This movie is a little hard to find, and Turner Broadcasting company has so far released the only edition I could find, on VHS. Waiting in vain for it to be put on DVD, I finally gave in. I think the movie is funny, but not by any means the most funny or best movie I have ever seen, and actually, granniemose’s comment summed it up nicely. It’s kind of stupid.

Madcap comedy. That’s what the advertisement implies and that is indeed what it is, a headlong rush into missed connections, missed communications, slapstick, and the kind of fun that won’t tax your brain overmuch except by keeping up with the pace. The advantage is pretty much start to finish, a series of jokes. The disadvantage is that it hardly shows either Cary Grant or Katherine Hepburn in their best form. Viewed individually, they are both hilarious. With few exceptions, though, when they are together, they just don’t click. Is there someone to blame when the chemistry doesn’t work out and the cleverness is not enough to compensate? Well in the case of RKO, it was Howard Hawks that took the rap.

The bottom line is there is too much mouth from Hepburn and not enough from Grant, and Grants slightly odd professor (that he does much better in MONKEY BUSINESS) just comes off looking kind of slow, and stupid, while Katharine Hepburn gives the impression of circling him, her mouth in constant motion, and her voice becoming more strident-like one of those annoying dogs, which is represented in the film, by the way in a character named George. Some of the scenes work better than others, making you wonder exactly what was going on between Grant and Hepburn. They argue pretty well, but the love scenes definitely fall flat.

Still, although I was disappointed that some of the stuff that worked in PHILADELPHIA STORY was absent from this flick, I admit to getting a kick out of the movie. Grant’s physical humor, one of his real talents, is used well here. And there are so many interesting characters wandering around in the subplots, that it keeps from being boring, although it does get a bit confusing. This really would play better as a stage play, except maybe for having a real leopard in the show. In the theater, it is easier for the audience to connect with the cast. In the movies, should you fail to be impressed by the first pass, the rest of the movie will also fail to get your attention. For the record, this one works better the second viewing.

This movie lost so much at the box office, that it cost Hawks his job at RKO and Hepburn had to buy out her contract. It is only in retrospect that this film has become popular, and made it to the top 100 of American Films (by the AFI). The story, according to IMDB, was the work of Hagar Wilde (I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE), and the screenplay was the work of Dudley Nichols(THE INFORMER). The dust jacket released by TCM claims that the original story was penned by, OSCAR, not HAGAR Wilde. I wouldn’t mind knowing the truth on this one, because I would have a good deal more interest in the nuances of the story if Oscar were involved.

For Howard Hawks, this is the first of many comedies he would direct. It can’t have been easy to find a way to make these two powerful personalities mesh, and to his credit he almost gets it done. The other supporting roles are the texture that make this a memorable movie. Charlie Ruggles , Mary Robson, Walter Catlet , Barry Fitzgerald and Fritz Field were seasoned stage and screen actors, and they played characters in which they were obviously very comfortable.

OTHER FILM ELEMENTS

Nothing spectacular in MUSIC credited to Roy Webb, it was just an introductory theme song, and the use of some popular music of the day, not an integrated musical score. It might actually have helped this film a little, especially for an audience who is trying to follow the rapid fire verbal badinage that marks the progress of the plot. The CINEMATOGRAPHY, credited to Russell Metty (SPARTACUS) is likewise Industry standard, nothing more. The close up scenes were pretty nicely done .

The setting, alternating between indoors and outdoors (Connecticut) could have been anywhere, and the set I suspect has been used many times by RKO.

THE TIMES-1938

This is an era marked by frivolity, a common theme in movies made then. The times reflected a recovering economy, a sense of being apart from the rest of the world, and few Americans in the audience were aware and concerned about what was happening in Europe. The themes of the idle rich and their foibles had been popular all through the depression and this is merely an extension of that subtheme. The poor are only marginally represented by the Professor character, who wants a donation for his museum. The rich are represented by the heiress Susan and her Aunt. Class is not much of an issue in the movie. There is nothing serious about what is happening in this complex comedy of manners, or world shattering. Yet I can’t help thinking that there was little here with which the American public could identify.

