Designing Woman *** (1957, Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Gray) – Classic Movie Review 4,967

The wittily written 1957 romantic comedy film Designing Woman stars Lauren Bacall as the fashion-designing woman who tackles her sports columnist husband (Gregory Peck) when they find they have little in common after marrying in haste.

Director Vincente Minnelli’s wittily written 1957 clash-of-interests marital comedy film Designing Woman stars Lauren Bacall as the fashion-designing woman who tackles her sports columnist husband (Gregory Peck) when they discover they have little in common after marrying in a whirlwind romance.

Inviting comparisons with the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn classics is probably not the cleverest of script ideas, especially with the two usually excellent players Bacall and Peck not quite at their best in frothy sophisticated comedy. Nevertheless, there is a lot to admire and enjoy here, and a great deal of entertainment value.

Also in the cast are Dolores Gray, Sam Levene, Tom Helmore, Mickey Shaughnessy, Chuck Connors, Ed Platt and Jack Cole.

This American romantic comedy is filmed in Metrocolor and CinemaScope by cinematographer John Alton. He shot some of the most famous films noir – T-Men (1947), He Walked by Night (1948), The Amazing Mr X (1948), Raw Deal (1948) and The Big Combo (1955) – and won an Academy Award for An American in Paris (1951).

The screenplay is certainly admirable. There was an Oscar for George Wells’s Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen. But it is based on a suggested concept by Helen Rose, who designed dozens of gowns and dresses for Bacall for the film.

The Bacall role was planned for Grace Kelly, who left MGM for Monaco and Prince Ranier. Bacall said: ‘She got the prince, I got the part.’

Bacall was dealing with her husband Humphrey Bogart’s terminal illness during the shooting. He died of cancer during the filming on January 14, 1957, four months before the film was released.

The cast are Gregory Peck as Mike Hagen, Lauren Bacall as Marilla Brown Hagen, Dolores Gray as Lori Shannon, Sam Levene as Ned Hammerstein, Tom Helmore as Zachary Wilde, Mickey Shaughnessy as Maxie Stultz, Jesse White as Charlie Arneg, Chuck Connors as Johnny O, Edward Platt as Martin J. Daylor, Alvy Moore as Luke Coslow, Carol Veazie as Gwen, Jack Cole as Randy Owens, Richard Deacon as Larry Musso, Dean Jones as assistant stage manager, and Sid Melton as Miltie.

Cary Grant turned down the star role because of the heavy drinking of the character.

Release date: May 16, 1957.

Running time: 118 minutes.

It seems to have been popular. On a budget of $1.8 million, it took $3.7 million at the ox office, But, after all that, it lost MGM $136,000.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 4,967

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