| David
Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection.
Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance,
and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard
called Baby. [TRAILER]
STEVEN
SNYDER'S REVIEW
Many
may not know it, but “Bringing
Up Baby” is one of the more famous early comedies in cinematic
history.
It is famous for several reasons, the first being perhaps some
of the best chemistry between a leading man and lady ever caught
on screen. In “Bringing Up Baby,” the
sparks fly between stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. They are a hilarious
team, one that cannot be watched without breaking a smile.
Its story of misunderstandings, repressed sexuality and physical humor has been
the inspiration for scores of screwball comedies since.
Susan (Hepburn) is a bored high-society girl who is looking for a little excitement
in her life. David (Grant) is a paleontologist at the local museum, attempting
to reconstruct the fossils of an ancient dinosaur. He is also trying to get additional
funding from Susan’s grandmother, which is how the two meet.
In a hilarious sequence, Susan’s dog runs off with one of David’s
invaluable dinosaur bones, and buries it in the yard. Desperate to retrieve it,
David starts digging up the family’s land, and the adventure is underway.
Following the bone sequence, both Susan and David find themselves babysitting
the pet of Susan’s brother, a spotted leopard named Baby. And from there,
the couple’s adventures with Baby take off, moving from the hysterical
to the dangerous, always with a romantic back story working its way, by the end,
to the center of the film.
This comedy is not so different than the recent film “Rat Race,” where
a group of characters, all with one objective, bump heads and compete with one
another in frantic fashion. It is exciting and exuberant, and always mindful
that its first priority is to make the audience laugh.
For that reason, “Bringing Up Baby” has not dated much since 1938.
It is about romance, a universal theme, and physical humor, which never goes
out of style. It rises above other romantic comedies because of its acting, timing,
and energy.
Both Hepburn and Grant are spectacular. We feel their attraction to each other
and, as a result, the hilarious sexual tension that exists in almost every scene.
Hepburn captures her affluent character perfectly, serving as a hilarious contrast
to Grant’s constricted scientist.
Both have the kind of timing that directors of comedies would kill for. As they
race through dialogue, they know exactly when to pause and speed up. Their physical
humor flows naturally. When David trips, flinches or smiles, it fits perfectly
into the progression of the story. Despite the outrageous situations, their natural
timing makes these characters more real than most characters in comedies today.
Much like “Singin’ In The Rain,” “Bringing Up Baby” maintains
a level of energy that is almost impossible to achieve. The story, the dialogue
and the acting move so fast that one cannot help but get caught up in this 90-minute
joke. Everything in the film serves to maintain this excitement and chaos.
“
Bringing Up Baby” is also famous for its use of innuendo to bypass the
censor codes of early Hollywood cinema. Watch the character of David closely.
Working beneath the surface, David may be the first homosexual character ever
to appear in the movies. Always subtly suggested with actions, words, or situations,
it has long been speculated that the writers of “Bringing Up Baby” used
the comedy genre to sneak messages by the studios’ censors.
I do not see this occurring often in “Bringing Up Baby,” but it is
definitely there, particularly in some of the film’s later moments of mistaken
identity. Even if you don’t see these subtle hints, the prospect still
gives “Bringing Up Baby” an edge that makes it not only hilarious,
but daring. The same can be said about Mel Brooks’ hilarious film “The
Producers,” concerning Hitler and the Nazis.
Some comedies give us wacky characters. Others give us intricate stories that
leave our heads spinning. Still others emphasize physical humor and the use of
the human body as the greatest comedic device of all. “Bringing Up Baby” is
one of the few films to do it all. It is a riot, and one film that all movie
lovers owe it to themselves to see.
 
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