Design for Living - Starring Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray - Dec 6, 2011)

Design for Living was based on the stage comedy by Noel Coward, though little of his dialogue actually made it to the screen. Playwright Fredric March and artist Gary Cooper both fall in love with Miriam Hopkins, an American living in Paris. Both men love the girl, and the girl can't make up her mind between the two men, so the threesome decide to move in together--strictly platonically, of course. As the men gain in success and prominence, the chasteness of the "menage a trois" begins to be threatened, and soon both March and Cooper clash over Hopkins. She reacts by marrying her wealthy but dull boss (Edward Everett Horton). Miriam is bored to tears until March and Cooper invade one of her husband's stuffy parties and chase the tiresome guests away. Miriam's husband huffily agrees to a divorce, and the girl returns to her unorthodox relationship with her two former suitors. The subtle homosexual implications of the Noel Coward stage original were dissipated by the presence of the aggressively masculine Gary Cooper and Fredric March in the film version of Design for Living. Replacing these implications were the equally subtle but more "mainstream" boudoir innuendos of director Ernst Lubitsch.

Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed

Cast & Crew - Design for Living
Fredric March
(Films) Tom Chambers
Gary Cooper
(Films)(Biography) George Curtis
Miriam Hopkins
(Films)(Biography) Gilda Farrell
Edward Everett Horton
(Films) Max Plunkett
Franklin Pangborn Mr. Douglas
Isabel Jewell Lisping Stenographer
Harry Dunkinson Egelbauer
Wyndham Standing Max Plunkett's Butler
Lionel Belmore Theatre Patron
Thomas Braidon Second Manager
Nora Cecil Tom Chambers' Secretary
Emile Chautard Conductor
Mathilde Comont Heavy Woman
Adrienne D'Ambricourt Cafe Proprietress
Jane Darwell Housekeeper
James Donlan Fat Man
Helena Phillips Evans Mrs. Egelbauer
Charles French Theatre Patron
Mary Gordon Theatre Chambermaid
Grace Hayle Woman on Staircase
Olaf Hytten Englishman at Train
Armand Kaliz Mr. Burton
Rolfe Sedan Bed Salesman
Vernon Steele First Manager

Technical Credits
Ernst Lubitsch Director, Producer
Travis Banton Costumes/Costume Designer
Hans Dreier Art Director
Nathaniel W. Finston Score Composer
Ben Hecht Screenwriter
Frances Marsh Editor
Victor Milner Cinematographer

Product Details
Actors: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Jane Darwell
Directors: Ernst Lubitsch
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Release Date: December 6, 2011
Run Time: 96 minutes

Special Features
New high-definition digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
The Clerk, starring Charles Laughton
Selected-scene commentary by film professor William Paul
Play of the Week: A Choice of Coward, a 1964 British television production
New interview with Joseph McBride on Lubitsch
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kim Morgan

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:
Gary Cooper Collection