Its difficult watching these old, supposedly "classic" comedies from the 30's through 21st century eyes. Often they don't hold up to the evolution that cinema has undergone over the past 75 years. "Bringing Up Baby" is no exception. It may be considered one of the greatest screwball comedies of all time. It was in the AFI Top 100 list, I recall. But, to me it so often just seems stupid.
The film stars Carey Grant as David Huxley, a paleontologist at a museum who has spent the last 3 years assembling the bones of a brontosaurus. The last piece is coming in the mail and he is to be married the following day. At a golf game with the lawyer of a probable donor, he meets Katharine Hepburn's Susan. Things start to go downhill after that (Susan causes all kinds of trouble for Huxley) and you can guess that they'll probably end up together in the end. Throw in a leopard that they have to look after (named, Baby) and you get the gist of the comedic situations of this film.
I would like to go into why films such as this that were so funny and enjoyable in their day seem silly and unfunny today. Although there are undoubtedly some who would still find pleasure and amusement in "Bringing Up Baby" today, young, modern-day viewers are more accustomed to the lightening-fast editing and popular culture references that are relevant to today's culture. Film has changed drastically since 1938 and the MTV generation has new demands and viewing habits. Acting styles have changed too with the advent of method acting in 1950's and the style today is much more naturalistic and realistic.
That said, "Bringing Up Baby" has its moments. If one can suspend their cultural prejudices and try to watch the film as one from the time it came out, he or she may actually get a fair amount of enjoyment out of it. To this reviewer though, the comedy isn't often funny and the plot is almost non-existent.
No comments:
Post a Comment