My family sat down to watch an old movie together when we stumbled across the 1938 Bringing Up Baby starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. We were in for a treat!
This movie follows the story of Dr. Huxley, a zoologist trying to fund the museum in which he works. Mild mannered and by-the-book Dr. Huxley runs into the rambunctious and witty Susan Vance by random happenstance and a crazy adventure ensues. The odd pair end up caring for a domesticated leopard named Baby. While trying to take care of Baby, everything seems to go wrong. Of course, how could things run smoothly when you have a leopard with you? A classic screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby is full of clever one-liners and a sequence of ridiculous events that somehow tie together with a happy ending.
I’m a big fan of this movie, but I did find it hard to follow at times. The rhetoric was very quick and you had to pay close attention in order to catch the humor. I also noticed that the characters would try and talk over each other, something that can get quite annoying. Despite these two problems, I felt that the movie was worth watching. Every time Katharine Hepburn opened her mouth, I was laughing. Cary Grant was the perfect actor to pull off the “go-with-the-flow” character of Dr. Huxley and his comedic talents added a lot of charm to this movie.
Although this movie isn’t recent, I felt like it was still relatable. The language was decent, the jokes were clean, and the overall theme supported family values. All the characters worked together in a way that you could appreciate the quirks of each individually. I was surprised to learn that the film didn’t do well in theaters. Although it started with bad reviews, this movie is now considered a classic. It is a worthy addition to any home movie collection.
I would give this movie 9 of 10 stars. If you are in the mood for a witty comedy then this is the movie for you! I find that each time I watch this movie there was always something new to laugh at, something that I didn’t catch the first time. It’s a film that I can watch again and again!