The other night, my Bonnie Bride and I settled in to watch Bringing Up Baby (1938), a screwball comedy with a mix of slapstick thrown in starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Neither one of us had seen this film before, but we were both aware of this classic film, so the timing was good.
*Bringing Up Baby* movie poster - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029947/mediaviewer/rm3385203969?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_pos_111)Grant play David, s a paleontologist at a museum who is due to get married, and awaiting the arrival of the last bone of the brontosaurus he is building at the museum, while Hepburn plays Susan, the eccentric niece of a wealthy woman who may donate $1 Million dollars to the museum. Susan and David meet when Susan mistakenly uses David’s golf ball to finish round and then promptly steals David’s car, which is, ironically, identical to, and parked next to, his car. Laughter erupts as they continue to encounter each other later that evening with more misadventures. When Baby, a tame leopard, is delivered to Susan, she ends up calling David for help, pretending to be attacked by said leopard to coerce David to come over and help. David, his missing brontosaurus bone having been delivered, shows up with said bone in hand, and Chaos ensues.
Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant with the Brontosaurus - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029947/mediaviewer/rm2345257985?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_78)Then there is the dog, George, who adds to the chaos by running off with, and then burying, the previoulsy mentioned bone. Now David and Susan have to find where George buried the bone, and make sure that George is not used by Baby, the leopard, as a light snack, because Baby is on the loose. Pratfalls abound, and other goofiness. And yes, yet another leopard appears on the scene, that is, um, less than tame.
Grant, Hepburn, and the leopard - [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029947/mediaviewer/rm3968197633?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_50)One thing I have to note is when checking out the credits, I found that Bringing Up Baby was directed by Howard Hawks, who is considered to be one of the best directors of the 20th Century. Which is why it is such a good film. Back in the day when I was studying film history in college, my Prof, Woody, made a big point that Hawks, along with John Ford, were two top notch directors, and I have previously written about a couple of other films Hawks has directed. In the wikipedia entry for Bringing Up Baby, Hawks talked about the mistake he made in this film by having so many characters that could be described as “crazy”, which hurt the film’s success at the time of it’s release. However, the film has aged well and is a very enjoyable screwball film right up there with It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World, another fun screwball comedy. The wikipedia page also mentions that this film was considered a bit of a flop, and that Hepburn was considered box office poison for a couple of years after that. Both of these points are surprises to me.
My Bonnie Bride and I both thoroughly enjoyed watching Bringing Up Baby, and at points our laughter attracted the attention of Jasmine, the wonder dog, wondering what was going on. It is also the kind of film I can watch more than once or twice, and regret not having seen it before as it is such a fun film. In fact, I asked my Bonnie bride – “How the heck have I not seen this film before”! Beats the heck out of me. Such a fun film wo unwind with at the end of the day!
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