Design for Living (1933)

73% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
84% of users liked it
(707 ratings)

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… More 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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Ernst Lubitsch
Genres: Romance, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 29, 1933 Wide
On DVD: May 31, 2005

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Well, maybe it is a little lumpy for Lubitsch, but I think the film more than holds its own.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
It isn't [Lubitsch's] fleetest work, or most sustained, but it has moments of unbridled genius.
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
The dialogue is sharp without seeming too impeccably perfect to be real human speech.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Even when Lubitsch filmed a play by Noel Coward, he still made it his own. Design for Living doesn't feel like a celebrated play; it feels like a Lubitsch movie.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
beneath the sublime surface of Lubitsch's best films beats a human heart full of recognizable desires, fears, flaws, and longings, which is precisely what sets his work apart from its sleazier, more mundane counterparts
Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com
A daring movie that satirizes sexual mores and heaps irony upon irony. If Hollywood tried to remake this movie today, they would probably take the ménage à trois set-up and strip away all the depth.
Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant Magazine
Though more of an anomaly than a blueprint, Lubitsch's Design for Living is sexy in ways we're still trying to, ahem, wrap ourselves around.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An elegant romantic farce that seems heavy-handed when it's meant to be lighthearted.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
For Lubitsch, the film would mark the end of his most creative period at Paramount (1929-1933) -- and a fine final bow it is.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Welcome to bohemia!
, Time Out
The script galumphs when it should glide.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
A química entre o trio principal é ótima, mas o roteiro, livremente adaptado a partir de uma peça de Noel Coward, jamais aproveita o potencial de seus personagens.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

the risque lubitsch comedy was originally a controversial noel coward play about a bohemian menage a trois. fearing that film audiences weren't as sophisticated as those of the theater, the studio hired ben hecht to gut the script and very few of coward's witty lines… More
the risque lubitsch comedy was originally a controversial noel coward play about a bohemian menage a trois. fearing that film audiences weren't as sophisticated as those of the theater, the studio hired ben hecht to gut the script and very few of coward's witty lines survived. while this is a crying shame, lubitsch still manages to work a little magic with alot of help from the ever charming miriam hopkins, a free-spirit who can't choose between two friends in love with her. soon they all agree to a rather unconventional living arrangement. the male leads are an impossibly handsome gary cooper, showing some comedy skills that got little use later in his career, and frederic march, who's even funnier imo. definitely worth a watch for the stars and unusual subject matter. it's clever but one can't help wondering what might have been
Ken S

Very interesting, very funny and very racy comedy is about the creatively beneficial but sexless menage a toi between March, Cooper and Hopkins. My least favorite Lubitsch so far, but that doesn't mean this still isn't great. Great double entendres as well
Chris B

"Design for Living" since It's inception has been dubbed a critical failure due to the time and Ernst Lubitsch changing all the original dialogue, save one line. Even though the film was made in 1933, it was very open and expressive in its sexual themes but in a way… More
"Design for Living" since It's inception has been dubbed a critical failure due to the time and Ernst Lubitsch changing all the original dialogue, save one line. Even though the film was made in 1933, it was very open and expressive in its sexual themes but in a way that it got around the censors. A mere few years later however, it didn't meet the guidelines on the censors and disappeared for quite some time. The film revolves around a sexually free woman and her trials involving two handsome men (played wonderfully by Fredric March and Gary Cooper) that she meets on a train. The two men fall for Gilda Farrell (played by a lovely and beautiful Miriam Hopkins) and she starts relationships with both. They quickly discover each others involvement with Gilda and jealously arises causing Gilda to leave both men for Mr. Plunkett with whom she marries. In the end both men come to terms that the three can work out their complicated relationship and all remain together. The miserable Gilda is saved from her misery by the two men and Mr. Pluckett agrees to a divorce (He's eluded to as being gay although it is never declared). The film pushed the boundaries and censors and that's to be respected in my opinion and the film is a fun and witty watch with hidden meanings to avoid censorship. Recommend!
rocko p

Movies like that if it were made today would have a lot of stupid music and too many shots of the city surrounding the characters of the film you know? They all meet so quickly. I enjoyed that. Today you would need corny lines. telephone rings and bells before the characters meet. I… More
Movies like that if it were made today would have a lot of stupid music and too many shots of the city surrounding the characters of the film you know? They all meet so quickly. I enjoyed that. Today you would need corny lines. telephone rings and bells before the characters meet. I know it sounds like i dont know what im talking about. well i dont. It's hard to review old movies objectively or whatever. I really like mariam hopkins. She was adorable. But a little stuck up. March & Cooper i thought i gotta see more of their movies. Cooper is such a little boy in a giant mans body. It's interesting to see romance and flirting and sex and all that in those times. Ok heres my point. In the middle of the movie they have this pact "no sex" and that was that no montages or silly music. If it were made today it'd be all about 3 people..i dont know im gonna go have dinner.