Just perfect...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Although the so-called "Lubitsch touch" is evident every now and again (e.g. when Cooper moves a chair, he inadvertently discloses all the rubbish underneath it; March listening and reacting to his play being performed off-camera; Cooper breaking furniture off-camera), this is a disappointing movie. It suffers from excessive talk. Admittedly, some of it is witty, some of it is amusingly brittle, but a great deal of it is just plain dull. Cooper is miscast, and that doesn't help either. He does his best, but at this stage of his career, he not only lacks the forceful personality called for in the script, but tends to deliver his lines too slowly. March, however, is perfect. And so is Miriam Hopkins, who is often quite stunningly costumed. In fact, as might be expected, production values are first class: Beautiful photography, a great music score, clever sound effects.

Lubitsch is usually very hit-and-miss for me, polarizingly so. His adaptation of "Design for Living" (1933), however, falls somewhere in between: it doesn't provoke much of a reaction. There are moments of which the whole of "Trouble in Paradise" (1932) is made of, moments of comic and cinematic brilliance, and there are tepid moments of sluggishness where the playfulness turns against itself. "To Be or Not to Be" (1942) feels much like that, but if it's to your liking, that should be recommendation enough to see this.The best moments occur towards the beginning, and for me the film just doesn't exude the kind of easy-going splendor I find in "Trouble in Paradise". So much so that at times the film feels even gaumless (lacking not in wit but in vitality). The beginning in the train is brilliant, however, and would make my "train scene" list beside "City Girl" (1930) and "Zéro de conduite" (1933).Much like in "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935), the one piece without which the structure would fall can be found in the sidelines. Edward Everett Horton's Plunkett is an altogether wonderful character, the one whom I recall with most fondness.

Delightful even if more Ben Hecht than Noel Coward. The "menage a trois" has real brains, wit and magic. All due to the sensational chemistry between Gary Cooper, Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins and, of course, the unmistakable Lubitch touch. I was going to say that the film seems written today but the sad truth is there is nobody today that could write with this extraordinary elegance. Frediric March is masculine and volcanic, Gary Cooper feminine and irresistible and Miriam Hopkins, a sensational modern comedienne. As if this wasn't enough, Edward Everett Horton as Mr Wrong. The scene in which Hopkins compares Cooper and March to hats is one of my all time favorites.

On a train to Paris, playwright Fredric March (as Thomas "Tom" B. Chambers) and his painter friend Gary Cooper (as George Curtis) are interrupted while snoozing by attractive blonde Miriam Hopkins (as Gilda Farrell). A commercial artist, Ms. Hopkins banters with her fellow Americans about art, then goes to work for her virtuous boss, Edward Everett Horton (as Max Plunkett). Mr. Horton doesn't approve when Hopkins begins dating both Mr. March and Mr. Cooper. Horton has known Hopkins five years, and hasn't made it "to first base," but her new friends get Hopkins there quickly.Roommates eleven years, March and Cooper both fall in love with Hopkins. "Curious to have a little bit of feminine fluff breaking up our friendship," March tells Copper. The bed in the men's apartment seems to have collected a lot of dust (watch as Hopkins throws herself on it). Hopkins says she loves both men. Since they all like each other, the three decide to live together, to "concentrate on work" and make "a gentlemen's agreement" to "forget sex." But, when March or Cooper leaves Hopkins alone with the other, abstinence becomes difficult. Moreover, Hopkins reminds the men, "I am no gentleman." This Noel Coward play was dramatically altered, by writer Ben Hecht, for director Ernst Lubitsch and Paramount. Great credentials, but something was lost in the translation. "Design for Living" intends to be a modern, sexy comedy. Looking back on it, you can appreciate what they were attempting with Hopkins' character. But, despite Mr. Lubitsch's clever opening, there isn't much "chemistry" between Hopkins and her leading men. And, despite Mr. Hecht's clever writing about their laundry, long-time roommates March and Cooper have no screen rapport. Though good, the film doesn't add up.***** Design for Living (12/29/33) Ernst Lubitsch ~ Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton