Bringing Up Baby (1938)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay) &
Hagar Wilde (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 February 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances...

Plot Keywords:

Bone | Leopard | Museum | Mistaken Identity | Fiancée

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Susan Vance
Cary Grant	...	Dr. David Huxley
Charles Ruggles	...	Maj. Horace Applegate (as Charlie Ruggles)
Walter Catlett	...	Constable Slocum
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Aloysius Gogarty
May Robson	...	Aunt Elizabeth Random
Fritz Feld	...	Dr. Fritz Lehman
Leona Roberts	...	Hannah Gogarty
George Irving	...	Alexander Peabody
Tala Birell	...	Mrs. Lehman
Virginia Walker	...	Alice Swallow
John Kelly	...	Elmer

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

UK:U | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #3752) | Argentina:Atp | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Howard Hawks said that he failed at making a good comedy here because of the characters were too "madcap", with no straight men/women to ground it. This comment may have resulted from his disappointment at the film's commercial failure at the time of its release, although many now consider it Hawks' best film.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Gogarty and Maj. Horace Applegate come across the leopard, and Applegate says, "Personally, Gogarty, I think you're a liar!" They start to run away from the leopard, when suddenly part of the leopard's head is transparent. You can see right through to the wall.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Prof. LaTouche: Morning, Miss Alice. My watch is...
Alice Swallow: Shh. Dr. Huxley is thinking.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Andy Griffith Show: Bringing Up Opie (#1.32)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

I Can't Give You Anything but Love

Arguably the funniest movie ever made

They certainly don't come any funnier than this film. The hilarious golf course scene at the beginning is followed immediately by the equally riotous nightclub scene. This is followed by more memorable set pieces & quotable stick-in-your-mind-forever lines than any movie I can think of, including Bank Dick & Night at the Opera.

Grant & Hepburn are brilliant & innovative. I read some place that when Cary Grant was having trouble finding the David character, Howard Hawks gave him the horn rims & told him to do Harold Lloyd. Which he does. Brilliantly.

I can watch this repeatedly with no more flagging interest than listening to a Beethoven symphony or sonata.

Hard to believe it was a big flop when it first came out.