Designing Woman (1957)

Crappy film

Brilliant and touching

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Sports reporter Mike Hagen (Gregory Peck) and fashion designer Marilla Brown (Lauren Bacall) as well as others recall their whirlwind romance and marriage. It begins with Mike attending a golf invitational function in Beverly Hills. He's hungover the next morning and can't remember that he's met her the night before. They have a fun time together and quickly get married. They fly back together to NYC and their lives back home start to drive them apart.It's a functional rom-com with two Hollywood stars. They have reasonable chemistry together. The constant narration with the main premise of these people recounting their story got a bit annoying. I wanted the characters to just have the relationship and not be constantly commenting on it. The movie has its cute moments but no big laughs. Both leads do a fun job.

I mainly checked this out due to the fact that it WON the Oscar for best writing, story and screen play. Boy, 1958 must have been a very slow year. The only great thing I can say is that the costumes and gowns were beautiful - but it didn't even get nominated for that.I'm a big fan of Gregory Peck, but he was horribly miscast here. He does best when playing a sincere man with a noble cause. I don't know how or why he agreed to do this film. Laurne Bacall is very irritating in her role. Her "hair flips" get to be quite distracting. Delores Gray didn't appeal to me either - her features are much too equine to be attractive.I know this is supposed to be an attempt at comedy, but the whole fight scene where the choreographer kicks all the gangster guys to oblivion is just ridiculous.The only highlights for me were seeing Chuck Connor ("Rifleman") in a small role as a gangster, Edward Platt (Chief from "Get Smart") as the head gangster, and Mickey Shaugnessy as the punch-drunk idiot boxer who sleeps with his eyes open. It's interesting that they originally had cast James Stewart and Grace Kelly in the leads, but Stewart backed out after Kelly became engaged to Prince Ranier of Monaco. Maybe there would have been a better comedy portrayal had they been in it.I expected much more from an Oscar winner.

I've seen at least parts of this before, but I sat through it today and couldn't stop shaking my head. Stagey, stilted, and wooden. Only a few minor actors (viz Jesse White as Charlie Arneg) seem to be at ease and make their dialogue natural. Bacall and Peck barely utter a believable syllable throughout the entire production, so you could really care less if they live happily ever after or get hit by a bus. (Dolores Gray is actually the much more sympathetic character.)The direction often seems more like choreography, with Bacall or her friends moving about the set in exaggerated or bizarre fashion. Scenes meant to be charmingly madcap (the party at the newspaper; the party at her apartment; the poker game cum theater get-together) are simply manic without being funny.Maybe Doris Day and James Garner could have breathed life into this film.

An attractively sophisticated comedy of manners, Designing Woman brilliantly showcases its stars. It's great to find Lauren Bacall not only so lovingly photographed and costumed, but so agreeably and appealingly cast. Even Peck acquits himself with honors. The support players, led by enchanting Dolores Gray, are also perfect. It's a particular pleasure to see Jack Cole come across with such verve and panache in his tailor-made role.Despite his award, it's hard to believe the screenplay is the solo work of George Wells. His best scripts were either written in collaboration or based on material from another source. I wouldn't mind betting that Dore Schary had a hand in shaping the script. It abounds in cute ideas that seem far too clever and inventive for Mr Wells, such as the old but still amusing Ernst Lubitsch/Groucho Marx/Maurice Chevalier trick of directly addressing the audience from time to time. Once or twice, Wells even uses another vintage tried-and-true device by repeating a scene, but this time viewed through different eyes. Polished direction contributes to the film's success. Vincente Minnelli (Father of the Bride) was always right at home with mildly satirical material, although he seems unsure how best to utilize the width of the CinemaScope screen. There's often unused acres of space on either side of the main participants.Miss Gray has a song which struck me as no great shakes, but I found the music score otherwise very pleasant. The costumes, of course, rate as simply terrific.Mind you, even allowing for Mr Peck's inflated salary, it's hard to fathom where close on $2 million went to. True, the movie has its fair share of glossy production values, but $2 million worth?