Movie Monday: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

In my opinion, Bringing Up Baby is one of the most underrated classic comedies ever! I am so excited to review this Grant and Hepburn classic (no, not Audrey)!

I have thought a lot about this film in relation to both Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant’s careers, and I have come to the conclusion that Bringing Up Baby was the training ground for Grant’s role in Arsenic and Old Lace. So many of the same comedic elements Grant used in Bringing Up Baby film he recreated for Arsenic and Old Lace.

For Hepburn’s side of the acting coin, Bringing Up Baby really set her up for the roles she would later star in alongside Spencer Tracy. In all of those movies she plays a strong willed lady who also has a hidden soft side. In Bringing Up Baby we definitely see that softer side, but we see the emergence of will a little more in this film.

Like any good Cary Grant comedy, Bringing Up Baby is one fast paced film! So many of the lines in this movie remind me of His Girl Friday. Just like Rosalind Russell, Katherine Hepburn does a rather good job of keeping up with all of the words flying around in each scene of Bringing Up Baby. Besides all of that, Hepburn really reminds me so much of her character in The Philadelphia Story which Grant starred alongside her in, too.

I really enjoyed the overall ridiculous story in this comedy! The idea that these two Old Hollywood legends chased a leopard around is quite funny to me. Another scene I particularly enjoyed was when everyone found themselves in the local jail. But if you haven’t seen this film that may not make a whole lot of sense. Either way, I can see why Bringing Up Baby is regard as a classic even to this day, and it certainly has influenced modern elements of comedy.

Much Love,

Sarah