- Who but Katharine Hepburn could make a character like Susan Vance seem charming? Susan is a reckless, immature type who would gladly steal your golf ball, swipe your car, and tear your jacket just to get your attention. She does all of this and much, much more to win the affections of Dr. David Huxley, a zoologist (not to be confused with the other Huxley) whose serious glasses and a fuddy-duddy demeanor have trouble concealing the fact that, deep down, he's played by Cary Grant. David is supposedly engaged to be married later this weekend, but we'll see whether spending time with Susan changes all that.
- Did I mention that Susan has a leopard in her apartment? Or that she knocks the family lawyer (George Irving) unconscious with a rock? Or that her aunt (May Robson) has a dog named George that buried David's precious brontosaurus bone? Maybe the most intricate joke is that of David's identity, which he attempts to conceal from Susan's aunt for fear of losing the million dollars she is considering donating to his museum. You can imagine how seeing David in Susan's negligee would cause her to reconsider this choice. Such zaniness is expected in screwball comedies, and Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby has it in spades.
- I think it's fair to say that more than half of this film is absolutely uproarious. The sheer desperation involved in some of Susan's schemes is enough to make them funny, and it's even better when they go horribly wrong. Equally amusing is the fact that David, despite his constant protests to the contrary, is obviously falling in love with Susan. "In moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you," he admits, "but...well, there haven't been any quiet moments!" The film's remainder involves subplots having to do with the constable (Walter Catlett) and the dinner guest (Charles Ruggles), neither of whom proves to be terribly captivating. Fortunately, Hepburn and Grant are good enough that these small valleys only serve to provide contrast to the film's many hilarious peaks.
- That was the same dog that was in The Thin Man!