Of course perhaps it is the oddity of the story, a fantasy apart, that was supposed to be the draw. After all, jungle animals in film had been box office for a long time before this flick was conceived , and a leopard named Baby is a part of the story. Although it is funny, it is still outrageously outlandish, and becomes increasingly so as another ( not domesticated) leopard joins the cast of characters.

FAVORITE SCENES

Touted as containing the first use of the word “gay” as a euphemism for “homosexual”, I am not entirely convinced that is what was meant by the dialog exchange. On the other hand, Cary Grant was wearing a dress at the time. It is one of my favorite scenes in this flick.

The other two of my favorite scenes are the restaurant piece at the beginning of the movie, and the scene in the jail, where Hepburn does her imitation of a mobsters’s moll. No I won’t go into details-see the movie!


ABOUT THE VHS RELEASE BY TCM (Turner Classic Movies)

On the dust cover , which may include more than one falsification, there is a special feature listing a “Ladies of Hollywood” piece narrated by Debbie Reynolds, a theatrical trailer and some sort of introduction by Robert Osborne. I bought this item new, and none of these features were on the video. TCM is in the business of ripping off the public it would seem. I for one, resent it. If a movie is deemed a classic by The American Film Institute, preventing its release as a DVD seems rather mean spirited and greedy. Why should I be surprised?


THE PLOT

This will be brief.

Meet David Huxley zoologist. He wears glasses, is kind of forgetful and a rather absent minded professor type. He is in a museum, painstakingly assembling a prehistoric Brontosaurus skeleton. In a brief conversation with a colleague and his fiancé, Alice Swallow we hear first that he is to be married the next day, a new bone for the work in progress is being sent from Utah, and he has a meeting with a mediating lawyer to petition a charitable patron for one million dollars donation to the museum.

He is to meet the lawyer on the golf course, to schmooze his way into asking for consideration for the money. But the golf game brings him into contact with a young woman, who first steals his ball and plays it, and then steals his car, confusing it for her own. She is pretty, but at this point he is merely annoyed. Her name is Susan.

He tries to recoup his losses by going to dinner with the lawyer at a fancy restaurant, and again, his distracted by the playful, infuriating Susan. This leads to one of the most hilarious scenes of this flick , where his jacket is torn, her skirt is ripped off in back, and together they exit the restaurant in a most unusual manner. But he gets more and more tangled up with this curious woman, who seems top be able to find a thousand ways to distract him. She seems smitten. And when she hears he is planning to get married, she begins conniving as well.

She calls him up and asks him if he “wants a leopard”, he says no, but she pretends the leopard is after her, and David, a chivalrous dude for all his oddity, goes to rescue her. After this, the comedy takes off at a break neck pace, and it is just too much fun to tell you more. You will have to see it for yourself. Yes it is silly. But it is still pretty darn funny, and clever in kind of a stupid way.

THE CAST AND PERFORMANCES

Katharine Hepburn as Susan-This character is strong willed capricious, flighty and apparently modeled somewhat after Miss Hepburn herself, who was starting to lose her appeal in the box office because she just didn’t want to play the Hollywood game. The energy of this woman is amazing. Having already received her first Academy Award for MORNING GLORY I suspect she was a little arrogant as well. She really overpowered Cary Grant in this movie, and at first it is hard to like this character. She grows on you though. This movie almost ended her screen career. She did PHILADELPHIA STORY on Broadway, and when she returned to Hollywood it was her project and her rules. And busy Cary Grant got a role a little more to his liking. Katharine Hepburn is simply in a class by herself. Sometimes you have to wonder if she just didn’t prefer it that way.

