"Bringing Up Baby"

[Hemingway Jones]

Though initially it was one of Katherine Hepburns "box office poisons" Bringing Up Baby has gone on to be one of the comic classic masterpieces of all time. It is a delightful screwball comedy showcasing Cary Grants vaudevillian-learned pratfalls and his witty dialogue. Ms. Hepburn is at her silly, yet sophisticated best.

Early in the film, Cary Grant is in tops and tails worthy of Fred Astaire, though he cannot remain elegant for long, with Susan around!

Has anyone else noticed how the scene with Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn playing golf in The Aviator seems inspired by the golf scene in this film?

Cary Grant didn't often wear a hat, but he does in this film, though more as a prop, a way to sketch the awkwardness of his character:





There's no way of knowing for sure, but that hat looks like a Borsalino: boxy and tall crown with a squarish brim.



I love this shooting jacket:



This is one of my favorite films and it always makes me smile. What are your opinions of it? Did it make you laugh? Did you like the clothes? Can someone tell me what was in Katherine Hepburn's hair during the scene where she was learning the olive trick?

 

[Feraud]

A great movie! Bringing Up Baby will make anyone love classic film. If it does not...you ain't human!
I have recommended this film to friends who do not like "old" movies.
The clothes are great and a good observation about the hat as a prop. I have to say my favorite prop (or is she a character?) is baby!

 

[imoldfashioned]

One of my favorites

I love this movie. The first time I saw it (in a theater) I laughed so hard I had trouble breathing. Katharine Hepburn is great but for me it is Cary Grant that just makes this film. His expression after the collision with the chicken truck slays me everytime.

In the photos you posted I noticed how comparatively badly tailored Grant's clothes are, as befits a befuddled professor (but he still looks fabulous)--not much shirt cuff showing, boxy jacket.

Kate is wearing some sort of veil in the olive trick scene, but I don't know how it is attached to her head. "The love impulse in man frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict".

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Ah, yes, Baby.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

"That's a masterpiece of understatement." A great Cary Grant quote from this film.

And Imoldfashioned, thanks for solving the veil mystery, or at least, part of it.

 

[Senator Jack]

My siblings and I watched this picture so many times as kids that I never realized it wasn't considered a classic. I figured it was one of those pictures EVERYBODY had to see.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[CharlieH.]

This one's alot of fun! I haven't seen it in ages, but I still remember it, particularly the scene on the dinosaur and that infamous "That's because I went GAY all of a sudden!" moment. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I would now as I was quite young, but I still had a good laugh.

Here's a little bit of trivia - Some scenes that feature Baby and one of the actors had to be composited from separate takes, particularly those with Cary Grant, who didn't like the cat very much.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

This is the first movie I saw either Cary Grant, or Katherine Hepburn in, sometime in high school - Fell in love with Hepburn right away, still always think of her in that role with that ripped dress, and Grant's been a favorite since. And just within the last year, was elated to discover another movie they did together that I like just as much, "Holiday".

In fact, BUB's maybe only the second Golden Era movie I saw, after It's a Wonderful Life. Great film, and a great introduction to Golden Era comedy for a newbie...


Swing High,
- C H

 

[Lauren]

Yup, a netted veil which was folded on itself with a binding of the same fabric of the dress, I believe.

LOVE this movie. Two of my favourite actors.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Yup, a netted veil which was folded on itself with a binding of the same fabric of the dress, I believe.

LOVE this movie. Two of my favourite actors.

But where was it attached? It sort of looks like two pieces of stiff and curled ribbon just haging out there.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

This is definitely one of my favorite movies. 2 of my favorite actors, great clothes, and just down right funny. And who couldn't love Baby!
I do agree with your noticing the golf scene in "The Aviator" as an homage to this film. I love that scene too, and see what you are bringing up.
Thanks for the great screen grabs.

 

[LadyStardust]

The only flaw this movie has, and even then it's not really a flaw, I'm just being silly; but the song "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" rolls around in my head for -days- afterwards, every viewing. A wonderful picture, very funny and quotable!

 

[Brian Sheridan]

YESSSSS! One of the greatest films of all time! Never fails to crack me up - esp in the scenes where Grant is trying to see "Mr. Peabody."

The 2 disc DVD set is so worth every penny.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I saw it for the first time last summer at a screening festival. I didn't like it one bit. T'was a loud, tangled mess.


First, it's 90 minutes of unrelenting yelling: nobody breathes between the hollers. Just a layer of shrill sound, much of it so fast as to be nearly unintelligible. Lots of smirky, arch, droll dialogue, aimed at provoking a titter at most. Still, I didn't laugh once. Really. Not even inside.


Second, Kate Hepburn's character is supremely annoying; I kept praying that Cary Grant would slap her into silence. She just never shut up.


Third, the ending was very weak; it seemed as if the writers just ran out of steam and out of ideas.


Just my opinion. Then again, the movie was a critical and box office flop when it first came out. I've read some reviews from that time: it seems that "Bringing Up Baby" gave the critics headaches. I can relate.

.

 

[Feraud]

Blah. I just edited myself. I am too tired to be nice today...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Bringing Up Baby will make anyone love classic film. If it does not...you ain't human!

Believe me, I'm all too human. Don't get me wrong, folks: I love screwball comedies. "Topper" and "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" are favorites. But this one fell flat for me. I wanted a refund ... and the screening was free!

.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I can't hear that fast

I saw it in a college class, why I can't remember. I was in a pan-academic curriclulum. Anyway, we all commented on how FAST they, especially Katherine Hepburn, talked and many of my classmates were native New Yorkers! I'll give it another look, though, after reading this thread.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Aw, I love this one. We screened it at the Strand a couple years ago, and it was a big hit -- brought out a lot of younger folks, which surprised me, and some of them said afterward it was the "first old movie" they'd ever seen and they had no idea they were *like* that.

Fun fact to know -- Cary Grant based his whole persona in this film on silent film comic Harold Lloyd, even down to the glasses he wears in the early scenes.

 

[goldwyn girl]

Bringing up Baby, is one of my all time favorite movies, I always watch it when it's on, even though I have it on DVD too. Whats not to love, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, a leopard and a dog. Gotta love "George"

And yes the song gets stuck in my head for days afterward too

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

This was the big movie that turned me on to the 1930's-40's movies in high school & a general interest in the era; before that, just music. Taped it off AMC & watched it I don't know how many times; was MAD about Ms Hepburn...