Bringing Up Baby (1938) ****

One of the classic screwball comedies that everyone today would love to be able to capture the same amount of magic, Bringing Up Baby has been one of my favorite films since the first time I saw it over a year ago and has opened the door for me personally to make a sincere effort to see more films from the same time period in the same amount as the more modern fare that up until the last few years monopolized my attention. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn positively shine as the most mismatched couple in film history who eventually grow to love one another over the course of a day. Grant is a mild-mannered, reserved museum professor while Hepburn is a vivacious, madcap heiress who meets him after stealing his ball on a golf course.

The entire film is populated with zany, eccentric characters which add to the general buffoonery that populates the film. None of the characters are played straight for the expense of any others which provides a continuity and makes the setting more believable. If everyone acts a little crazy, maybe some more than others, than you can laugh along with the ludicrous happenings rather than groan at them. The universe created for this film makes it likely that such misadventures could occur and once disbelief has been suspended it is a truly wild and fun ride.

In addition to the top rate casting of the two leads, the supporting players are just as superb as notable character actors fill the roles that surround them which enhances the zany atmosphere of the film. A personal favorite is Dr. Fritz Lehman (Fritz Feld) who has one of my favorite lines in the film.

Lehman: I am a psychiatrist.
Vance: Oh, crazy people.
Lehman: We dislike the use of that word. All people who behave strangely are not insane.

His line seems to refer to the characters that populate this film as they are all real people who just talk and act outside the norm. His ostentatious blinking following his delivery of the line only serves to highlight the strange behavior which is endemic throughout the film. The characters are what makes the story so fun and appealing as if they were to act so insane as to become annoying then the film would not work nearly as well.

The comedy never overshadows the romantic overtones as Susan makes it her mission to win over David by any means possible. When she finds out that he is engaged to be married, for the first time a troubled look crosses her face as so far she has taken everything in stride. When he bids her a good night and trips and falls, she smiles to herself and seems to decide that she must try and be with the oafish professor. There is an obvious mutual attraction as Professor Huxley could easily stop their adventures and return to Miss Swallow (Virigina Walker) who he is supposed to be married to the same day he sets out to Connecticut to help Susan bring Baby, her new pet leopard, to her farm.

The relationship between David and Alice is strictly one that's professional and their marriage is just a futherance of their partnership at the museum. There are to be no children or domestic entanglements whatsoever much to David's consternation. Although David believes in his work he looks to have a life outside of all that. Susan is the key to this dream as she takes everything with a grain of salt and does everything but be professional. His attraction to Susan coincides with his repressed desire for a fun life away from work and he comes to the conclusion of his love for Susan once he realizes that his time spent with her was the best day of his life.

The whole film builds to all the characters coming together as the Westlake jail where Constable Slocum (Walter Catlett) has arrested everyone due to a series of misunderstandings of everyone's real identities and intentions. There are now two leopards roaming the countryside, one the tame Baby and another a vicious escapee from the local circus. In a time of danger, David rushes to save Susan and she finally admits to him that she loves him. She has spent the entire film trying to keep David close to her and it has resulted in some of her more ludicrous actions. Each new scheme builds upon the next until it all comes crashing down at the end, much like the skeleton in David's museum. When the dust clears though, David and Susan have each other and are all the more better for it. It's a fun and entertaining voyage from that first chance meeting on the golf course to their final embrace in the museum. Never has a mismatched pair gone through greater and sillier struggles to end up together and never has it been so amusing for the audience as well.

Favorite moment: It's still a bit that gets me everytime even though it's broadcast well before it even happens. Spotting Baby and George, the dog who has hidden David's precious bone for his dinosaur skeleton, on the other side of a small stream, David inquires how deep it is. Susan states that it is surely shallow and they can wade across and both immediately plummet into it well above their heads. It's a great laugh out loud moment and it serves as a microcosm for their relationship. David looks for a practical solution and when asking Susan for advice, she leads them into yet another predicament.