Jun. 04, 2002 - 4:10 pm
...that's right, it's Bringing Up Baby. Howard Hawks' masterpiece screwball comedy. Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. and i normally don't even really like Katharine Hepburn. but this movie is great. see it to the left? yep, it's a 10.
the jokes in this are great. piece of trivia: this is the first big-screen movie to use "gay" as a euphemism for "homosexual." it's so fast-paced, it's just wonderful. tons of great physical humor and you can't help empathizing with Cary Grant as the confused scientist frightened by the wild antics of Hepburn's character. oh, by the way, "Baby" is a leopard if you can't tell from the cover. there's also a dog that barks nonstop that buries the most important thing that Cary Grant needs, the final bone for his brontosaurus.
i first watched this film because it was on the AFI list, but i felt it was time to see it again. why oh why don't they sell this on dvd??? i need to find a vhs copy sometime for cheap. then i can get it on dvd when they actually start selling it.
for another great film from 1938 see the following review. yeah, i'll bet you're wondering what won Best Picture instead of either of these two films. well to find out, click here.
anyway Bringing Up Baby is so much more than just your average screwball comedy. the basica formula usually consists of a man and woman, the woman usually being smarter than the man, who are attracted to each other but don't get together until the very end of the movie. modern example? hows about Pretty Woman (1990). yeah, we all know you've seen it a million times. don't lie about it. but i think i love Bringing Up Baby because of the pace and the fact that the leads are just so insane and completely opposite from each other. you empathize with both, but at the same time you can't understand how they can constantly act so idiotic. it's great acting, writing, and all the rest of it. i need to see more Howard Hawks films. like Sergeant York (1941). i've seen parts but not all. coming soon...?