Plot: David Huxley is a mild-mannered paleontologist who is engaged to his secretary and has recently found the missing bone for his skeleton of a Brontosaurus. To top it off, he needs to convince a woman to give a million dollars to the museum, so he tries to impress her lawyer with a game of golf. But he is interfered by a free-spirited woman named Susan, who constantly messes with David, making it hard for him to much as speak to the lawyer. The day before his wedding, Susan convinces David to take a leopard named Baby who is gift for her aunt (who happens to be the woman David is trying to convince in giving the million dollars) and bring it to her country home in Connecticut. But a few complications arise, leaving David and Susan to try to set everything right.
All in all, this was a funny, romantic film, with the only real problem I have is how it had a slow start before it became really enjoyable. The first third or so, while funny in some parts, didn't entirely hook me into the film. But when it picked up, that's when I started to enjoy it, and also when I started caring for Susan. I watched this film in my history of film class, and there were a few people who said that they found her to be annoying. For me, she became likable when she was less manipulative. Sometimes she was entertaining when she was deceptive, but during the first third (making her part of why it was slow) all I could do is watch her pull out these schemes against David and say, "Wow. What a manipulative witch." But thankfully as time went on, you begin to root for her the stronger she her relationship with David becomes. Speaking of David, this was one character you really don't see Cary Grant play as very often. When I think Cary Grant, I think of characters that have more of a...well not mild-mannered, like in films such as His Girl Friday, North by Northwest, The Bishop's Wife and so on. So it is a surprising sight to see him perform a character that is more mild-mannered then Superman when he's Clark Kent. Just comes to show that he has some range. Now I'm sure you already know what is going to happen in the end, just from telling you the basic plot, and you could be right. But even if you do, the film makes up for it with the situations the characters go through and the comedic results that follows. And it does pay off. The other people in the class and I got some good laughs out of the film. Also, I thought I'd she something that is really interesting about this film; according to our professor, this was actually a flop when it came out. In fact, the actress who plays Susan, Katharine Hepburn, was infamously labeled box-office poison. It wasn't until its release in the 40s when it was re-released in the 40s that it had a better reception, and became more popular around the 50s. Go figure.
And that's my review for Bringing up Baby. It has a slow start in its comedy and its leading female character, but once it picks up, it's a funny romantic film with likable characters, including a Cary Grant character that you do not get very often. If you haven't seen it before, I say it's a good time to check out.
Rating: 85%
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