Bringing up Baby review
Bringing up Baby is a screwball comedy film that tells the story of Dr. David Huxley, a professor who wants to complete his brontosaurus skeleton and his heiress Susan Vance who always cause accidents. As a screwball film, it is played at a breathtaking speed and relies on miscommunication and misunderstanding. The dialogue in the film is full of puns with literal and figurative meanings straight from the start. These double meaning of words was used in many dialogues in the movie, and it was the source of the comedy. Furthermore, the dialogue in the film had some sexual undertones, which was evident in the miscommunications.
The film was produced in 1937 when people were recovering from the Great Depression. Movies during this time had a therapeutic effect, and people were trying to recover or get away from the troubles caused by the Great Depression. In the film, Susan is a commanding, airheaded, and exhibits insane confidence. She got this confidence before she met David as portrayed in her crazy way of doing and looking at things that are different from the way women were depicted in society. I don’t think David’s character was emasculated in the film as, at times, he dared to confront Susan, and even he told her to get away from him. Also, after David attempts to explain his views on what he feels on Susan’s outrages shows he wasn’t emasculated. He also stated to Susan on what a man can bear and that there were limits too. In today’s world, David will be more of a sensitive educated guy who is just focused on his science. In the film, he was not depicted as an intimidating guy but as someone who had lost control over his life.
The film is a screwball with crazy characters such as David and Susan. The characters are crazy as they engage in various farcical events throughout the film—for instance, David search for a dinosaur bone that comes to be buried by Susan’s dog. Also, David is wearing Susan’s robe, and her aunt arrives. The costumes in the film also were period oriented, and some were funny too. The different costumes used in the film, a ruffed collar, oversized bow all had interesting details. Most of the costumes in the film also fitted with the environment they were at that time, while the cross-dressing was funnier.