One of Lubitsch's finest and most underrated films, Design for Living tells the story of three expatriate Americans in Paris - a struggling painter (Gary Cooper), an undiscovered playwright (Fredric March), and their self-appointed protectoress (Miriam Hopkins). The threesome resolve to establish a platonic household in a garret dedicated to the service of art. But the muse soon finds itself hard-pressed with both artists trying to get Miss Hopkins on a dusty couch and finally slipping into a blissful ménage à trois that has their lady switching with casual promiscuity from one to the other. But there's trouble in this paradise, too, when comradeship falls inevitably into jealousy. This cynical fairy tale comes to a properly amoral conclusion.