Love in the Afternoon

In the movie, Love in the Afternoon, Ariane, played by Audrey Hepburn, is a young girl who lives at home with her detective father. Ariane makes a habit of rummaging through her father's files, which deal primarily with romance and infidelity. One client of her father's is a man whose wife has been found visiting the Ritz suite occupied by Mr. Flannigan repeatedly. Mr. Flannigan is an American who dates and seduces a number of women. Ariane overhears that the husband intends to shoot Mr. Flannigan and, in order to save him, she climbs through his balcony window at the decided time and takes the place of the wife. Upon barging into the room, the husband feels foolish and claims to have been mistaken. Ariane is deeply attracted to Mr. Flannigan but is fearful of his reputation. She, thus, decides to remain mysterious and slightly distanced, and to put herself into the same rink as Mr. Flannigan by claiming to have been with numerous men. After the unfolding of several events, the two end up riding away on a train together, with the narrator telling the viewers that they are to be happily married.

This movie, first copyrighted in 1959, reflects the society of the time in the manner of speech, dress, behavior, and other outlets. Furthermore, although Mr. Flannigan is portrayed as a playboy of the time, he is never shown to do more than slow dance with his affairs. This seduction includes his attending band of Gypsies, who play an exact time and selection of music. Although Flannigan's charade is typically a night affair, Ariane will only meet him in the afternoon so as not to raise the suspicion of her father. Overall, the romance between Ariane and Flannigan is innocent, never progressing past a kiss.

Love in the Afternoon has a larger sense of Romanticism than what we expect to see in movies today. As mentioned, the two travel away together to a happily ever after. The woman gets the dreamy man and the promiscuous man settles for the love of one beautiful woman. This romantic notion is set into the minds of the viewers as idealistic, possibly even deserved idealism, and may have, even minutely, contributed to the mindset of society and its feelings towards courtship.