Film Review
Although it was very ill-received when it was first released,
Bringing Up Baby is now considered
the definitive screwball comedy, the film that inspired a whole new
sub-genre of film comedy in the 1930s and '40s. From start to
finish, the film is a relentless barrage of madcap situations which get
increasingly ludicrous (and increasingly side-splittingly hilarious) as
things progress. You end up wondering whether
anyone involved with the making of
this film could possibly have had a grain of sanity.
The film's director Howard Hawks had made a similar,
albeit somewhat less memorable, kind of comedy just before this,
Twentieth Century (1934), starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard,
and would go on to direct another notable screwball,
His Girl Friday (1940).
Gloriously over the top, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant are the perfect
screwball couple. Neither actor has ever been funnier or will
ever be as funny again - even in their subsequent rematches in
Holiday (1938) and
The Philadelphia Story (1940).
Hepburn deserves some kind of medal for
unflagging endurance as she cranks up the film's momentum so that it
resembles a snowball careering down the side of an alpine mountain,
getting faster and funnier by the minute. Although it scales new
heights of absurdity almost with each successive scene,
Bringing Up Baby is more than just
a chaotic farce. It is also a keen satire on gender roles and is
the forerunner of that perennial favourite, the battle of the sexes
comedy, where the man and the woman struggle to take the dominant
position in their relationship (with the woman invariably winning, just
as in real life).
The substantial losses that
Bringing
Up Baby incurred resulted in Howard Hawks being
dismissed from RKO and prompted Hepburn (who saw little merit in the
film) to buy herself out of her contract. However, since its
dismal failure at the box office, the film has grown in popularity and
today it is considered one of the high points of 1930s American film
comedy. It is worth watching just for the scene where Cary Grant
loses his clothes and ends up in a frilly bathrobe. Utterly,
utterly mad - and utterly irresistible.
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Howard Hawks film:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Film Synopsis
To secure a million dollar donation for his natural history museum,
palaeontologist David Huxley finds he has to play a round of golf with
his donor's agent, Mr Peabody. David's attention is diverted by
an erratic young woman, Susan Vance, who happens to be the niece of his
wealthy donor. Believing that Susan will help him convince
Peabody and her aunt that his is a worthwhile cause, David allows
himself to be drawn into her chaotic life. Things start out
mildly enough when Susan receives a leopard from her brother in Brazil
and her dog, George, runs off with the rare bone that David needs to
complete his skeleton of a Brontosaurus. After that, things
rapidly get out of hand and David realises that he will never be the
same again...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.