AFI Top 100: #88
I'm a simple man, really. I like chemistry between attractive actors, charming comedy that will leave you snickering, and an outrageous plot that would have only been deemed acceptable in 1938. Thankfully, Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby provides all of these simple pleasures in one of the most entertaining comedies I have seen from this time. I knew that this film was going to be right up my alley from its very first scene and I began to fall in love with each aspect of this movie with every passing minute. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn absolutely rule this movie from start to finish and while they were the definite stars of this hilarious story, the writing and production design helps to make it that much better. I did not know that it was this easy to fall head over heels for a pair of characters but here we are.
Bewildered yet talented paleontologist David (Cary Grant) is on the verge of securing a $1 million dollar donation for his prehistoric museum from an anonymous donor. When David gets unintentionally entangled in the hectic life of a young woman named Susan (Katharine Hepburn), they end up taking a long list of wild misadventures to get back where they started. The script, written by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde, contains some of the most genuinely sweet and heartwarming comedy of a film from this time that I have yet to see. All of the humor holds up very well and nothing was incredibly offensive, even for a time period that seemed to take liberties with that kind of content. I loved the focus on David and Susan's developing relationship and while it might not have been the intent, this film eventually became a bit of a rom-com. The gags throughout this film are also incredibly quick and dialogue-driven and the wordplay coming from these characters' mouths is just as humorous. The script provides the perfect amount of goofy material and puns for this entire cast to play with and I loved how well they all took it and ran. Most of the written humor throughout this film would not have been delivered as well, if not for the near slapstick qualities that Grant brought to the table. Watching David fumble over himself and his words is quite honestly more entertaining than most of our culture's modern comedy. What I loved most about this story, however, was how these filmmakers were able to take dramatic situations and find comedy in them. Forced scenarios for characters in order to squeeze humor out of them has always been an outdated and lazy tactic and while Bringing Up Baby is indeed ridiculous, it was never too much so. The drama of what could have been a much more serious story is flipped on its head and utilized for comedy incredibly well.
The chemistry between Grant and Hepburn throughout the entirety of this movie is something a casting director, even today, can strive towards. Their relationship over the course of this film was just delicious and these characters were written to complement each other so well. Not only were they both very well-suited to deliver some of the lines with comedic ease, but I genuinely believed how this story made them fall in love. Grant's lovable and goofy persona combined with Hepburn's witty and charming persona made for such a fantastic couple that they could only pull off. Some of the technical pieces that I enjoyed as well were the production design and animal handling. I was surprised at how large-scale the design was, as this film does a great job of building upon the world. The gags that they were able to pull off exclusively due to the massive dinosaur built and the sets that they had to work with were extraordinary. I also appreciated how well-trained and comfortable the cast and crew felt with the literal live leopards and dogs throughout this movie. It was delightful to see how Grant and Hepburn reacted to them and it made their shared scenes even more hilarious. My only gripe with this film, however, would be the direction from Hawks. It was definitely fine but it began to feel very slow, especially in the film's third act. Bringing Up Baby works best when it focuses on the random, unexpected misadventures that Susan and David wind up in and I just think that Hawks started to run out of steam with his humor towards the end. It was just a bit unevenly paced and while it might not have been his tightest story ever, Hawks still manages to do a solid job.
Howard Hawks might be known better for his work on more dramatic pieces of storytelling but this comedy is the perfect example of his many talents. Accompanied by the wonderful performances from the cast and a stellar script to work with, Bringing Up Baby is a comedy that is definitely worth the time to check out. I genuinely loved every moment of this film and there is a lot of substance that modern humor can derive from early stories such as this. Long live goofy, relationship-based comedy and long live the allure of Hepburn and Grant.
My Rating: ★★★★
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