Bringing Up Baby (1938) – 3/5

Slightly odd at times, but not too shabby

„Bringing Up Baby“ is an American black-and-white movie in the English language from 1938, so this film we have here will have its 85th anniversary next year or perhaps it happened already depending on when you read this review of mine. It runs for slightly over 100 minutes, which makes it neither a short nor a long full feature film you could say. The director is Howard Hawks who was around the age of 40 when he made this and this film is from right before the beginning of World War II and Hawks scored his only Oscar nomination during World War II. There are two writers here: Dudley Nicholas was already an Oscar winner at that point and him being part of this movie is surely a key reason why they got two big name actors on board. I will get to those a little later. The second writer Hagar Wilde was more prolific for the small screen, especially later on in his career, than for the big screen, so nobody can really be surprised that he has no history with the Academy. This film here was induced in the National Film Preservation Board already back in 1990, so you can see that it is really remembered by many. Even so many years after its shooting and even without (Oscar) awards recognition from when it got made. The two stars I talked about earlier are of course Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. They are both leads here without a doubt, even if Grant feels slightly more lead. The film begins with him and Hepburn’s character is not introduced before Grant’s bumps into her for the first time. Almost literally. There are a few odd confusions on the golf course where they meet for the fist time. This includes golf balls, cars and a lot more. Later on when they run into each other again, a handbag including a really precious item plays a big role too.

As the film continues, we also get to see some animals. There is a leopard at the center of the story or actually there are two leopards, even if most of the characters have no idea for the majority of the film that it is not just one. Then there is also a dog that unintentionally causes further mayhem. When I tell you that Grant’s character here has the profession of a paleontologist and that old dinosaur bones play a major role, you can maybe already think of some of the chaos that ensues in terms of the dog. By the way, Grant, whose birth name is really completely different compared to the name that everybody knows him under, namely Cary Grant, was still waiting for his first Oscar nomination when this film was made while Hepburn had already two nominations and won one of those. Honestly, I am a bit surprised that she did not score an Oscar nomination for her performance here. I am not sure if I think she would be deserving, but what she did with the character and her clumsy shenanigans I really would have imagined the Academy going for it, especially as they clearly loved her at that point it seems. She is also first credit here. On the one hand it surprises me because, as I stated earlier, Grant is the bigger lead, but on the other it does not surprise me because Grant’s character was basically throughout the entire film just reacting to what Hepburn’s character does. The gigantic mayhem at the very end is the best example for that, namely when the big dinosaur skeleton crashes down. This confused me by the way at the very start. We find out that the dinosaur’s clavicle or collarbone whatever it is called was missing still and they found it and send it there, but way before that, really with the very first shot, Grant’s character is wondering where to put a specific bone for it to be in the right position of the skeleton, but then they say that the entire thing is finished and ready and only the clavicle or collarbone is missing for it to be completed. Anyway, just a minor thing that did not make sense here.

I talked a lot about the two leads already, but there are others who deserve being mentioned. Charles Ruggles had some solid screen time in the second half. Barry Fitzgerald became an Oscar winner a few years later and managed something really unique in Oscar history and May Robson was already an Oscar nominee when this got made in the late 30s. Virginia Walker I personally want to mention and she plays Grant’s character’s initial romantic partner, but when she sees the chaos at the end she leaves him and well he is free for Hepburn’s character as a consequence. No surprise there, the only surprise was how exactly they would reach that conclusion of the two becoming a couple. I am maybe the only one there but I would have picked Walker without hesitation over Hepburn, no matter how goofy and quirky the latter’s character may be in this film. Walker was just really stunning and sad to see she died at such a young age already and also under not really known circumstances. May she rest in peace. Like everybody else from this film. Even with child actors, chances would be slim now for them to still be alive. I think that overall this was a decent watch. I was nicely entertained, but never too impressed by the writing or performances I must say. It’s old Hollywood. Sometimes the film went a bit too much over the top in terms of romance like when Hepburn’s character tells somebody on the phone and at the same time also tells us in the audience that she has never in her life loved a man as much as Grant’s character and that was surely a bit exaggerated and even on the creepy/stalker side with how they knew each other really only for a short period of time. Grant’s character’s reaction seemed more appropriate. It seemed as if he wanted to be left alone as she was always creating chaos in his life, but he still said that he was attracted to her in a way on one occasion.

The comedy was so-so I would say, just like everything else. Some jokes in here have not aged too well, while others were fairly funny. My favorite moment from the entire movie in terms of comedy, maybe even in terms of everything, was when Hepburn on the phone with Grant’s character acted as if she was attacked by the leopard to make him come over to her place and see what is going on, maybe save her. That was nicely portrayed. How she is first about to say that everything is alright, but then only moments afterwards realizes that this is a way to make her (future) man come there, so she can see him again. Something that did not do too much for me for example on the comedy side was almost at the ending then when Hepburn’s character, when in jail already, acts as if she was some tough criminal girl or so. This moment of not just Hepburn acting but her character acting left me completely unimpressed and she should have listened to Grant’s character’s words to stop whatever she was doing because it won’t have any (positive) effect. I must also say that there almost none of the supporting actors really contributed any true quality here or made the film a better watch one way or another. There were exceptions like a sexually awkward moment between an old lady and the major, but these were not as frequent as they should have been for the film to really win me over. This is a bit disappointing because the longer the film goes, the more supporting characters show up, but (almost) all of them are utterly forgettable. I don’t blame the actors, but rather the writing here.

Nonetheless, the outcome is a thumbs-up for me here for sure and without major hesitation. It was never in doubt I would see this as an alright movie and there is no way I would give a negative recommendation here. I still think that other films from this era and especially other films including either Grant or Hepburn deserve to be seen first before you go check this one out. Nonetheless, I applaud the movie theater who decided to bring this film back to the big screen for two screenings only I think. The first happened when I was there, the second will happen on the penultimate day of the year 2022. Seeing it once is enough for me though, maybe even once in a lifetime is enough. In the end, nothing stays truly memorable here and even I as an animal lover did not see too much quality in the scenes with the different animals. I think it was also not just the leopard and the dog, but another later on briefly. It is a film that feels fairly typical for its era. Sometimes, it even had a touch of Three Stooges to it and one moment that stayed in the mind there for me was when Hepburn’s character (deep into the second half already) pulled the savage leopard with her leash and made a brief statement of discomfort about the wild animal refusing to cooperate that literally could have been right out of a Three Stooges (short) film. The entire scene afterwards in the jailhouse could have been out of something like that almost. So yeah, this film is never about drama, but always about comedy mixed with romance, even if the latter only from Hepburn’s character’s side until the very end really. Maybe this lack of drama is why the Academy Awards ignored it. I myself, however, am glad films like this are still shown (or again shown) on the big screen and it was nice for me to see that the screening I was in attracted a really great amount of viewers. This is how it should be for the recent tendency/trend to continue, the one of many movie theaters showing classics again. I suggest you check out „Bringing Up Baby“. There’s worse (and better) ways to spend 100 minutes of your time. It’s also not really necessarily a film that must be seen on the big screen. About as effective on a television or laptop screen too. Just go for it.