Design for Living (Criterion Collection)

Gary Cooper, Fredric March, and Miriam Hopkins play 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 from a play by NolCoward, and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A risqu relationship comedy and a witty take on creative pursuits, it concerns a commercial artist (Hopkins) unable-or unwilling-to choose between the equally dashing painter (Cooper) and playwright (March) she meets on a train en route to the City ofLight. Design For Living is Lubitsch at his most adroit, an entertainment at once debonair and racy, featuring three stars at the height of their allure.