Love in the Afternoon

Sometimes when I'm working late, I like to bring my laptop into the living room
and turn on the tv (and, ok, maybe pour myself a little glass of Rioja too!) so that
I can at least pretend that I'm relaxing... Since it's less then two weeks until the
National Stationery Show,  I've been working late a lot! Saturday night, I planned
on popping in a Downton Abbey dvd, but happened to catch Love in the Afternoon
just as it was starting.

What a gem! A charming and funny romance with the always-luminous
Audrey Hepburn - although you have to get over the grandpa-ish age difference
between her and leading man Gary Cooper, who, while past his prime, was
still amazing in the role. The great acting by both parties makes you
really believe they are falling in love and forget the chasm of years that
separates them. The film takes place in fabulous fifties Paris;
what could be better?

(Spoiler alert below...!)




At the end of the film, there's a voice-over telling us that the two are married
(after running away together)... I learned afterwards that this was added only
after the film was put on the Catholic Legion of Decency's "Condemned List".
I guess the idea of a young woman and older man having an unmarried affair
was just too scandalous at the time! After the voice-over was added the legion
changed the film's status to merely "Morally Objectionable".