The ending of the movie where Grant ends up with Hepburn instead of the other woman felt FAR too contrived. Especially since he displayed absolutely no romantic feelings toward her before.
Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.
Oh, I think it makes sense. The film makes it absolultely clear what David's life is going to be like if he marries Alice Swallow -
ALICE: Our marriage must contain no domestic entanglements of any kind.
DAVID: You mean -
ALICE: I mean of any kind, David.
DAVID: Oh well, Alice, I was sort of hoping, well, you mean children and all that sort of thing?
ALICE: Exactly. (Alice gestures with a sweep of her hand toward the dinosaur.) This will be our child!
DAVID: Huh?
ALICE: Yes, David. I see our marriage purely as a dedication to your work.
DAVID: Well, gee whiz Alice, everybody has to have a honeymoon and, and -
ALICE: But we haven't time, David.
David is clearly going to have a sexless, passionless life with Miss Swallow - no bump 'n' grind or even a honeymoon! On the other hand, Susan loves him unreservedly and will give him anything he wants; besides, she's beautiful, rich, and lots of fun. After carefully reflecting on the time he spent with her, David realizes it was the best day he ever had -
DAVID: I never had a better time!
SUSAN: Oh! But - but I was there.
DAVID: Well, that's what made it so good.
SUSAN: Oh, did you really have a good time?
DAVID: Yes, I did!
SUSAN: Oh, that's, but that's wonderful. Do you realize what that means? That means that you must like me a little bit.
DAVID: Susan, it's more than that.
SUSAN: It is?
DAVID: Yes, I love you, I think.
SUSAN: Oh, that's wonderful, because I love you too!
I see no reason why David and Susan shouldn't be perfectly happy together - as long as she doesn't destroy too many of his dinosaurs.
After carefully reflecting on the time he spent with her, David realizes it was the best day he ever had
I fail to see how David at any point (up till now) considered the previous day in any way shape or form "fun".
Last summer, I walked with my 11 and 15 year olds over five miles around Washington, DC. We saw all the big monuments, as well as my daughter's first real view of the White House, as well as the many war memorials around the Mall, the Navy Memorial and the MLK one in July - when it was HUMID. My teenager grumbled ALL day; he wanted to stay at his Grandma's and play video games. We stopped at one point to put our feet in a fountain and my daughter and I had our toes nibbled on by ducks. We talked about stuff. We talked about the people represented by the various memorials. After we got back to Grandma's, we'd all showered and were resting... he said he had a really good day. Now he wants to go to NYC to see the 9/11 Memorial. He'll probably complain the whole time, especially when we get lost on the subway. Same concept.
shareDoes it need to make sense?
"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx
"Sense", no; internal logic, yes. I personally found her to be completely cuckoobonkers who would drive any husband insane. ...Hey, maybe that's why he decided he loved her! He finally cracked!
Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.
It's a romantic, "screwball" comedy. It doesn't have to be logical. Love isn't logical. People always fall for people that they wouldn't imagine themselves with or who are their polar opposites.
Throughout the movie, you can see that his frustration is also exciting and exhilerating to him and his hum drum life. Yes, she's over the top, my husband won't watch the whole movie with me because she irritates him, but she's full of life and wakes up something in him.
Watch it again and you'll probably see it.
GO PHILLIES!!!!!
There are actually a few scenes throughout the movie where David shows he is beginning to care for Susan before the ending confession:
1) When he first tells her to go away and she starts crying he doesn't want to see her cry and wipes her tears. There is also a moment directly after this when he stares into her eyes and it looks like he wants to kiss her but he holds back.
2) When he finds out Susan is chasing after a rabid leopard he gets scared for her and says something to the effect of dear sweet Susan.
That's not to say she doesn't drive him crazy but hey who said those we love can't drive us crazy?
Good points.
There is also the moment early in the script when Susan gives David the impression (over the phone) that she is being attacked by the leopard. David is beside himself with concern and immediately rushes to her apartment.
If he'd been indifferent to her, he wouldn't have reacted the way he did; he would have just called the police, told them what was happening, and washed his hands of the whole affair. But no - without even thinking about it, he comes to her aid (which indicates, even at this early point, that he has feelings for Susan).
Hawks often spoke about how the film should have had at least one normal character, for contrast.
In any case, the love triangle is the typical situation where the man has to decide (or, have it decided for him) between the domesticating and taming female, and the liberating one. We've seen this in many films, perhaps most famously in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild. Hitchcock did something similar, though with a much darker edge to it. There is, of course, the flip side, where the woman chooses between two men, such as Dietrich in Morocco, and many others.
"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx
I have to agree with you. There's marrying someone that's opposite from you and then there's doing a complete 180 and marrying the psycho that essentially kidnapped you. Maybe he developed Stockholm Syndrome and just went crazy. It would explain why after she destroyed his dinosaur he still decided to pull her up and not just let her fall.
shareThere's marrying someone that's opposite from you and then there's doing a complete 180 and marrying the psycho that essentially kidnapped you. Maybe he developed Stockholm Syndrome and just went crazy.
But David wasn't "essentially kidnapped" - in fact, he wasn't kidnapped in any way. When he found himself on the street (with the leopard curled up nearby), there was nothing to stop him from hailing a cab and going to the Museum to meet Miss Swallow. But he didn't; he called out to Susan, because that's what he wanted to do.
And Susan isn't a "psycho" - she's simply a character in a screwball comedy. If one met her in real life she could be referred to as a "psycho," but Bringing Up Baby ISN'T real life; it's a lunatic farce and she's just one of the loonies. All we know is that she wants David and pursues him relentlessly, and David (despite his protests) goes right along with it. Why? Well, I'd say it's because he doesn't really want to marry Miss Swallow. And in the nonsensical world created by Howard Hawks, David and Susan are actually perfect for each other.
It's important to remember Bringing Up Baby isn't kitchen sink realism; we're definitely not dealing with a case of "Stockholm syndrome" here. The film is a screwball comedy, much like Duck Soup and Blazing Saddles; once you accept that, there's nothing unusual about any of the action that takes place onscreen.
Just because it's a Screwball Comedy and "not real life" does not excuse lazy writing and making your female lead seem like she'd just as likely marry him as murder him and wear his skin as a suit. No matter what it seems unusual since no matter what genre it's supposed to be the only way the plot works is if everyone decides to throw logic out the window and act like they've never met a person that doesn't have some mental decifiency before. Even people that are "supposed" to be scientists and in turn should know better than following someone that is probably going to get them killed around just because they're upset their fiance isn't willing to drop their entire life for their selfish needs.
Everyone has their own opinon. But I just can't accept that apparently nobody in this movie knows anything and thinks what is basically kidnapping is okay. She stole his clothes leaving him unable to leave. Then the Stockholme Syndrome starts.
"Just because it´s a screwball comedy and "not real life" does not excuse/-/".
But it does; it´s the way screwballs ARE. And even if we take some these issues at the face value for a moment... I certainly didn´t quite get the impression Hepburn was "as likely to marry him as murder him"... and since when does expertise in some scientific field equal highly developed common sense or outstanding social skills?
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan