Design for Living (1933)

This disc came with Peter Ibbetson, which I skipped because I hadn't allotted enough time, it isn't the more popular of the two, and chasing a comedy immediately with a drama didn't feel right. Having a "double feature" on one DVD seems unpromising for the quality of both movies, but DfL is pretty highly rated and has several famous names attached, including director-producer Ernst Lubitsch.

George (Gary Cooper) and Tom (Fredric March) are friends and struggling artists -- a painter and playwright, respectively -- who nevertheless take a trip to Paris, where they happen to make the acquaintance of fellow American Gilda (Miriam Hopkins), an advertising artist with ideas to improve both men's works. Before long from the perspective of a 91-minute runtime, each man finds out that the other has been seeing Gilda on the sly. Neither wants to let her go, and she doesn't want to let either go, so the trio makes a "gentleman's agreement" to be a circle of platonic friends. This agreement becomes harder to keep when Tom finds enough success to take him out of the city....

The Netflix jacket doesn't highlight the pre-Code nature of the picture, but the summary and year told me to expect as much. There's even explicit mention of sex, if only to specify "no sex" in the agreement. Don't get too excited, tho: The only thing you might find remotely juicy on screen is a painting of a scantily dressed woman in the background.

In a key supporting role is Edward Everett Horton as Gilda's long-friendzoned boss. Yeah, it sounds pretty bothersome that he's holding a candle for an employee who doesn't feel the same way, tho he's not exactly aggressive about it. Much of the time, he tries to appear content with what they have, but his "protectiveness" toward her is probably not based entirely on concern for her well-being. Leave it to Horton to play such a character so that you neither hate him nor pity him. He may well be the most amusing element.

The other major source of humor is the main trio's snark. Oddly enough, the film is adapted from a Noël Coward play yet uses almost none of the same lines. I'm left to wonder whether the original had better dialog.

At any rate, we get the feeling that George and Tom shouldn't be judging each other so harshly. After all, they're about even in sin. No wonder Gilda has trouble deciding between them. I almost want them to accept an open ménage à trois for the sake of honesty and peace. Neither man is really any worse off than before meeting Gilda, so the idea of ending their friendship over her is kind of funny-sad.

It's not an especially thoughtful or unpredictable story, and the ending feels more "Here we go again" than resolved. I can't give it more than an average rating. Still, I won't give it less. It does an adequate job of lightening the viewers' mood for a little while.