Cary Grant as David Huxley-This character was modeled after Harold Lloyd, of the silent era or so they say. But it is a character that Grant will do more than once. It could not have been his favorite role. He was a nobody compared to Hepburn’s acclaim and notoriety. He had been in 32 movies though, most of them as a lead, since he made his first film. So he was an Icon himself. But you know this isn’t the finished character that Archibald Leach created, even for the off stage Cary Grant. Still, my heart beats a little faster , because he is drop dead gorgeous, and has the natural athletic ability to do the physical humor, and the timing to pull it off. He was best in this movie when he is able to express his anger, and when he is less confused. I must say he treated his fiancé poorly. In the trivia corner, did you know Grant played the Mock Turtle in ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 1933? He was joined in that cast by Robson,(QUEEN OF HEARTS) and Ruggles (MARCH HARE) as well. Small world.

Charles Ruggles as Major Applegate-we first meet him at the country estate in Connecticut, where he an invited dinner guest for the rich aunt, and possibly wooing her himself. As an older man, he combines the pompous “big game” hunter, with pretentious “knowledge” about a subject for which he hasn’t much of a clue. And his bravery is well...makes you wonder. My favorite line from him is to the aunt, when he spots one of the leopards in the yard,

“Don’t you find it a bit chilly without a gun, Elizabeth?”


Walter Catlet as Slocum-I am having a hard time placing this character-if he was the detective or police chief in the jail scene, he was very funny.

Barry Fitzgerald as Mr. Gogarty-this is the constable, also hilarious as a fussy little ppoliceman, handing out tickets in our first meeting, to Susan for parking by a hydrant.

May Robson as Aunt Elizabeth, the character with the money.The dowager aunt in many movies, this actress had been around a while. Calls Susan “Katharine” once in the film, they say, but I haven’t heard it. The year previously she had been Aunt Polly in THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. This was role with her name on it, and I get a kick out of her.

Fritz Field as Dr. Lehman-This character is a pretentious little French psychiatrist who offers free insight about amorous behaviors on the part of David. You will recognize this guy in many roles previous and following as a pretentious European waiter/ functionary/ whatever. His trademark was clicking his heels together and making a popping sound with his mouth, two events which are not in this film. But he is nevertheless still very funny.

George Irving as Mr. Peabody.-This straight laced, humorless lawyer has a dignity of bearing that borders on austere. This guy had been a director in the silent era, but only acted after talkies. Had a lot of small parts over the years.

Virginia Walker as Alice Swallow-She was the jilted fiancee in the end. Pretty and humorless, she was Hawks sister in law. She is uncredited in 3 out of her 5 screen appearances.

Asta II (listed in IMDB as SKIPPY THE Terrier) as George. -This annoying little yapping dog is actually key to the plot. He worked with Cary Grant in The AWFUL TRUTH, and was an important performer in the THIN MAN movies. He also appears in one of the TOPPER movies, but not the one which includes Cary Grant as a cast member.

Hint: Dogs love bones, right? And what was David doing at the museum?


Appearing in negligible roles are Ward Bond and Jack Carson.



FINAL RECOMMENDATION


I think everyone should see this film, It is fun, and it is fast. It depends on physical humor to make it work, and the dialog supports the action nicely. Hepburn and Grant quarrel and spar with pizzaz , and the comedy timing of their slapstick is marvelous. It is too bad that they never seemed believable in the scenes where they are supposed to love each other. This gets better in a few years, when they come together again in PHILADELPHIA STORY.

This is a style of film I don’t mind revisiting , but it is not a film for audiences conditioned to watch a movie without listening to the dialog. A bit of music would have helped. I do think it plays better the second viewing, so you may want to watch it twice.

Join me in wanting this to be put on DVD! It is ridiculous not to have a better copy available. And accurate information about the details of the production would help.

A hearty Bronx Cheer to Turner Classic Movies. ***Pfffttttt!!!!!!***









Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12