Review of Bringing Up Baby (1938) by Arianeta L — 25 Nov 2009

Bringing Up Baby (1938) is a masterpiece immortal screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks. I don?t remember how many times I have seen this film but I think that is one of those movies that seem to improve upon repeat viewings. I enjoy this comedy not only for its gags but for the grace of its construction, the assurance of its style, and the richness of its themes. Hepburn plays Susan Vance, heiress who becomes fixated on the bespectacled David Huxley (Cary Grant). David is a stuffy, overworked zoologist who's engaged to an even stuffier female zoologist who doesn't want "domestic entanglements" like honeymoons, sex, and children to get in the way of their marriage. Through a series of coincidences, misadventures, and planned schemes over the course of two days, Susan works her way into David's life, completely throwing it out of whack. For the first part of the film, it seems like everything between them is merely a happenstance. However, once Susan finds out that David is getting married the next day, everything she does is arguably in the pursuit of keeping him away from his wedding date in New York. In this way, Susan is the essence of the liberated, strong, and wily woman that characterized the screwball comedies. She and David first meet on a golf course when David is trying--in his own clumsy way--to woo a corporate lawyer into donating $1 million to his museum. The lawyer represents the actual donor, a wealthy woman named Elizabeth (May Robson), who happens to be Susan's aunt. By the time the movie reaches its zenith, it has incorporated a big-talking game hunter named Major Horace Applegate (Charlie Ruggles), a small, yapping dog named George that steals a precious dinosaur bone David needs to complete a brontosaurus skeleton, and a tame leopard, the "Baby" of the title. But the magic of "Bringing Up Baby" can hardly be confined to the period in which it was made. Although it wasn't a box office hit when it was first released in 1938, it has gained status and popularity in the years that have passed. It is now seen as one of the essential films of the classic Hollywood, with outstanding if sometimes crazy direction by Howard Hawks, and truly memorable performances by everyone involved.

Finally I believe that only the most cynics could see "Bringing Up Baby" and not ?walk out? in a good mood. It takes place in a world this is distinctly out own, and yet, it has never existed. In essence, it is what the magic of the movies is all about--transporting us to another time and place, but allowing us to see ourselves nonetheless.