Design for Living

Released Dec 29, 1933

1h 30m

Romance

Comedy

List

76%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Painter George (Gary Cooper) and playwright Thomas (Fredric March) are two Americans sharing a Paris apartment. They're also rivals for the affection of commercial artist Gilda (Miriam Hopkins). When the plucky Gilda moves in, with the express understanding that there will be no funny business, the rivalry between George and Thomas heats up even further. Then Thomas heads to London when one of his plays is being produced there, leaving George free to make his move.

Read More

Read Less

Time Out

The script galumphs when it should glide.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Well, maybe it is a little lumpy for Lubitsch, but I think the film more than holds its own.

Feb 26, 2003

Full Review

Forsyth Hardy

Cinema Quarterly

Design for Living is in the true Lubitsch tradition, and I think it his most satisfying sound film.

Feb 3, 2021

Full Review

Harold V. Cohen

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

All this is handled in Mr. Lubitsch's most delightful manner.

Jan 4, 2021

Full Review

Shadow Stage

Photoplay

Plenty of excitement, excellent acting and sparkle.

Oct 8, 2020

Full Review

Helen Brown Norden

Vanity Fair

The general effect is as if they suddenly realized that they're in a Noel Coward drama, and are stymied by the thought.

Jun 6, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Steve D

Unless it shocks you it doesn't really work.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In this surprisingly risque film made before the Hays code, two men and a woman share an apartment in Paris and talk openly about sex. Lubitsch direction is excellent. March is wonderful as a struggling playwright. Hopkins has one of her best roles as a free loving woman who loves two men but marries a third. Cooper gives a fine comedic performance as a hot tempered artist. There's no music which could make things seem static but Lubitsch keeps it moving at a good pace.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Easy watching movie. Hopkins plays a character that is indecisive that is intertwined between 2 friends and her boss, all 3 of which are platonic/sexual love interest. Good scenery within Paris, glamour clothes, broken down shack apartment, and train rides

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Tom M

March and Cooper would eventually win two Oscars each. Hopkins put them to shame here ... she's brilliant ! Miriam Hopkins is among the most talented, beautiful and underrated actresses of the 30s and 40s. Pre-code is a strange thing in 2020. In 1933 Hopkins is taking turns having sex with Cooper and March and in the end it's implied they have a menage a trois. For the next 30 years even married couples in movies would sleep in twin beds.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/11/20

Full Review

Audience Member

A naughty little pre-code Hollywood gem that seems even a bit risky looking back at it today. Miriam Hopkins falls for best friends Fredric March and Gary Cooper. She can't decide which one to pick, so she moves in with both of them. The film doesn't even try to cover up that she is sleeping with them both. Things seem okay for awhile, but pretty soon another guy comes along and she reels him in. The obvious inspiration for Gregg Araki's 1999 film "Splendor".

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

william k

Despite censorship and unusual casting the is still an amazingly open-minded and entertaining ménage à trois comedy, made with Ernst Lubitsch's sure hand for such material.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Ernst Lubitsch

Director

Fredric March

Thomas B. "Tom" Chambers

Gary Cooper

George Curtis

Miriam Hopkins

Gilda Farrell

Edward Everett Horton

Max Plunkett

Franklin Pangborn

Mr. Douglas

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

I Live My Life

40%

50%

I Live My Life

It Started in Naples

0%

58%

It Started in Naples

Paris When It Sizzles

55%

66%

Paris When It Sizzles

Broadway Bill

100%

55%

Broadway Bill

It Happened One Night

98%

93%

It Happened One Night

TRAILER

for It Happened One Night

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Painter George (Gary Cooper) and playwright Thomas (Fredric March) are two Americans sharing a Paris apartment. They're also rivals for the affection of commercial artist Gilda (Miriam Hopkins). When the plucky Gilda moves in, with the express understanding that there will be no funny business, the rivalry between George and Thomas heats up even further. Then Thomas heads to London when one of his plays is being produced there, leaving George free to make his move.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Producer: Ernst Lubitsch
Screenwriter: Ben Hecht
Production Co: Paramount, Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 29, 1933, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 4, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m