Designing Woman Synopsis: A sportswriter and a fashion-designer marry after a whirlwind romance, and discover they have little in common.
During a whirlwind trip to Beverly Hills, the eight-day romance ends in marriage for sportswriter Mike Hagen and fashion designer Marilla Brown. When they return to New York together, they discover their lives are, in fact, very different.
Mike is working to expose a corrupt boxing promoter, and Marilla is designing clothes for an upcoming musical that stars Mikeâs ex-girlfriend, Lori Shannon. Through a series of mishaps and miscommunications, it appears their relationship will fail.
I have seen a few of Lauren Bacallâs movies, but Designing Woman is the first of her earlier films Iâve watched. I can absolutely see why sheâs considered a cinematic icon. Bacall commands the screen. She strikes an incredible balance of strength and vulnerability, and who can resist that smoky voice?
I adore Gregory Peck, so it wasnât exactly a chore to watch these two try to mend the differences in their relationship. He’s terrific as Mike Hagen and once again gets to put his comedic chops on display. I laughed out loud at a scene where he tells his ex (played by Dolores Gray) that he’s married, and she calmly dumps a plate of ravioli on his lap. Peck’s muted response is so perfectly timed and executed that I would love to check out some of his other light-hearted work soon.
The movie itself is the âmiscommunicationâ trope personified and, as a result, can be quite silly. How often have we watched a romantic comedy and realized all would be sunny and sweet if the two leads just talked to one another? Since they released Designing Woman in 1957, Iâm willing to give it a pass.
It helps that Bacall and Peckâs chemistry is captivating enough to carry the movie past some of the story’s more implausible moments. While it’s a catalyst for some of Mike and Marilla’s misunderstandings, I’m not sure how important the “crooked boxing promoter” is to the story. It feels slightly out of place in tone, but the brawl that concludes the conflict is funny enough that I can’t complain too much about it.
I’m starting to love watching some of these older films. There’s just an elegance to them that you can’t find in modern rom-coms anymore, and I’m excited to watch more. I have read it’s a reworked version of Katharine Hepburn’s Woman of the Year, but I can’t compare the two until I finally see it. Even so, I would definitely recommend giving Designing Woman a watch. (ETA: I have watched Woman of the Year! Link added.)
Watched: 01/05/2022
Notable Song: Won’t You Come Home by Devendra Banhart
Joel
January 13, 2022The movie is chic and fun with a great look but I can’t say I number it among my favorites.
Bacall is effortlessly stylish and completely at home in her role, behind the scenes she was dealing with Bogart’s final illness so her stress level must have been enormous but it doesn’t show. Dolores Gray is very funny as the fly in the marriage’s ointment and Peck though not the most natural comic actor nails his important moments. But there is just some key element missing that would move the film from the level of good to exceptional.
Though she could handle comedy with a light touch Betty Bacall didn’t have the opportunity often to use that particular skill set. This and How to Marry a Millionaire were the only outright comedies she made during her major leading lady period, though she was the comic relief character in Murder on the Orient Express.
One terrific film she made around this same time that utilized her sly, knowing way with a line to leaven more dramatic situations is the star-studded (June Allyson, Clifton Webb, Van Heflin, Arlene Dahl, Cornel Wilde, Fred MacMurray) Woman’s World. It’s very entertaining and incredibly lush as well
Sara
January 21, 2022I have heard good things about Woman’s World! I’m going to add it to my list of movies to watch soon.