Cary Grant plays David Huxley, a young paleontologist soon to be wed. He has painstakingly been preparing a full brontosaurus skeleton and is awaiting the final bone to make it complete. The day before his wedding, he meets Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a free-spirited troublemaker who manages to entangle David into series of embarrassing incidents many of which involve a leopard named Baby. The slapstick comedy combines the perfect mix of hilarious elements as the eccentric characters seek a large sum of money, fumble over dangerous animals, steal cars, get in car accidents, gain and lose precious dinosaur bones, and all on the eve and day of a wedding.
Despite the hilarity of the situations the two leads find themselves in, it is a little painful to watch. There's a large amount of deliberate miscommunication and sabotage that leads to fully grown men coming out of the shower to don a frilly bath robe ("because I just went GAY all of a sudden!") - or worse, throwing rocks at important people. However, unlike other films of the same era, director Howard Hawks manages to make this succinct and cohesive. It doesn't have a dull moment or misstep. I find that many movies in the '30s and '40s tend to belabor plot points and spend too long in slow, uneventful conversation. "Bringing Up Baby" does no such thing.
Cary Grant exudes youth and age all at once with a dashingly handsome demeanor, school-boy giddiness, but an almost geriatric anxiety. His frantic shouts of "I'll be with you in a minute Mr. Peabody!" while whisked away on the sides of a car, or while escorting Susan Vance and her ripped dress out of the ballroom are delivered with comical exasperation. He commits with his entire body to his comedy with hilarious acrobatics in bursts of mania as well as blundering dialogue. He seems born for this role.
“Now it isn't that I don't like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you, but—well, there haven't been any quiet moments.”
I have never been a big fan of Katharine Hepburn (I'm still not), and yet she and Cary Grant play off each other very well. The comedic timing and snappy dialogue is timeless. Katharine Hepburn has a voice that I famously despise, but still hearing her psycho-analyze David for "following her around and fighting with her" makes me crack a small smile. And, you know, annoying voice aside, Katharine Hepburn's wardrobe is killer.
"Bringing Up Baby" has spawned many grandchildren over the last 80 years of film-making. "What's Up Doc?" is an almost direct remake starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn. It might be a stretch to call it a superior film (though I personally enjoy it more). But Baby's influence reaches far beyond to other silly comedies such as 1991's "The Freshman" (featuring a komodo dragon) or 2009's "The Hangover" (featuring 4 men and a tiger). Its influence on comedy is palpable - though none can quite compare to Hawks' masterful frantic, overlapping dialogue and sense of frantic hysteria. It's hard to believe that it wasn't a hit upon its release. Hawks, of course, went on to win an honorary Academy Award in 1974 for his creative efforts in the American film industry.
There are many hilarious moments, but maybe none more than Susan and David harmonizing "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" to a whining Baby stuck on a rooftop with confused onlooking homeowners. This is a small moment that captures the loud and vivacious hilarity of a pioneer comedy. 8/10
Other Notes:
Directed by Howard Hawks
Ranked #97 in AFI's Top 100 Years... 100 Films in 1998 and #88 in 2007
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