IMDb > Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Bringing Up Baby
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

Bringing Up Baby (1938) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 29 | slideshow) Videos (see all 4)
Bringing Up Baby (1938) -- Open-ended Trailer from RKO Radio
Bringing Up Baby (1938) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   21,845 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Dudley Nichols (screenplay) &
Hagar Wilde (screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Bringing Up Baby on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 February 1938 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
'Up' and 'Marley & Me' Among Dog Movie Winners
 (From Cinematical. 23 November 2009, 1:32 PM, PST)

Farber on Film: Introduction, Part 4 (After Negative Space)
 (From The Auteurs. 18 November 2009, 7:36 AM, PST)

User Comments:
"I can't give you anything but love, Baby!" more (184 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ruth Adler ... Bit (uncredited)
Adeline Ashbury ... Mrs. Peabody (uncredited)
Asta ... George the dog (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict ... David's Caddy (uncredited)
Billy Bevan ... Joe - Bartender (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone ... Doorman (uncredited)
Ward Bond ... Motorcycle Cop at Jail (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks ... Nightclub Table Extra (uncredited)
Harry Campbell ... Bit (uncredited)

Jack Carson ... Circus Roustabout (uncredited)
D'Arcy Corrigan ... Prof. LaTouche (uncredited)
William Corson ... Bit (uncredited)
Evelyne Eager ... Circus Performer (uncredited)
Judith Ford ... Hatcheck Girl (uncredited)
Billy Franey ... Butcher (uncredited)
Jack Gardner ... Deliveryman (uncredited)
Edward Gargan ... Zoo Official (uncredited)
Frances Gifford ... Bit (uncredited)
Tex C.C. Gilmore ... Bit (uncredited)
Duke Green ... Bit (uncredited)
Paul Guilfoyle ... Bit (uncredited)
Geraldine Hall ... Maid (uncredited)
George Humbert ... Louis - Headwaiter (uncredited)
Karl 'Karchy' Kosiczky ... Midget (uncredited)
Lorraine Krueger ... Bit (uncredited)
Richard Lane ... Circus Manager (uncredited)
Dorothy Lloyd ... Bit (uncredited)
Buck Mack ... Zoo Official (uncredited)
Teddy Mangean ... Bit (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe ... Joe (uncredited)
Jeanne Martel ... Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley ... Deputy (uncredited)
Eleanor Peterson ... Circus Performer (uncredited)
Buster Slaven ... Peabody's Caddy (uncredited)
Larry Steers ... Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Jean Stevens ... Bit (uncredited)
Bobby Stone ... Bit (uncredited)
Jack Stoney ... Bit (uncredited)
Bob Thatcher ... Bit (uncredited)
Frank M. Thomas ... Voice of Circus Barker (uncredited)
Ida Vollmar ... Bit (uncredited)
Crawford Weaver ... Bit (uncredited)
Cynthia Westlake ... Bit (uncredited)
Pat West ... Mac (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Howard Hawks 
 
Writing credits
Dudley Nichols (screenplay) &
Hagar Wilde (screenplay)

Hagar Wilde (story)

Produced by
Cliff Reid .... associate producer
Howard Hawks .... producer (uncredited)
 
Original Music by
Roy Webb (uncredited)
 
Cinematography by
Russell Metty 
 
Film Editing by
George Hively 
 
Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase 
 
Costume Design by
Howard Greer (gowns)
 
Makeup Department
Mel Berns .... makeup artist (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Donahue .... assistant director
 
Art Department
Perry Ferguson .... associate art director
Darrell Silvera .... set dresser
 
