Though not a huge success, King Vidor's lavish film adaptation of Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE (1956) was the only film in which Audrey starred with her then-husband Mel Ferrer.

Audrey as Natasha coming down the stairs, and in a publicity still for WAR AND PEACE with Mel Ferrer (who played Prince Andre) and Henry Fonda (as Pierre).

Back to romantic comedy (this time with music), in Stanley Donen's FUNNY FACE (1957) Audrey stars as a bookworm whom photographer Fred Astaire takes to Paris for a glamorous magazine photo shoot. Audrey did her own singing of George and Ira Gershwin's songs and was spectacularly dressed by Hubert de Givenchy.

By now you may have noticed that many of Audrey's early on-screen romantic interests were quite a bit older than she was (Bogart, Astaire, Peck-- even Mel Ferrer). LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957) was another May-December romance-- this time featuring Gary Cooper. Audrey is a young French cello player who quite accidentally and unexpectedly falls for Cooper, an aging American "player." It's a cute romantic comedy also featuring Maurice Chevalier, and it's director, Billy Wilder, does the best job making fun of the French I've yet seen on film -- everything from those huge keys they use to their famous dossiers. Very entertaining.

Go to the next page.
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6