NINOTCHKA / DESIGN FOR LIVING | American Cinematheque

Aero Theatre

1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Wed, Dec 28, 2011
7:30pm

SCREWBALL COMEDY CLASSICS

Double Feature! Nicola Lubitsch In Person!

NINOTCHKA / DESIGN FOR LIVING

Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, and Bela Lugosi (!) is introduced by Lubitsch's daughter Nicola, followed by another Lubitsch delight, DESIGN FOR LIVING, based on a play by Noel Coward. All ticket holders also have a chance to win a DVD of The Criterion Collection's DESIGN FOR LIVING - this sparkling pre-Code prize features a high-definition digital restoration plus a 1932 short film by Lubitsch, selected-scene commentary, a British television version of Coward’s original play, and more!

Introduction by Ernst Lubitsch’s daughter, Nicola Lubitsch.

NINOTCHKA

1939, Warner Bros., 110 min, USA, Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

"Garbo Laughs!" screamed the ads, and so will you, as a stuffy Russian commissar (Greta Garbo) assigned to Paris matches wits with bon vivant Melvyn Douglas. She never had a chance. The second and last time Billy Wilder worked with his idol; his script (with Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch) is inspired, and the Lubitsch Touch is in full force. With Ina Claire, Sig Ruman, Felix Bressart and - no kidding - Bela Lugosi!

Trailer

DESIGN FOR LIVING

1933, Universal, 91 min, USA, Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

Playwright Tom Chambers (Fredric March) and painter George Curtis (Gary Cooper) share an apartment in Paris and both fall for lovely interior designer Gilda Farrell (Miriam Hopkins). Gilda can't make up her mind which man she loves, so she concocts a scheme for the three of them to live together platonically. Of course it's not long before the two men are figuratively clawing at each other’s throats in this pre-Code delight from director Ernst Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht, based on Noel Coward’s play.