Weekend Movie Fun: Design for Living (1933) at the Egyptian Theatre

It was a "Lubitsch weekend" for me, seeing three films directed by Ernst Lubitsch on a big screen in under 24 hours!

Friday evening I saw LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (1925) and SUMURUN (1920) in Westwood as part of UCLA's current Lubitsch retrospective.

This afternoon I attended a terrific event at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, consisting of a lecture and film. The talk, cosponsored by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, was by Allen Ellenberger, author of MIRIAM HOPKINS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL, published last November by the University Press of Kentucky.

That was followed by the screening of a beautiful 35mm print of Hopkins starring with Fredric March and Gary Cooper in Lubitsch's DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933).

The hour-long discussion of Hopkins was amply illustrated, providing an interesting look at a woman about whom it seems there was no middle ground -- her coworkers either loved or hated her. She was viewed as a pain in the neck by some yet loved by others, including close friend Kay Francis, her costar in Lubitsch's TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932).

She also had a good relationship with her son Michael -- despite not telling him he was adopted until he was an adult. I'm looking forward to reading Ellenberger's book, which I purchased and had signed today.

I last saw DESIGN FOR LIVING almost a decade ago, and as I wrote then, I didn't much care for it at the time. I wanted to give it another try on a big screen, with an appreciative audience, and I sensed things would be different this time almost from the moment the film began. For one thing, March and Cooper were breathtakingly gorgeous in a beautiful 35mm print on the Egyptian's big screen!

The movie played far better with an audience; things I took more seriously watching it alone on the DVD today came across as much more lighthearted in tone. I found myself far more willing to suspend disbelief and buy into Hopkins' improbable relationships, simultaneously loving two men, and on the whole found it a lot more fun. It's possible that seeing the movie in a new context, after ten years of having seen a wide variety of pre-Code films, also helped me to view it differently.

Today's experience is why I sometimes find it valuable to take a second look at a film, especially if I have the opportunity to see it on a big screen with an audience; I also find that knowing what to expect can help me better appreciate a second viewing, especially if I'd been disconcerted the first time around. Another example is that earlier this year I gave IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) a second try and liked it more than I had half a decade before.

I enjoyed DESIGN FOR LIVING so much today that I think I will probably pick up the Criterion DVD before the annual Criterion summer sale ends at Barnes & Noble. Joseph McBride, who I met at UCLA earlier this month, contributes to the extras.

Next weekend there are more amazing movie opportunities at UCLA, ranging from a William Wyler film screened in nitrate to a Bob Fosse musical to a trio of silent Lubitsch films.