Design for Living [Criterion Collection] [2 Discs]

Director: Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch

Overview

Design for Living was based on the stage comedy by Noel Coward, though little of his dialogue actually made it to the screen. Playwright Fredric March and artist Gary Cooper both fall in love with Miriam Hopkins, an American living in Paris. Both men love the girl, and the girl can't make up her mind between the two men, so the threesome decide to move in together--strictly platonically, of course. As the men gain in success and prominence, the chasteness of the "menage a trois" begins to be threatened, and soon both March and Cooper clash over Hopkins. She reacts by marrying her wealthy but dull boss (Edward Everett Horton). Miriam is bored to tears until March and Cooper invade one of her husband's stuffy parties and chase the tiresome guests away. Miriam's husband huffily agrees to a divorce, and the girl returns to her unorthodox relationship with her two former suitors. The subtle homosexual implications of the Noel Coward stage original were dissipated by the presence of the aggressively masculine Gary Cooper and Fredric March in the film version of Design for Living. Replacing these implications were the equally subtle but more "mainstream" boudoir innuendos of director Ernst Lubitsch.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/06/2011
UPC:	0715515090018
Original Release:	1933
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	19,102

Special Features

Disc one:; "The Clerk," starring Charles Laughton, director Ernst Lubitsch's segment of the 1932 omnibus film If I Had a Million; Selected-scene commentary by film scholar William Paul; Disc two:; British television production of the play Design for Living from 1964, introduced on camera by playwright ; Noël Coward; New interview with film scholar and screenwriter Joseph McBride on Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht's adaptation of the Coward play

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Fredric March	Actor
Gary Cooper	Actor
Miriam Hopkins	Actor
Edward Everett Horton	Max Plunkett
Franklin Pangborn	Mr. Douglas
Isabel Jewell	Lisping Stenographer
Harry Dunkinson	Mr. Egelbauer
Helena Phillips Evans	Mrs. Egelbauer
James Donlan	Fat Man
Vernon Steele	Manager
Thomas Braidon	Manager
Jane Darwell	Housekeeper
Armand Kaliz	Mr. Burton
Emile Chautard	Conductor
Adrienne d'Ambricourt	Cafe Proprietress
Wyndham Standing	Max's Butler
Nora Cecil	Tom's Secretary
Grace Hayle	Woman on Staircase
Olaf Hytten	Englishman at Train
Mary Gordon	Theatre Chambermaid
Lionel Belmore	Theatre Patron
Charles K. French	Theatre Patron
Rolfe Sedan	Bed Salesman
Mathilde Comont	Heavy Woman
John Leipold	Composer

Technical Credits

Ben Hecht

Samuel Hoffenstein

Ernst Lubitsch	Director,Producer
Ben Hecht	Screenwriter
Noel Coward	Playwright
Samuel Hoffenstein	Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Design for Living - Disc One
1. Strangers on a Train [8:53]
2. Max [9:26]
3. "Likewise" [7:00]
4. A Gentleman's Agreement [10:11]
5. Mother of the Arts [8:32]
6. London [6:41]
7. Paris [10:33]
8. "High-Class Comedy" [10:27]
9. Mrs. Plunkett [8:42]
10. Uninvited Guests [10:57]
1. Color Bars

Menu

Disc #1 -- Design for Living - Disc One
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
   "The Clerk"
      Play
   Selected-Scene Commentary
      Play
Disc #2 -- Design for Living - Disc Two
   Joseph McBride: The Screenplay
      Play
   "Play of the Week: A Choice of Coward"
      Play

Editorial Reviews

When first released, Design for Living was assailed for the incredible liberties it took in transferring the material from stage to the screen. Indeed, director Ernst Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht kept only a single line of dialogue from the witty, sparkling Noel Coward comedy -- and that one line was hardly itself distinguished. In other hands, this would have been a recipe for disaster; fortunately, Lubitsch and Hecht were enormous talents themselves, and the film they concocted from the barebones of Coward's play is sharply observed, slightly daffy and a total delight. It's true that Gary Cooper is a little out of place in high-style comedy of this sort; he's a little too "downhome" to pull off some of what is asked of him. Nevertheless, his natural charisma is sufficient to overcome this deficiency, and his innate masculinity is used to interesting effect. On the other hand, Fredric March is right at home, turning in a deliciously comic performance that never takes a false turn. He's matched by Miriam Hopkins, creating some subtly wonderful variations on a madcap theme and proving irresistible in whatever she does. Lubitsch's hand is deft as always, especially in the near-wordless opening and the invasive through-the-windows shot after Tom has left for London. If the play has been coarsened somewhat, the film is still a treat.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler