Now this is what this writer calls a change of pace.
Just a month following the release of what may be the company’s most important and dense release to date, The Three Colors Trilogy, the geniuses over at The Criterion Collection have come back with their sole new addition for the month of December, and it’s about as far from the meditative triptych of masterful art cinema as a single uproarious comedy could be.
A staple of the Pre-Code era, Design For Living stars the trio of Gary Cooper, Fredric March, and Miriam Hopkins, in an adaptation of the beloved Noel Coward play. Adapted by Ben Hect, the Living is yet another entry into the Collection for director Ernst Lubitsch, and is one of what sounds like many to come for the frequent David Lean collaborator Coward (side note: his Blithe Spirit is rumored to be hitting with the next round of announcements this month).
Telling the story of a threesome unlike any other, the movie follows an artist, played by the ever magnetic Hopkins, who is caught in the middle of two men: a painter (Cooper) and a writer (March). Ultimately falling into the arms of a wealthy man, the jilted lovers must find a way to get back into the life of their former main squeeze. A racy comedy of innuendo and winking dialogue, Living is one of the more enjoyable, if flawed, films to hit Criterion in a while.
The true star of this film has to be the screenplay. A pitch perfect piece of writing, the script gets at what made this era so utterly wonderful, and inspired. With a trio that is both charming and gloriously sexy, Hecht knew exactly how to utilize the trio and their significant strengths within the structure of what Coward’s play was. Taking liberties with the source material, Hecht was also able to change a few sequences (take the opening of the film for example), and not only make them fit within the film, but make them jump off the screen.
Cooper is fantastic here as the artist, and pairs well with the equally charming March, both of whom ooze charisma without coming off as cartoonish. The dialogue seems to pour perfectly out of their mouths, and their chemistry with Hopkins is fire starting. Hopkins is g
Read more…
The Return of the King. J.R.R. Tolkien. 1955/1965. Houghton Mifflin. 311 pages.