Ernst Lubitsch's Design for Living (1933)

The thing that came as a surprise to me was Edward Everett Horton in a supporting role. He had a distinctive voice and even though I hadn't seen it in years I realized he was the narrator of "Fractured Fairy Tales" on the old Bullwinkle Show. Thinking back, I remember his name being on there although it meant nothing to me until now.

A struggling American playwright (Fredric March) and a struggling American painter (Gary Cooper) are friends living in Paris and are both in love with a commercial artist (Miriam Hopkins).  When the two men discover they were each pursuing the same girl, the three of them agree to live together as friends. She will help guide their careers. And "No sex," she tells them, which she could say because it was Pre-Code, but it didn't last.

They were sophisticated creatives. And they were fictional characters which gives them certain advantages. 

Written by Ben Hecht based on a play by Noel Coward. 

Available on The Criterion Channel.