There are a lot of films from the 1930s and 1940s that are incorrectly referred to a screwball comedies. This film ought to almost be considered the textbook example of a screwball comedy. Unfortunately, Howard Hawks, the director, didn't even quite get his own film! He though it didn't work because there were no normal characters in the film...which exactly makes it a screwball comedy.
Think of our two main characters. Cary Grant who is a brilliant scientist with very few social skills. Katherine Hepburn who has no intellectual prowess whatsoever, but who has oodles of social skills, though they are a bit unusual. A perfect pairing. Then you have Hepburn's aunt, who now owns a leopard as a pet...who is running after Charles Ruggles, a big game hunter (of sorts). And then you have dinosaur bones versus a dog. What more do you need for a screwball comedy? One of the funniest scenes in film is in this movie -- where Katerine Hepburn's dress falls apart, and he covers it up first with his top hat, and then with his own body...as they walk through a ritzy restaurant! This comedic role is one of Grant's best. His acrobatic/athletic skills fit some of the slapstick perfectly, and his general demeanor is what you never see in any other Cary Grant role. Hepburn reportedly had a lot of difficulty with the comedy, but she comes across well as an almost total airhead. The primary supporting cast is terrific -- May Robson as the eccentric aunt, Charles Ruggles good as the big-game hunter, and a couple of great scenes with veteran comic actor Walter Catlett as a constable. You'll briefly see some other faces -- Ward Bond, and Barry Fitzgerald has a small part.
Most every scene in this film made me at least smile, and a few times I laughed out loud, and that's something I rarely do. I wasn't thrilled with the swinging ladder scene at the close of the movie. That was just stupid, and they could have gotten to the same conclusion with something that would have seemed more realistically possible. But, overall, the movie's a gem...a true screwball comedy.
Think of our two main characters. Cary Grant who is a brilliant scientist with very few social skills. Katherine Hepburn who has no intellectual prowess whatsoever, but who has oodles of social skills, though they are a bit unusual. A perfect pairing. Then you have Hepburn's aunt, who now owns a leopard as a pet...who is running after Charles Ruggles, a big game hunter (of sorts). And then you have dinosaur bones versus a dog. What more do you need for a screwball comedy? One of the funniest scenes in film is in this movie -- where Katerine Hepburn's dress falls apart, and he covers it up first with his top hat, and then with his own body...as they walk through a ritzy restaurant! This comedic role is one of Grant's best. His acrobatic/athletic skills fit some of the slapstick perfectly, and his general demeanor is what you never see in any other Cary Grant role. Hepburn reportedly had a lot of difficulty with the comedy, but she comes across well as an almost total airhead. The primary supporting cast is terrific -- May Robson as the eccentric aunt, Charles Ruggles good as the big-game hunter, and a couple of great scenes with veteran comic actor Walter Catlett as a constable. You'll briefly see some other faces -- Ward Bond, and Barry Fitzgerald has a small part.
Most every scene in this film made me at least smile, and a few times I laughed out loud, and that's something I rarely do. I wasn't thrilled with the swinging ladder scene at the close of the movie. That was just stupid, and they could have gotten to the same conclusion with something that would have seemed more realistically possible. But, overall, the movie's a gem...a true screwball comedy.