Bringing Up Baby

1938

Bringing Up Baby

Critics Consensus

With Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant at their effervescent best, Bringing Up Baby is a seamlessly assembled comedy with enduring appeal.

93%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 43

90%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 39,071

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Movie Info

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. David Huxley (Grant) is the stuffy paleontologist who needs to finish an exhibit on dinosaurs and thus land a $1 million grant for his museum. At a golf outing with his potential benefactors, Huxley is spotted by Susan Vance (Hepburn) who decides that she must have the reserved scientist at all costs. She uses her pet leopard, Baby, to trick him into driving to her Connecticut home, where a dog wanders into Huxley's room and steals the vital last bone that he needs to complete his project. The real trouble begins when another leopard escapes from the local zoo and Baby is mistaken for it, leading Huxley and Susan into a series of harebrained and increasingly more insane schemes to save the cat from the authorities. Inevitably, the two end up in the local jail, where things get even more out of hand: Susan pretends to be the gun moll to David's diabolical, supposedly wanted criminal. Naturally, the mismatched pair falls in love through all the lunacy. Director Howard Hawks delivers a funny, fast-paced, and offbeat story, enlivened by animated performances from the two leads, in what has become a definitive screwball comedy. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

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Cast

Katharine Hepburn
as Susan Vance
Cary Grant
as David Huxley
Charlie Ruggles
as Maj. Horace Applegate
Charles Ruggles
as Maj. Applegate
May Robson
as Aunt Elizabeth
Barry Fitzgerald
as Mr. Gogarty
Walter Catlett
as Slocum
Jack Carson
as Roustabout
Ward Bond
as Motorcycle Cop
Stanley Blystone
as Doorman
John Kelly
as Elmer
George Irving
as Peabody
Tala Birell
as Mrs. Lehman
Fritz Feld
as Dr. Fritz Lehman
Jonathan Hale
Leona Roberts
as Hannah Gogarty
Virginia Walker
as Alice Swallow
Edward Gargan
as Zoo Official
Buck Mack
as Zoo Official
Nissa
as Baby the Leopard
William 'Billy' Benedict
as Caddy
Buster Slaven
as Caddy
Vernon Walker
as Alice Swallow
Geraldine Hall
as Maid
Frank Marlowe
as Joe
Pat West
as Mac
Asta the Dog
as George the Dog
Richard Lane
as Circus Manager
Frank M. Thomas
as Circus Barker
William Benedict
as Caddy
Ruth Alder
as Dancer
Pat O'Malley
as Deputy
Adalyn Asbury
as Mrs. Peabody
Judith Ford
as Cigarette Girl
Jeanne Martel
as Cigarette Girl
George Humbert
as Louis, Headwaiter
Billy Bevan
as Bartender
D'Arcy Corrigan
as Prof. La Touche
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Critic Reviews for Bringing Up Baby

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (8)

View All Critic Reviews (43)

Audience Reviews for Bringing Up Baby

  • Jan 19, 2018
    Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and a leopard, hey, what more could you want? 'Bringing Up Baby' is a frenzy of running around, unexpected pratfalls, and clever dialog. Don't take the movie too seriously, e.g. try to see the plot rationally, get angry at Hepburn's character for doing anything she pleases, etc - it's a screwball comedy. She is absolutely brilliant in this movie, blending slapstick, witty repartee, and even a little 'come hither' romance in a wild, frenetic script. She even does a mean gangster impression towards the end. I think the issue at the box office in 1938 (and subsequent label of her as 'box-office poison'...ha!) was that she didn't fit into accepted standards of "feminine" at the time, which is a shame, because she's got it all here. Grant is not so bad himself, with that suave accent in a nerdy role, finding himself helplessly drawn into Hepburn's crazy world. He's much better here than in 1944's "Arsenic and Old Lace", despite the obvious comparisons. I liked this film for both its big 'laugh out loud' moments (which still work after all these years), as well as the little things in the script and performances. Fun and entertaining, and the two stars really make this one worth seeing.
    Antonius B Super Reviewer
  • May 03, 2014
    It is ironic that this enjoyable film flopped when it was still original and now is highly regarded as a masterpiece when it is obviously outdated and full of silly gags for today's standards - and despite her great chemistry with Grant, Hepburn is more irritating than funny.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
  • Jun 15, 2013
    "Bringing Up Baby" takes a good while to get started and some of its antics are too dated to merit any laughs, but once the ball gets rolling and the jokes start getting ridiculous, then it becomes a good bit of fun, especially the finale where everything comes together. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn have great chemistry with one another.
    Stephen E Super Reviewer
  • Apr 10, 2013
    Cary Grant (in a pair of glasses) plays a milquetoast nerdy-nerd scientist who's been assembling pieces of a dinosaur skeleton for years. While schmoozing a rich lady's lawyer on the golf course, he runs into Katharine Hepburn, a scatter-brained (yet attractive) lunatic who brings trouble with her wherever she goes, especially to the scientist. For good measure, they throw a leopard named baby (whose favorite song is "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby") into the mix and you have what might be director Howard Hawks' screwiest screwball comedy, lighter-than-air and yet heartily amusing. If there can be any criticism (and really, it's hard to take too critical a glance at something so lightweight), it may be with Hepburn and her portrayal of Susan Vance. The character is willfully ignorant, is mainly used as a means of advancing the comedic situations. But in working so hard to achieve this ignorant arrogance, the film loses a little bit of it's momentum (and good will). It's only once the film really gets rolling that Hepburn's comedic inadequacies can be overlooked (in fact, the film is almost a tale of two performances from Hepburn, the overly affected and forced first half of the performance, and the more flowing feel the performance achieves by the end). It's an unusual film to say the least.
    Devon B Super Reviewer
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