Chavasse, who falls for a notorious American playboy, Frank Flannagan. The plot complicates when Ariane’s father, a private detective specializing in infidelity cases, is hired to investigate the very man his daughter is pursuing. The film was intended as a tribute to the sophisticated, subtle style of Ernst Lubitsch, a director Wilder deeply admired.
Despite the pedigree of its cast—which included Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, and Maurice Chevalier—the film failed to resonate with American audiences. Critics and the director himself later attributed this to the casting of Cooper, who was nearing 56 at the time. Many viewers found the chemistry between the aging Cooper and the young Hepburn implausible, with some critics describing Cooper as looking too old for the role. Wilder, who had originally hoped to cast Cary Grant, famously admitted the film was a flop because he captured Cooper at a moment when he suddenly appeared aged.
The film’s production was also plagued by financial instability, as the studio, Allied Artists, faced debt from other projects. To appease American censors who found the relationship between the leads potentially immoral, Wilder was forced to include a voice-over narration confirming the couple’s marriage, a creative choice he personally objected to. While the film was re-released in 1961 under the title Fascination, it remains a polarizing work in Wilder’s filmography. Some analysts argue the script exposes the sexual double standards of the era, while others view the final romantic gesture as an unrealistic conclusion to a story about a seasoned philanderer and an inexperienced young woman.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)
- Also: Love in the Afternoon | film by Wilder [1957] | Britannica
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