Gilda Farrell (Miriam Hopkins) a commercial artist is on a train to Paris. She stumbles upon two sleeping artists, one a painter George (Gary Cooper) and one a playwright Tom (Fredrick March). While they sleep Gilda draws them. This starts a platonic relationship with the men where they agree to live in an apartment together.
Both George and Tom love Gilda, but she refuses to have sex with either of them. When Tom’s play is read and produced in London, Tom leaves. Gilda and George soon can’t resist their budding romance and with one the greatest lines ever, Gilda states, “it was a gentleman’s agreement, but I am no gentleman”.
Tom finds out by telegram that Gilda and George are now together. Tom returns to Paris to find Gilda and George have moved into a penthouse. When Tom finds Gilda alone, they rekindle their romance. George returns and the three must solve their predicament.
Funny, brilliant and a pre-code winner, Design for Living is a must watch. Miriam Hopkins lights up the screen with snappy dialogue and it’s easy to see why she is the object of desire for the two men. The idea of that this film was made in 1933 is mind blowing. With sexual innuendos sprinkled throughout it still packs laughs nearly 90 years after its debut.
Ernst Lubitsch cut his teeth for nearly 20 years before he directed Design for Living and already had a working relationship with Miriam Hopkins a year earlier with the witty Trouble in Paradise. Lubitsch would go on to direct some of the best comedies ever, including a personal favorite To Be or Not to Be. Here he is at comfort moving the film along quite nicely with some great shots, including a crane shot following Gilda and a bunch of school boys up a flight of stairs.
Grade: A+
Design for Living Video Quality
Design for Living boards the Criterion Collection with a pleasing, but not too great transfer. My guess is this film was not well preserved and Criterion did what they could with it.
It does look really great in some moments.The details and the closeups look really sharp. The last third of the film really has blemishes with a scratch present for about 20 minutes and other imperfections that pop up in the frame. It’s a shame that some films were not well preserved by their studios, Design for Living deserved better, the disc is still great but one longs for a flawless transfer that I am sure does not exist.
Grade: B
Design for Living Audio Quality
Design for Living makes it to the back of theater with a robust soundtrack. Although the audio track is only mono, it is crisp. Gone is most of the background hiss that can plague older films. Criterion cleaned the soundtrack up nicely with crystal clear dialogue well heard throughout the runtime.
Grade: A-
Design for Living Bonus Features
Joseph McBride: The Screenplay: A great interview with screenwriter Joseph McBride as he talks about the play and the film including their differences and similarities.
The Clerk: A short, funny segment starring Charles Laughton, directed by Lubitsch from the film, If I Had a Million.
Play of the Week-A Choice of Coward: 1964 British production of Design for Living. It’s introduced by the playwright of Design for Living, Noel Coward.
Selected Scene Commentary: Lubitsch biographer William Paul is on hand to discuss the film, totaling nearly 40 minutes.
Grade: A-
Funny, racy a must watch. Design for Living is a new Golden-Age favorite. I am a fan of Miriam Hopkins. She is funny and charming. Gary Cooper and Fredrick March always bring the goods, put all three together with one of the best directors around and you have a can’t miss blind-buy.
Overall: A-