Bringing up Baby: Screwball Comedy Gold

I am happy to participate in Love Letters to Old Hollywood and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood‘s Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn Blogathon. I decided to go more with Katharine and write about my favorite movie of hers – Bringing Up Baby from 1938.

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Synopsis:

Paleontologist, David Huxley, embarks on a wacky journey while trying to secure a $1 million dollar donation to his museum. While working to do this, he is derailed by a charming, but irritating, heiress and her leopard.

Katharine Hepburn

This is definitely my favorite performance by Katharine Hepburn. I really enjoy her in this movie. She is both endearing and funny. I don’t always love her in her movies, but in this one, I do. Her comedic timing is great. She was initially having a hard time with this, but Walter Catlett, who played Constable Slocum, helped her out. At first when director, Howard Hawks, asked him to give Hepburn advice, he refused because it thought it was a breach of etiquette. Hawks mentioned this to Hepburn, who then asked Catlett directly to help her. He couldn’t refuse. Hepburn also asked Hawks to expand Catlett’s part, so he could be around more when she needed him. It paid off and her comedy comes across brilliantly.

The scene above where Hepburn’s dress rips was based on an incident that Cary Grant relayed to Hawks. Grant’s zipper once caught on the back of a woman’s dress and he impulsively followed her. Hawks loved the story and used it to inspire this scene.

Initially, the leopard was allowed to roam mostly free about the set. Hepburn had no fear of the animal and took to petting her. Cary Grant did not share this love and a double was used whenever his character had to make contact with the cat.

The leopard roaming freely became a problem when it lunged at Hepburn when she turned around abruptly at one point. She was saved from injury by the trainer’s whip. After this incident, the leopard was no longer given that much freedom and Hepburn took more caution with the animal.

Cary Grant

Cary has great chemistry with Katharine. They are great in Holiday as well. He is really funny and his character is a great complement to Katharine’s. His line delivery is spot-on and he is so fun to watch. He is one of my favorites and his performance is so great.

Before this movie, Grant was actually worried that he would never really become a major star. He was 34 at the time and there were some younger stars who were more established than him. Unfortunately, this film was a commercial flop upon its release. It was after this failure that Katharine Hepburn was labeled “box office poison.” Despite its initial failure, it is now considered Howard Hawks’ best film.

The first time…

The scene below is funny because Grant is wearing a woman’s robe, but it is also historic. This was the first time that “gay” was used to hint at sexuality. It was an ad-lib by Grant and the word did not actually become popular as slang for homosexuality until the 1960’s…Talk about ahead of its time! I remember the first time I saw this being really surprised at how it was used since all of the other movies of the time use the word to mean happy and carefree.

Musical Moment

This is one of my favorite parts of the movie… when Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn sing together to lure the leopard off the roof. George, the dog, even joins in!

This movie is filled with really funny scenes and is just so fun to watch. My kids enjoy watching the leopard and the puppy, so it is really a win for everyone!

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