Sound Department
John L. Cass .... sound recordist
 
Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker .... special effects
 
Stunts
Jimmie Dundee .... stunt double: Cary Grant (uncredited)
Helen Thurston .... stunt double: Katharine Hepburn (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser .... assistant camera (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Roy Webb .... musical director
Max Steiner .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Olga Celeste .... leopard trainer (uncredited)
Patricia Doyle .... stand-in: Katharine Hepburn (uncredited)
Jack Morton .... stand-in (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
102 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
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)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
There is no musical score for the film, with the exception of the opening and end titles. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Susan says her brother trapped Baby while he was hunting in Brazil. There are no leopards in Brazil. There are, however, jaguars. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Prof. LaTouche: Morning, Miss Alice. My watch is...
Alice Swallow: Shh. Dr. Huxley is thinking.
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
I Can't Give You Anything but Love more

FAQ

Is this movie based on a book?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
How does the movie end?
more
42 out of 52 people found the following comment useful.
"I can't give you anything but love, Baby!", 12 October 2001
10/10
Author: intercostalclavicle from Edinburgh, Scotland

It's just one of those films. It caught me at the start, made me laugh (a lot), didn't stop for about 100 minutes and left me in a particularly breathless state. In a good way. My advice to anyone is to watch this film, especially if you're in a position where you need a good cheering up. The laughs are so rapid and top-notch that I defy anyone to keep a straight face for more than five minutes when put in front of this screwball madness.

And madness is no exaggeration. This film is astonishing – it just leaps from bizarre situation to bizarre situation, never giving in for more than a second. I could go on for days listing my favourite bits – quotes, scenes and that particularly special moment when Cary just went gay all of a sudden! Who can't laugh at Susan's tricks with the olives? Or Major Applegate's frankly odd leopard cry? And "I was born on the side of a hill… I was born on the side of a hill"?!

What makes this film work so fantastically well – apart from the brightness of the gags, the eccentricity of the plot and the nuttiness of the characters – is the superb cast. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are (obviously) famously strong actors – and I believe that they are both at their best here. They both convey the complete insanity of the film in just the right fashion, with Katharine Hepburn's Susan being the peak of lunacy. She is so, so funny and so fantastically well-timed in her delivery of the jokes that, without everything else, the film would still be propelled along at breakneck speed by her performance alone. Susan is basically on a completely different planet to everybody else altogether – and Hepburn lives there with her quite comfortably in this film!

But although Susan is on another planet – this isn't the only ingredient in the film's recipe for disaster. Seeing as all the other characters are also on their own individual planets, nothing can be done to help! David Huxley's planet is called What's-Happening-To-Me-Today?, and Cary Grant is supreme in this role. He is a man placed in the weirdest situation imaginable and only has his own confusion to work with. Well, that and his charm. It is a role that Cary would repeat again and again in the future, and one that he does exceptionally well here. He is charming, as he always was, but is dragged into Susan's hare-brained existence – becoming a nervous wreck. I cannot emphasise enough how funny it is to watch him at dinner with Susan, Mrs. Carlton-Random and Major Applegate as he repeatedly gets up and walks away mid-conversation in a completely distracted fashion in order to follow George the dog out of the room. He is a man completely confused and utterly frustrated by this screwball that is Susan – who just can't help but drag him in the worst conditions possible. And it's a dream to watch.

Mrs. Carlton-Random (May Robson) and Major Horace Applegate (Charles Ruggles) are also superlative and, sure enough, are never quite on Planet Earth. They are constantly being baffled by the insane goings-on around them and are just funny, funny, funny.

Incidentally, I watched this film for the first time the day after receiving good exam results and I was on a bit of a high – making it funnier still! It is a film with a remarkable ability to make you happy – no matter how down-in-the-dumps you may feel. Similar films, such as the screwball-comedy-homage What's Up, Doc? are often worthy of a watch, but never surpass the quality of humour present in Bringing Up Baby.

10/10

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (184 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Not one kiss the entire movie...? stealthblue2001
This is one of the worst movies ever made. Dr_Keating
Anywhere I could get the script? cyberdgl2000
Once Again, the Usage of the Word 'Gay' acrylica
Car keys plot hole srb2001
Why was the film not well-received? kahjraj
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Sullivan's Travels The Palm Beach Story Barefoot in the Park The Miracle of Morgan's Creek Enchanted
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Comedy section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.