Middle-aged businesswoman Paula Tessier rejects the advances of her client's amusing 25-year-old son, Philip Van der Besh, but reconsiders when her longtime philandering partner begins yet another casual affair with a younger woman. She soon learns that May-December romances with older women are frowned upon in society.
Acting
Bergman's brittle dignity versus Perkins' wounded-puppy intensity.
Cinematography
Paris at magic hour, all rain-slicked streets and hotel room shadows.
Director
Anatole Litvak
Ingrid Bergman
Paula Tessier
Yves Montand
Roger Demarest
Anthony Perkins
Philip Van der Besh
Jessie Royce Landis
Mrs. Van der Besh
Pierre Dux
Maître Fleury
Jocelyn Lane
First Maisie
Michèle Mercier
Third Maisie
Alison Leggatt
Alice
Uta Taeger
Gaby
David Horne
Queen's Counsel
Peter Bull
Client
Diahann Carroll
Nightclub Singer
Henri Attal
Man at Concert
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bergman was actually divorcing Roberto Rossellini during filming, lending her performance raw autobiographical pain.
The film was controversial for showing an older woman as sexually active—French critics called it 'depressing,' Americans called it 'brave.'
US
