SYNOPSIS

Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a stodgy paleontologist who is trying to get funding for his museum, marry his secretary and complete work on a fossil, all on the same day. A self-assured but eccentric heiress, Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) throws a wrench in his plan when she steals his golf ball during a game with a potential benefactor. Their ensuing relationship leads to a series of outrageous situations involving two escaped leopards (one a pet, the other a dangerous zoo specimen), a police lockup, a big game hunter, a society dowager, a mischievous dog and a missing dinosaur bone before romance wins the day.

Director: Howard Hawks
Producer: Howard Hawks
Screenplay: Dudley Nichols, Hagar Wilde
Based on the Story by Wilde Cinematography: Russell Metty
Editing: George Hively
Art Direction: Van Nest Polglase, Perry Ferguson
Music: Roy Webb
Cast: Katharine Hepburn (Susan Vance), Cary Grant (David Huxley), Charles Ruggles (Maj. Horace Applegate), May Robson (Aunt Elizabeth), Barry Fitzgerald (Mr. Gogarty), Walter Catlett (Constable Slocum), Fritz Feld (Dr. Fritz Lehman), Leona Roberts (Hannah Gogarty), George Irving (Alexander Peabody), Virginia Walker (Alice Swallow), Jack Carson (Roustabout), Ward Bond (Motorcycle Cop), Skippy (George, the Dog), Nissa (Baby, the Leopard)
BW-102m.

Why BRINGING UP BABY is Essential

In the eyes of many critics, Bringing Up Baby is the quintessential screwball comedy, incorporating all the standard elements of the genre such as the madcap heiress, a hapless leading man virtually victimized by her attentions and a group of stuffed shirts whose pomposity is deflated by the farcical goings on. It also stands as a prime example of the liberating influence of eccentricity (and the female) in the screwball comedy.

Critics would also link Bringing Up Baby to such recurrent Hawks trademarks as the aggressive female who destroys a man's composure, fast-paced action and dialogue and the sparse use of close-ups. Throughout his career, Hawks preferred to shoot his romantic leads in two-shots that emphasized a sense of partnership, even among such unlikely pairs as Susan Vance and David Huxley in this film. In tribute to Hawks, the French critics would refer to the medium two-shot as le plan Americain.

At the time Bringing Up Baby was made, Katharine Hepburn was experiencing some trouble with RKO. The studio suits knew Hepburn had a considerable personal fortune and no tolerance for people who undermined her position so they offered her an ultimatum once Bringing Up Baby began to go over budget. She had the option to take a part in an undesirable film--Mother Carey¿ Chickens (1938)¿r buy out her contract. To no one¿ surprise, she chose the latter.

Despite the fact that Bringing Up Baby was not very well received in its day, the cast of the film was dedicated to having fun and bringing about its success. Hawks wanted to capture a side of Hepburn he'd seen once during the filming of Mary of Scotland (1936) when she was working with Hawks's friend, John Ford. Hawks modeled Huxley, Grant's character, on aspects of Harold Lloyd's and John Ford's personalities. He even gave the Grant character Harold Lloyd's trademark small, round glasses. Hawks also captured the good-natured teasing and banter between Hepburn and Ford he witnessed on the set of Mary of Scotland in the Grant-Hepburn relationship in Bringing Up Baby. The film still continues to delight audiences 60 years later, and yes, George, the troublesome terrier in the film, was also featured in the Thin Man series and The Awful Truth (1937)

Like Casablanca (1942), Bringing Up Baby is a film that became a classic thanks to television airings starting in the '50s and revival screenings during the height of repertory cinema in the '60s. It is now regarded as one of the greatest comedies of Hollywood's golden age and has influenced the work of such contemporary directors as Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme and the Coen Brothers.

by Rob Nixon, Kerryn Sherrod & Jeff Stafford