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

Katharine Hepburn was having a difficult time with comedic timing --Hawks said that she was "trying too hard to be funny" and kept laughing out loud. Luckily, Walter Catlett, who played Constable Slocum, was a veteran comic who had headlined for Ziegfeld. Hawks wanted him to give Hepburn some tips, but he refused, considering it a serious breach of etiquette. Hawks asked whether Catlett would help Hepburn if she asked him to. He would. Hawks mentioned this to Hepburn, who immediately marched over to ask Catlett for advice. Hepburn was so grateful that she asked Hawks to make Catlett's part larger so that he could be around if she needed more help.

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Goofs

There is no such thing as an intercostal clavicle, since a clavicle is a shoulder bone and the word "intercostal" refers to a bone found between the ribs.

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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

Also available in a colorized version for television airings.

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Connections

Referenced in La La Land (2016)

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Soundtracks

I Can't Give You Anything but Love
(1928) (uncredited)
Words by Dorothy Fields
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Played as background music very often throughout the film
Sung a cappella by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant

User Reviews

What's with the recent bashing of this film?

It's not just a classic - It's a timeless one! Katharine Hepburn (by her own accounts) was in two minds about playing screwball comedy. But she pulls off the characterization of the mad-cappest heroin/heiress ever portrayed on film. It's NOT Kate. It's Kate brilliantly breaking out of her 1930s typecast. The pace is fast, Cary Grant is brilliant as the professor Kate harasses/helps/falls in love with throughout. And what about Susan's aunt and the major? Priceless! Kudos to Baby, as well. I think maybe a few reviewers have been taking their humor from watching 1930s European comedies. Unless it's all out and out vaudeville or cabaret transpositions you're watching, I wouldn't recommend making those your standards for judging "Bringing Up Baby". Worse still if you're judging by American/European standards of the 21st Century. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying since you can't compare this to virtually anything of those, just enjoy the ride. The Acting you CAN compare, though. And I put my money & soul on Hepburn, Grant & Baby every time.

10/10