Designing Woman (1957)

At the mention of Gregory Peck's name, any number of great films might come to mind. "The Keys of the Kingdom" of 1944 had four Oscar nominations. "Gentlemen's Agreement" of 1947 won three Academy Awards, including best picture. "Twelve O'clock High" of 1949 won two Oscars. "Moby Dick" of 1956 won international awards. "To Kill a Mockingbird" of 1962 won three Oscars including Peck's Oscar and a Golden Globe as best actor. These are among many superb roles Gregory Peck had in dramas, war films and Westerns. One doesn't readily think of Peck in comedies, and yet he did make a few comedy romances. The best known of those would be "Roman Holiday" of 1953, which was a big hit mostly for the role of the relative newcomer to film, Audrey Hepburn. But, Peck had two genuine comedies around this time. "Man With a Million" was a 1954 British film that showed Peck with some talent for comedy. I think his best genuine comedy is this 1957 film, "Designing Woman." Make no bones about it, Gregory Peck is not a comedian. He doesn't deliver snappy, witty lines, or give dialog that evokes laughter. But he can play a straight face with comedy situations that are very funny. And, he can act a frazzled part that leads to laughs. Those are what he does mostly in this film with co-star Lauren Bacall. The story is a good one and won an Oscar for George Wells. Peck is a New York newspaper sports writer, Mike Hagen. Bacall is a fashion designer, Marilla Brown. No two more opposites would be likely to hit it off. But they do, and their opposites in almost everything lead to some very funny situations. The film gets a further boost out of a supporting cast that has some very good performances. Bacall is very good in her role and it was good to see her back in films after the January death of husband Humphrey Bogart. Considering this film's success, one wonders how Peck and Bacall might have fared in further pairings, comedic or otherwise. This film is a good watch for the whole family. The kids may especially like the antics of a dog.

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.

The kind of vapid 1950s movie that's so inconsequential it makes you wonder how anyone involved with it mustered up enough energy to make it in the first place.Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck meet cute and get married, only to discover afterwards how different they are. He's a man's man sportswriter; she's a fashion designer living in a gorgeous NY apartment. The film could have done something interesting with this premise and seriously explored gender roles and male/female relations during a complicated social decade. But it instead drops this theme entirely about half way through, and settles into a tiresome "comedy" about how jealous Bacall is of one of Peck's old flames. The film infantilizes her to a degree that cannot be forgiven; she's introduced as a successful and independent career woman, and morphs over the course of the film into a petulant teenager.The 1950s were a fascinating decade for film, the social schizophrenia of the time being reflected in the movies being made. Unfortunately, "Designing Woman" represents both 1950s culture and filmmaking at its most retrograde.Grade: C

Lauren Bacall is a "Designing Woman" in this vibrant, sophisticated 1957 comedy directed by Vincent Minnelli and starring Gregory Peck, Delores Gray, Sam Levene, Tom Helmore, Mickey Shaughnessy, Jesse White and Chuck Connors. Suggested by costume designer Helen Rose, this story of a designer marrying a sportswriter is a loose remake of "Woman of the Year" - two people meet, fall in love, marry hastily, and then discover that they're from different worlds. And Mike Hagen (Peck) comes with baggage - an ex-girlfriend (Delores Gray) who is starring in the show Mirella (Bacall) is doing the costumes for, plus he has mobsters after him because of a series of stories he's writing.It's a recipe for good fun, some beautiful '50s fashions and most of all, excellent acting by the entire cast. Bacall and Peck work beautifully together, both displaying wonderful comic timing, the highlight being the ravioli scene. Mickey Shaughnessy is hilarious as Max, the punch-drunk fighter, and Delores Gray is sexy and sings up a storm as performer Laurie Shannon. Minnelli keeps the pace moving and gives us a good taste of putting on a Broadway show and some of the personalities involved.Someone on the board mentioned that the Peck and Bacall looked as though they were having fun. Hopefully, that's true. This was made shortly before Humphrey Bogart's death - the film was actually released about 5 months after he died - and it's a tribute to Bacall's professionalism that she was able to pull off a comedy under such circumstances. I don't think her personal life could have been much fun at all.