Editing Bringing Up Baby (section)

{{Short description|1938 film by Howard Hawks}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Bringing Up Baby
| image          = Bringing Up Baby (1938 poster).jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| producer       = {{ubl|[[Cliff Reid]]|Howard Hawks}}
| director       = [[Howard Hawks]]
| screenplay     = {{ubl|[[Dudley Nichols]]|[[Hagar Wilde]]|}}
| story          = Hagar Wilde
| based_on       = {{Based on|''Bringing Up Baby''<br>1937 short story in ''[[Collier's]]''|Hagar Wilde}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Katharine Hepburn]]|[[Cary Grant]]|[[Charles Ruggles]]|[[Barry Fitzgerald]]|[[May Robson]]|[[Walter Catlett]]|[[Fritz Feld]]}}
| music          = [[Roy Webb]]
| cinematography = [[Russell Metty]]
| editing        = [[George Hively]]
| studio         = [[RKO Radio Pictures]]
| distributor    = RKO Radio Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|1938|2|16|[[Golden Gate Theatre]]||ref1={{sfn|Hanson|1993|p=235}}}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1.1 million
| gross          = $1.1 million
}}

'''''Bringing Up Baby''''' is a 1938 American [[screwball comedy]] film directed by [[Howard Hawks]], and starring [[Katharine Hepburn]] and [[Cary Grant]]. It was released by [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]]. The film tells the story of a [[paleontologist]] in a number of predicaments involving a scatterbrained heiress and a [[leopard]] named Baby. The screenplay was adapted by [[Dudley Nichols]] and [[Hagar Wilde]] from a short story by Wilde which originally appeared in ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'' magazine on April 10, 1937.

The script was written specifically for Hepburn, and tailored to her personality. Filming began in September 1937 and wrapped in January 1938, over schedule and over budget. Production was frequently delayed by Hepburn and Grant's uncontrollable laughing fits. Hepburn struggled with her comedic performance and was coached by another cast member, vaudeville veteran [[Walter Catlett]]. A tame leopard named Nissa was used during the shooting and played two roles in the film; Nissa's trainer stood off-screen with a whip for all of its scenes.

''Bringing Up Baby'' was a [[Commercial flop|box-office bomb]] upon its release, although it eventually made a small profit after its re-release in the early 1940s. Shortly after the film's premiere, Hepburn was one of a group of actors labeled as "[[Box Office Poison (magazine article)|box office poison]]" by the Independent Theatre Owners of America. Her career waned until ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' two years later. The film's reputation began to grow during the 1950s when it was shown on television.

Since then, the film has gained acclaim from both critics and audiences for its zany antics and pratfalls, absurd situations and misunderstandings, comic timing, completely screwball cast, series of lunatic and hare-brained misadventures, disasters, light-hearted surprises and romantic comedy.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Bringing Up Baby (1938)|url = http://www.filmsite.org/brin.html|website = www.filmsite.org|access-date = February 8, 2016}}</ref>

In 1990, ''Bringing Up Baby'' was selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]] as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,"<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gamarekian|first1=Barbara|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/19/movies/library-of-congress-adds-25-titles-to-national-film-registry.html|title=Library of Congress Adds 25 Titles to National Film Registry|date=1990-10-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|website=Library of Congress|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref> and it has appeared on a number of [[list of films considered the best|greatest-films lists]], ranking 88th on the [[American Film Institute]]'s [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)|100 greatest American films of all time]] list.