Designing Woman

Released May 16, 1957

1 hr. 58 min.

Comedy

List

82%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Sports reporter Mike (Gregory Peck) and clothes designer Marilla (Lauren Bacall) meet and fall in love while on vacation. They marry on a whim, only to come to the shocking realization that they have very little in common. Mike is a blue-collar sports fanatic. Marilla is a high-society fashion diva. But when Mike writes a tell-all piece about a boxing promoter (Edward Platt) with mob ties, they have to overcome their differences to save both their relationship and Mike's life.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 01

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Designing Woman on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Steve D

Unpleasant and fairly toxic.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/08/23

Full Review

Bonnie K

First time I seen this movie. It was a fun, romantic romp. Lauren Bacall, Gregory Peck have lots of chemistry. The 2 characters meet on Vacation in CA. They fall in love and marry in 2 days, go to live at her lavish apt in NYC. MIKE is a sports writer, Marilla is a fashion designer. Thruout the movie the main characters talk to the camera and narrate what they are doing. A funny scene is when Mike has to tell a lady friend he got married. So she dumps cooked ravioli with red sauce on his lap. Mike has to change in a short waiter pants since his pants have wet red sauce all over. Another funny scene when Mike is hiding from the mob, he goes to a hotel room. With him is Mugsy a boxer who got his head hit too many times. So he is like punch drunk! Mike looks at him on the bed so still, with eyes wide open. Mike says he's dead, dead, goes to him, and Mugsy jumps up! Turns out he sleeps with his eyes open. Overall a cute, fun movie! I watched it on HBO MAX.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/25/23

Full Review

kevin w

Peck plays a sportswriter and Bacall a fashion designer, who meet and fall in love while on vacation but encounter trouble when they return to their home stomping grounds (New York) because his friends are of the "manly" class while her's are all flaming queers. And she makes more money than him. And he's kept an old flame a secret. It's interesting to see how director V. Minnelli handles all of this, but on the whole the experience is an awkward one, stilted. Peck is no Cary Grant for one thing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a bad movie. There is no charm, no wit, no sophisticated banter among the main characters. These actors were incapable of this re-working. No chemistry existed between them and the listless, flat performance from Bacall precluded any emotional involvement. The film doesn't work on any level. This attempt at a "sophisticated" comedy failed miserably -- and was only realized on television, with 1970s shows like Mary Tyler Moore. Check your mood before you see this one. As you watch this humorless, witless production, you will feel worse and worse. I suspect most people grab the remote and switch this one off.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best comedy romance movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

s r

It has its moments of fun and rom-com.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Vincente Minnelli

Director

Gregory Peck

Mike Hagen

Lauren Bacall

Marilla Brown Hagen

Dolores Gray

Lori Shannon

Sam Levene

Ned Hammerstein

Tom Helmore

Zachary Wilde

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

67%

56%

The Tender Trap

57%

60%

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

90%

74%

Father of the Bride

83%

80%

Woman of the Year

83%

67%

Without Love

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Richard Brody

New Yorker

There's real chemistry between Bacall and Peck, which Minnelli emphasizes in carefully observed intimacies and brusque banter alike.

Jan 18, 2016

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The uproarious "ravioli scene" is the movie's most famous interlude (Peck tribute shows often would employ it to demonstrate the actor's underrated comic chops), but there are plenty of memorable set-pieces in this effervescent effort.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 10, 2021

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

This romantic comedy by Minnelli is very pleasant to me. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Jul 23, 2020

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A sunny view of artistic self-awareness slicing past gaiety

Feb 4, 2010

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Comedy full of Minnelli's creative visual style.

Aug 8, 2008

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

This mildley entertaining comedy is a reworking of the superior Stevens' 1942 "Woman of the Year," with Gregory Peck in the Spencer Tracy role and Lauren Bacall in Katharine Hepburn's.

Rated: B-

Jul 20, 2006

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Sports reporter Mike (Gregory Peck) and clothes designer Marilla (Lauren Bacall) meet and fall in love while on vacation. They marry on a whim, only to come to the shocking realization that they have very little in common. Mike is a blue-collar sports fanatic. Marilla is a high-society fashion diva. But when Mike writes a tell-all piece about a boxing promoter (Edward Platt) with mob ties, they have to overcome their differences to save both their relationship and Mike's life.

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Screenwriter: George Wells
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 16, 1957, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009

Most Popular at Home Now