MovieChat Forums > Bringing Up Baby (1938) Discussion > Outdated humor!!!

Outdated humor!!!

posted 10 years ago by Der_Blaue_Reiter
24 replies | jump to latest

My great-grandmother would appreciate the kind of humor presented in this film.I think that this humor is outdated , predictable and annoying.This film was an excruciating experience especially to my eardrums thanks to the bizarre and boisterous character of Katharine Hepburn. I really fail to see why would someone fail in love with such a character ( ok a million dollars channeled to my private Jurassic museum account would have helped ).
Back in the 40's I could imagine the audiences laughing their socks off (with lines such as " He is Mr.Bone" ) but nowadays?
Can anyone care to persuade me why this kind of humor is still funny ?Wouldn't it be nowadays just another utterly silly worthless romantic comedy?
(And YES I'm judging the film by today's standards after watching countless and better comedies).

Feel free to meander trough my ratings in case you fancy an argumentum ad hominem

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ppllkk 10 years ago

Der_Blaue_Reiter wrote:

Can anyone care to persuade me why this kind of humor is still funny ?

I doubt it, and I think that it would be a waste of time to try. Humor is very subjective.

I think that it is a hilarious and great movie. A joy every time I watch it.

Back in the 40's I could imagine the audiences laughing their socks off (with lines such as " He is Mr.Bone" ) but nowadays?

I do not remember that particular line, but the movie is chock-full of sexual innuendo, and, Yes, I find it very funny even in these days of Internet porn.

Just out of interest, do you find the humor in Aristophanes dated? Do you find the humor in Shakespeare's plays old-fashioned? How about Molière? How about Da Pontes's libretto for The Marriage of Figaro? Do you find Buster Keaton's feature films funny?

[–] louiseculmer 9 years ago

I think it's very funny, but I don't think anyone can be persuaded that something is funny. either it makes you laugh or it doesn't.

[–] archtaistelu 9 years ago

I agree with the OP

[–] DryToast 9 years ago

Can anyone care to persuade me why this kind of humor is still funny ?Wouldn't it be nowadays just another utterly silly worthless romantic comedy?
(And YES I'm judging the film by today's standards after watching countless and better comedies).

Obviously, no one can persuade you,

But I can tell you that I recently watched this with a friend who has not seen a lot of old movies (in fact, this was his first black & white movie), and he was rolling on the floor laughing and said it was the funniest movie he ever saw.

I don't know if it's "really wacky," but your French is coming along.

[–] Zaxzar 9 years ago

I find a lot of old B&W movies and their humor dated but I was literally laughing so much I was in tears when I just watched this movie. To each his own.

Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here.

[–] lm362 9 years ago

Try watching the British Comedy, Keeping Up Appearances. The character Hyacinth Bucket is similar to the character Katherine Hepburn played here. Hyacinth is very funny as Susan is here.

[–] joyce-miller777 9 years ago

I've watched it countless times and I still laugh out loud on many of the gags.

[–] [email protected] (6057) 5 years ago

I saw this when I was a kid and laughed aloud through the whole thing. So it's humor is "dated". At least it's clean. They didn't get cheap laughs with toilet humor and four letter words in every other sentence.

[–] TheArgentinian (7196) 4 years ago

clean? it's full of sexual innuendos!

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

True, but the innuendoes would go over the heads of any kids in the audience, who would laugh at the hilarious visual humor. Meanwhile, the adults appreciated & thoroughly enjoyed every innuendo & double entendre throughout. That's one of the great things about '30s & '40s films. They used wit, sophistication, and cleverness to say the most adult things without actually "saying" them.

[–] [email protected] (6057) 4 years ago

Exactly! I saw this movie for the first time when I was about twelve. I didn't "get" a lot of the innuendo at all.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

And this made returning to such films all the more interesting when we were just a little older. :)

[–] [email protected] (6057) 4 years ago

Definitely! I saw old films and even some old sitcoms in a new light when I watched them after I grew up.

I'd often find myself saying, "Oh THAT'S what that meant!"

In Bringing up Baby, there's a detail that I still wonder about. Am I reading something into it that's not there or do I just have a sick mind? lol David's assistant at the museum who is also his fiance seems very cold and unaffectionate. She says that the dinosaur "will be our child." She didn't seem to want a normal life and family with David. Yet her name was 'Miss Swallow'. (Am I a perv?)

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8812) 4 years ago

LOL, you might be, because Miss Swallow immediately made me think of the bird.

[–] [email protected] (6057) 4 years ago

... OR ELSE it could mean that I pick up on the dirty stuff! LOL