This is a film I hadn't seen since my teens, back in the early '80s, and I am blown away anew by it now, having just watched it on DVD. The film's a masterpiece of American cinema. The great Cary Grant is in his element as the victim of a series of madcap circumstances -- his reactions throughout are priceless, as are his verbal responses (many of them ad-libs)-- and Katherine Hepburn is absolutely adorable, not the way she normally plays it, in her crazed role. Both actors turn in a very physical performance, too, including some falls that must have left a mark.
Howard Hawks was unquestionably one of the best film directors of all time, and one of the most influential, though largely unheralded during his life. He could direct anything, it seems, and this is a prime example of his facility with comedy. Not just comedy, either, but frantic, madcap, slapstick, screwball comedy, comedy of a type so unrelenting and fast-paced that it could easily undermine the film or create fatal viewer fatigue were it not for the fact that it was written (and subsequently improvised upon) so perfectly sharply and featured such great actors in every role. The lines voiced by the actors are superb, but some of the unspoken communication is even better. Even the leopard (a jaguar, actually, as would be expected from a South American origin) was great, and one beautiful cat, as was the terminally annoying little yappydog that I was hoping Baby would eat. Just as Hawks was under-appreciated during his career, perhaps in part because in hindsight we can now see how far ahead of his time he always was, so this film suffered upon original release; indeed, this film was detrimental to the career trajectories of its director and two stars.
To say that they don't make 'em like this any more would be an understatement. The fact is, really, that they NEVER made 'em like this, though some other highly entertaining 'screwball' comedies of the time (including Cary Grant properties) also provide excellent viewing even today. The dialog is not only rapid-paced but very edgy and loaded with double entendres, and overlapping dialog paved the way for similar devices by the likes of Robert Altman and the makers of "Hill Street Blues" and other works intentionally grounded in non-cinematic reality.
The two main stars, of course, make the film, but every part here is cast to perfection. In the DVD commentary, a very interesting Peter Bogdanovich (he seems a fascinating dude, too) points out that all of the characters in this film are off-center and that Howard Hawks later realized that was the fault with the film and in the future never repeated his mistake, always including characters who were more 'normal' just to provide a basis for comparison. Regardless, every one of the quirky and halfway-nuts characters in this film is perfectly executed and adds to the whole; somehow, the film succeeds brilliantly despite, or perhaps because of, every player being way off-kilter, a feat perhaps not possible with actors of lesser caliber.
My one concern here is that, eventually, someone will get around to pitching a remake of this with Ben Affleck and J Lo in the lead roles...
Howard Hawks was unquestionably one of the best film directors of all time, and one of the most influential, though largely unheralded during his life. He could direct anything, it seems, and this is a prime example of his facility with comedy. Not just comedy, either, but frantic, madcap, slapstick, screwball comedy, comedy of a type so unrelenting and fast-paced that it could easily undermine the film or create fatal viewer fatigue were it not for the fact that it was written (and subsequently improvised upon) so perfectly sharply and featured such great actors in every role. The lines voiced by the actors are superb, but some of the unspoken communication is even better. Even the leopard (a jaguar, actually, as would be expected from a South American origin) was great, and one beautiful cat, as was the terminally annoying little yappydog that I was hoping Baby would eat. Just as Hawks was under-appreciated during his career, perhaps in part because in hindsight we can now see how far ahead of his time he always was, so this film suffered upon original release; indeed, this film was detrimental to the career trajectories of its director and two stars.
To say that they don't make 'em like this any more would be an understatement. The fact is, really, that they NEVER made 'em like this, though some other highly entertaining 'screwball' comedies of the time (including Cary Grant properties) also provide excellent viewing even today. The dialog is not only rapid-paced but very edgy and loaded with double entendres, and overlapping dialog paved the way for similar devices by the likes of Robert Altman and the makers of "Hill Street Blues" and other works intentionally grounded in non-cinematic reality.
The two main stars, of course, make the film, but every part here is cast to perfection. In the DVD commentary, a very interesting Peter Bogdanovich (he seems a fascinating dude, too) points out that all of the characters in this film are off-center and that Howard Hawks later realized that was the fault with the film and in the future never repeated his mistake, always including characters who were more 'normal' just to provide a basis for comparison. Regardless, every one of the quirky and halfway-nuts characters in this film is perfectly executed and adds to the whole; somehow, the film succeeds brilliantly despite, or perhaps because of, every player being way off-kilter, a feat perhaps not possible with actors of lesser caliber.
My one concern here is that, eventually, someone will get around to pitching a remake of this with Ben Affleck and J Lo in the lead roles...