Design For Living [1933] [Criterion] (BLU)

Ernst Lubitsch

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Amoeba Review

Gary Cooper, Fredric March, and Miriam Hopkins play a trio of Americans in Paris who enter into a very adult "gentleman's" agreement, in this continental pre-Code comedy freely adapted by Ben Hecht from a play by Noël Coward, and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A risqué relationship comedy and a witty take on creative pursuits, it concerns a commercial artist (Hopkins) unable-or unwilling-to choose between the equally dashing painter (Cooper) and playwright (March) she meets on a train en route to the City of Light. Design For Living is Lubitsch at his most adroit, an entertainment at once debonair and racy, featuring three stars at the height of their allure.

Starring: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Gary Cooper
Format: NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of Discs: 1
Rating: Not Rated
Label: The Criterion Collection
Release Date: 12/06/2011
Run Time: 96 minutes
Catalogue #: 2094

Special Features

The Clerk, starring Charles Laughton, director Ernst Lubitsch's segment of the 1932 omnibus film If I Had A Million
Selected-scene commentary by the film scholar William Paul
British television production of the play Design For Living from 1964, introduced on camera by playwright Noel Coward
New interview with film scholar and screenwriter Joseph McBride on Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht's adaptation of the Coward play
Booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kim Morgan