If Hepburn was box office poison

Hepburn wasn't named "box office poison" (by the Independent Theater Owners of America) until AFTER Bringing Up Baby was released. At that point RKO didn't mess with her billing; they simply told her that her next starring role would be in Mother Carrie's Chickens. She quickly realized she'd come to the end of the road with RKO, so she bought out her contract and returned to Broadway in the hit show The Philadelphia Story. The rights to the film version couldn't be bought unless Hepburn was part of the package, and MGM agreed to the terms. The movie became a box office success and brought Hepburn an Oscar nomination and a new contract with Hollywood's most prestigious movie studio - a scant two years after being labeled "box office poison."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Hepburn#Career_struggles.2C_.22 box_office_poison.22_.281934.E2.80.931938.29