Design for living [videorecording] / Universal ; a Paramount Picture presents an Ernest Lubitsch production ; directed by Ernst Lubitsch ; screen play by Ben Hecht.
Based on the play by Noël Coward. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1933. Special features: Disc 1. "The clerk," starring Charles Laughton, director Ernst Lubitsch's segment of the 1932 omnibus film "If I had a million"; Selected-scene commentary by film scholar William Paul. Disc 2. "Joseph McBride: the screenplay" film historian and screenwriter Joseph McBride discusses Coward, the adaptation, and Hecht's career; "Play of the week: a choice of Coward" British television production of the play "Design for living" from 1964, introduced on camera by playwright Noël Coward. Booklet: "It takes three" essay by film critic Kim Morgan. Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Isabel Jewell, Jane Darwell, Wyndham Standing.
Summary:
A trio of Americans in Paris who enter into a very adult 'gentleman's' agreement, in this continental pre-Code comedy freely adapted by Ben Hecht (Notorious) from a play. A risque relationship comedy and a witty take on creative pursuits, it concerns a commercial artist unable, or unwilling, to choose between the equally dashing painter and playwright she meets on a train en route to the City of Light.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.