If you didn’t know anything about golden era Hollywood and you heard the movie title Bringing Up Baby, you might think it was about taking care of your baby.
Which it kind of is. If your baby is a leopard.
It is also about a straight-laced paleontologist named David and a crazy woman named Susan and a dinosaur bone. It is pretty much the gold standard for screwball comedies.
And it is awesome.
It is also the third Cary Grant movie Clay Morgan and I have covered in a total eight episodes of Classic Movie Gush. Some might call that a slightly excessive emphasis on Cary Grant, but look…he’s just the best. Director Howard Hawks backs me up on this—he’s quoted as saying no one can compare to Grant. So this probably won’t be our last Cary Grant convo—after all, he was in like 70-some movies.* Stick him together with Katharine Hepburn, who is pretty much the coolest actress ever, and it’s a pure win.
Although, people back in the late 30s didn’t exactly agree. While Bringing Up Baby wasn’t the colossal flop it’s often said to be, it wasn’t much of a success at the time either. As we discuss, it got Howard Hawks fired and contributed to Hepburn’s temporary career slump. In fact, I read it did especially poorly in the Midwest…which makes me slightly ashamed of my geographic origins.
But no matter—today most critics recognize its greatness, as do we. So check out the video and then chime in with your thoughts.
All right, your turn: Ever seen Bringing Up Baby? Agree that it might be the best screwball comedy ever? If not, what’s YOUR favorite?
*However, I did not mention this number in the vlog and it’s probably good that I didn’t because if I had, Clay might have tried to argue with me about it like he did with the John Wayne stat a few episodes ago and I would’ve had no choice but to go to the time and effort of proving myself right all over again and I’m a busy girl…
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Yes, I’ve seen it, though it’s been awhile. I remember thinking it was unusual, but I like almost anything with Cary Grant in it! 🙂
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Unusual and AWESOME, Linz. 🙂
Love Bringing Up Baby.
Love it.
And yes, I think it might be the best screwball comedy ever, ever, ever.
“What’d I do? What’d I do?”
“George?” “George?”
Oh, the quotable lines go on and on …
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I really love that you can quote Bringing Up Baby, Beth. Makes me super happy. “When you hear the tone the time will be 7:37 and one quarter…”
Yes, I’ve seen it. Not one of my favorite Cary Grant movies. I guess I’m not into screwball comedies.
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OH but it’s soooo good. 🙂 That’s okay, though, we all have our faves.
I saw Bringing Up Baby years ago and I like almost any film with Cary Grant and/or Katharine Hepburn! After watching this, I’m thinking it’s time to watch it again. I would probably appreciate it more as an adult. Thanks for another fun Classic Movie Gush. 🙂
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Oh yeah, I bet you would. As a kid, I think I probably only appreciated it on a surface level but now there are SO many good lines…
Thanks for the great background info! I learned a lot today. I love so many Cary Grant movies. Two favorite screwball comedies that feature him are Arsenic and Old Lace & I Was a Male War Bride.
And as for his “less screwball” films . . . Houseboat, An Affair to Remember, Penny Serenade, To Catch a Thief, Charade Father Goose . . . all so wonderful! Sigh . . .
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Oh you mentioned so many good ones. Father Goose has some of the best quotes ever. 🙂
Bringing Up Baby is one of my tests of friendship. Seriously. If someone doesn’t “get” it, I know we won’t end up being close! I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen it. And I nearly squealed when you mentioned What’s Up Doc? Another of my absolute favorites (so can’t wait for that episode!) but I had no idea it was Bringing Up Baby inspired. Makes perfect sense, though, when I think about it. Y’all are awesome. It just made me smile today to listen to y’all talk about this movie. (And yes, you can never get too much Cary Grant!)
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YAY you like What’s Up Doc? I always used to think no one else in the world properly appreciated it’s fabulous-ness…but people are coming out of the woodwork…which makes me happy. I love that you love both movies!
I agree. You can never have too much Cary Grant. I love Bringing Up Baby. Katharine Hepburn talks non-stop through that one.
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Yep, she’s super great in it! 🙂
Hmn…idk…It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but now that you mention it, I’ll probably go and watch it again. I love Cary Grant movies, as does my Mom..My favorites are: My Favorite Wife, The Philadelphia Story, Charade, and Arsenic & Old Lace…;)
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Ooh, I love My Favorite Wife and all the others you mentioned. Have you ever seen the remake of My Favorite Wife? Doris Day and James Garner, I think. Think it’s called Move Over Darling.
LOVE this movie! LOVE LOVE LOVE it:) And I still cannot believe it was a flop. Crazy. But my all time favorite Grant movie was with Audrey Hepburn, Charade. Yeah. I still watch it:)
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Oh I love Charade. I read once that Cary Grant was really hesitant to make that one–he thought was too old for Audrey Hepburn so he insisted that they fiddle with the storyline to make Audrey chase after him instead of him chasing after her. So good!
Never seen this one – though I’ve heard of it. Still cannot imagine anything coming close to the hilarity of ‘Philadelphia Story.’ 🙂
As always, FUN vlog, you two.
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Yeah, you really can’t top Philadelphia Story. But I’ve got it all worked out in my head to where PS is the BEST rom-com ever and Bringing Up Baby is the best screwball comedy ever. That way they both get top billing. 🙂
Suuuurrrrrrreeeee, take a swipe at me in a footnote. For the record, you were COMPLETELY indecisive on the John Wayne movie total. But don’t worry, I won’t do anything to get you back like mention that Will Hays who is the namesake of the production code was from the midwest, BASICALLY from Iowa.
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WELL then I won’t mention that Ruth Snyder and Judd were from out east, so BASICALLY from Pennsylvania!
But shoot, after that footnote I may have just negated my earlier claim that as a midwesterner I’m always nice.
I have heard of this movie so many times and never really knew what it was about! Now I really want to watch it!
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Yay for inspiring you to watch it. 🙂 It’s SO good.