With a film as perfect as BRINGING UP BABY (Howard Hawks, RKO Pictures, 1938) there is not much insight I can give adding to the film. It is impeccably written, the casting and performances are all good, Hawks overall direction and pace to the film are exemplary and the film just makes you feel good about life. It is funny, romantic and watching it now takes one back so many years. Per my usual I will just list my favorite moments from the film, in no discernible order.
The golf course scene. Interesting to watch because this is the scene in Scorsese's THE AVIATOR in which Cate Blanchett does a great Hepburn. But in the film you see Susan (Katherine Hepburn) just owning David (Cary Grant). More specifically she tells him "you can't own everything, my golf ball, my car". I always say Grant is at his best when playing down his persona and this film is a great example. Hepburn gets the best of him from the start and it all begins right here. This continues later at dinner. Susan torments David yet it is always David's fault. "Oh you've torn your coat" as she chases him down. Poor Cary Grant.
I have long been a huge Grant fan but it is Hepburn herself that is starting to become a revelation to me. She is amazing in this role. Cute and coy, seductive and suggestive she is really great. The first instance I noticed this was as Susan tells David (upon hearing he is to marry) "why would you want to do that"? This moment is preceded by a laugh that is so infectious, so disarming how can anyone say no to it? Just an amazing moment in the film.
Later Susan really starts turning the screws on David as she gets him to first stop in at her apartment and then accompany her to Connecticut, all ostensibly to help her with Baby. Her feigned attack to get him to come over, her switching cars to avoid a ticket even pretending to be the local phone operator, repeating the time over and again. Susan is devilish in her pursuit and really does David ever stand a chance?
How can he stand a chance when she coos the line "you're so good looking without your glasses". Of course we all already know this but with Grant playing against type it works so well.
Susan tells everyone anything she can think of regarding David and who he really is and I love when he follows George (the dog) outside during dinner. On the third or fourth go around he is asked about his time on the Malay Peninsula. "I've never been to the Malay Peninsula" in a deadpan so spot on it hurts.
Even funnier moments occur as Susan and David hunt down George and Baby. Armed with a croquet mallet and a butterfly net they clumsily make their way around the countryside, getting further and further entrenched and falling more and more in love. By the time Susan lights David's socks on fire he doesn't even seem to be trying to fight her any longer. David is resigned to the fact he can't beat Susan, ever.
Finally the entire sequence in the local jail with Constable Slocum (Walter Catlett) is tremendous. The writing shines here, the timing is impeccable. Every member of the cast shows up and nails every beat, seemingly makes the scene about them. Even with brilliance shining all around the scene is still stolen by Susan as she becomes a gangster, adopting that James Cagney voice and busting herself out of the joint. I really cannot say enough about how amazing Hepburn is in this film.
The film is spectacular, funny as hell and such a joy to watch.
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