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The 1950s was a golden era for romance films, marked by sweeping dramas, elegant comedies, and heartfelt stories that captured the emotional intensity of genuine love. During this period, Hollywood was defined by polished, high-budget productions emphasizing strong storytelling and utilizing iconic star power. The chemistry between actors was paramount, with all couples having undeniably great on-screen chemistry, pairs like Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck or Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr captivating audiences through their effortless, magnetic interactions on screen.

These films often explored complex themes such as class divide, societal expectations, and forbidden love, yet were frequently packaged in a way that appealed to mainstream audiences and were all movies that defined the 1950s. Directors used rich cinematography, elaborate sets, and electric dialogue to present love stories that felt grand and special yet intimate at the same time. Whether set in the glamour of Paris or the intimacy of small-town America,...

Love in the Afternoon

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider.

Cinematography: William C. Mellor

Film Editor: Leonid Azar

Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner

Adapted Music: Franz Waxman

Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a novel by Claude Anet

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder

A favorite of Billy Wilder-philes, Love in the Afternoon is a strong expression of the ‘romantic-Lubitsch’ vein in Wilder’s work. It’s essentially a return to the early ’30s Lubitsch comedies with Maurice Chevalier, but played in a more bittersweet Viennese register. It’s also Wilder’s first collaboration with the comedy screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. Together they fashion the predominantly verbal comedy machine that will carry them through three or four big hits, and a few losers that have become classics anyway.

Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to...

"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."

So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?

Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...