Bringing Up Baby (1938)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

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

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
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)

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		(photographed by)

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)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical)
• Radio Filmes (1938) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1957) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (video)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

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:

In the original short story, Baby was a panther.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Katharine Hepburn generally didn't handle the leopard. One scene where this becomes obvious is when Susan has the wild leopard on a leash and is trying to pull him into the jail house. The angle of her end of the leash and the leash attached to the leopard are noticeably different, for they were shot at two different times with a matte.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References The Wise Little Hen (1934)

Soundtrack:

I Can't Give You Anything but Love

Classic Screwball Comedy

Maybe the prototypical example of the breed, in fact. Zoologist Grant (we'd call him a paleontologist nowadays) goes to a golf course to try to wrangle money out of a potential donor: along the way he meets up with Katherine Hepburn, and they have all sorts of wacky misadventures.

Grant's great, though it's not a typical role for him -- he's uptight, buttoned down, smothered. He's clearly the superego character, straitlaced and repressed and anti-life (it's no accident he works with bones). Hepburn was never lovelier than she was here -- she's the id character, all action and movement. There's a dedicated minority of people who hate this movie, mostly I think because they see the things Hepburn's character does as cruel. That's the point. Hepburn's not supposed to be nice -- she's id. We laugh partly because Grant needs to be loosened up, but partly because some of Hepburn's actions are shocking. Ideally, we should be in the same position as Grant in the movie: half-attracted, half-afraid.

Great "rat-a-tat" dialog in the classic Hollywood tradition. I can't think of many screenwriters today who could deliver such dialog. Highly recommended, one of the great Hollywood comedies.