Review of Designing Woman

I have seen this beautifully made film many, many times and never get tired of it. I hope eventually all of Vincente Minelli's films come out on Blu-ray. They deserve to be seen in every bit of their gorgeous detail. Even this film's flaws make it richer. Gregory Peck's acting as sportswriter Mike Hagen is stiff and lackadaisical and Lauren Bacall also seems somehow preoccupied (possibly with her husband Humphrey Bogart's poor health). But their personal malaise as actors reinforces one of the central themes of the film, that is, the near impossibility of creating a truly compatible marriage. The sexually ambiguous character of Randy Owens (Jack Cole) also undermines (in a good way) the gender stereotyping that Mike Hagen and his buddies desperately cling to. Dancer Lori Shannon and producer Zachary Wilder are the only true adults in the film; it's their eventual pairing at the end of the film that gives it a sense of emotional completion.

Designing Woman also presents a wonderful cinematic vision of New York; it evokes a time when the world of musical theater and Broadway played a central role in American popular culture.