Bringing Up Baby (1938)

While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screen play), Hagar Wilde (screen play)

Stars:

Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katharine Hepburn	...	Susan
Cary Grant	...	David
Charles Ruggles	...	Major Applegate (as Charlie Ruggles)
Walter Catlett	...	Slocum
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Mr. Gogarty
May Robson	...	Aunt Elizabeth
Fritz Feld	...	Dr. Lehman
Leona Roberts	...	Mrs. Gogarty
George Irving	...	Mr. Peabody
Tala Birell	...	Mrs. Lehman
Virginia Walker	...	Alice Swallow
John Kelly	...	Elmer

Storyline

Mild mannered zoology professor Dr. David Huxley is excited by the news that an intercostal clavicle bone has been found to complete his brontosaurus skeleton, a project four years in the construction. He is equally excited about his imminent marriage to his assistant, the officious Alice Swallow, who is interested in him more for his work than for him as a person. David needs the $1 million endowment of wealthy dowager Mrs. Carleton Random to complete the project. Her lawyer, Alexander Peabody, will make the decision on her behalf, so David needs to get in his favor. However, whenever David tries to make a good impression on Peabody, the same young woman always seems to do something to make him look bad. She is the flighty heiress Susan Vance. The more David wants Susan to go away, the more Susan seems not to want or be able to. But David eventually learns that Alexander Peabody is her good friend, who she calls Boopy, and Susan's Aunt Elizabeth, with whom David has also made a bad ...

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Plot Keywords:

leopard | male female relationship | sheriff | illegal parking | top hat | 

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Taglines:

And so begins the hilarious adventure of Professor David Huxley and Miss Susan Vance, a flutter-brained vixen with love in her heart! [Theatrical trailer.]

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Leoparden küßt man nicht

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,073,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite Hepburn's knack for working with Nissa, the studio wasn't taking any chances. Some scenes involving the leopard, like the drive to Connecticut, were done as process shots, with Nissa matted into the shot separately from the actors. This is evident when Cary Grant observes that "Baby" is "eating the car" -- slightly before the leopard begins gnawing. For the scene in which Hepburn drags Baby into the jail house, you can even see the break between the rope Hepburn is holding and the rope attached to the cat.

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Goofs

When Susan makes the long putt, she and David run side-by-side toward the hole. The scene cuts to more of a close up, and we see Susan suddenly 2-3 steps behind David.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Prof. LaTouche: Good morning, Miss Swallow.
Alice Swallow: Shh.
Prof. LaTouche: Why what's the matter ?
Alice Swallow: Doctor Huxley is thinking.

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Alternate Versions

There are different prints used for videotapes, some better than others with less splices and less deletion of small scenes due to shrinkage.

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Connections

Featured in It's Showtime (1976)

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Soundtracks

Camptown Races
(uncredited)
Music by Stephen Foster
[Heard in the background during the parade/butcher shop scene.]

User Reviews

Great comedy

I really enjoyed this classic screwball comedy. Grant was brilliant as the exasperated zoologist and Hepburn also shines as his troublemaking foil. The supporting cast is also uniformly excellent. The entire cast is of course blessed to be working with first rate material. Baby starts slowly and gradually builds momentum before becoming a comic frenzy. It's hard to believe today that this Howard Hawks masterpiece was a bomb in 1938, causing RKO to drop Hawks and Hepburn. I don't usually gravitate towards films of this sort but I'm glad I gave this gem a chance. I was thoroughly entertained. 9/10.