Bringing Up Baby (1938) in Color — Starring Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant

And so begins the hilarious adventure of Professor David Huxley and Miss Susan Vance, a flutter-brained vixen with love in her heart!Feb. 18, 1938USA102 Min.Approved

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IMDb 7.8 68,875 votes

Comedy Romance

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Synopsis

Browse More: 📅 More from 1938 🎭 Comedy Movies 🎭 Romance Movies 🌍 USA Movies

Is Bringing Up Baby in colour? Yes — this is the colorized version

Bringing Up Baby (1938), the comedy classic starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, was originally released in black and white — no official colour version was ever produced by the studio. What you are looking at is the professionally colorized restoration: every frame recoloured, available as an instant DRM-free HD (720p) download. You can judge it yourself — the colour preview plays on this page before you buy.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) — Buy This Classic in Color

Buy Bringing Up Baby (1938) in color — Howard Hawks’s definitive screwball comedy, professionally restored and colorized in stunning HD quality. This is an instant digital download, DRM-free, ready to play on any device the moment you purchase. Originally filmed in black and white, this timeless classic film has been meticulously colorized frame by frame to bring its madcap Connecticut adventure to brilliant, exuberant life. Own the gold standard of the screwball comedy genre for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a mild-mannered palaeontologist with one overriding priority: he needs just one more intercostal clavicle bone to complete his Brontosaurus skeleton, and one very large donation from Mrs. Elizabeth Random (May Robson) to secure his museum’s funding. He also plans to marry his efficient, unromantic assistant the very next day.

In a single catastrophic afternoon, he encounters the irrepressible Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), who crashes his golf game, steals his car, tears his coat, and refuses to acknowledge that any of it was remotely her fault. Susan, it turns out, has inherited a tame leopard named Baby who must be delivered to her aunt’s Connecticut farm. Seizing on David as the perfect person to help — largely because she has decided she is in love with him — she engineers one disaster after another to keep him from returning to his orderly life.

What follows is a masterclass in comic escalation: a second, very dangerous leopard escapes from a circus, a prize dog buries and loses the Brontosaurus bone, David must appear before a justice of the peace wearing Susan’s negligee, and everyone ends up in jail. The film never pauses for breath, running at a pace that still astonishes modern audiences, until a collapsing Brontosaurus skeleton brings the whole glorious chaos to its perfect conclusion.

Cast & Crew

Director: Howard Hawks

Cast:

Katharine Hepburn as Susan Vance
Cary Grant as David Huxley
Charles Ruggles as Horace Applegate
Walter Catlett as Constable Slocum
Barry Fitzgerald as Aloysius Gogarty
May Robson as Elizabeth Random
Fritz Feld as Dr. Fritz Lehman
Leona Roberts as Hannah Gogarty
George Irving as Alexander Peabody

Release Year: 1938
Runtime: 102 minutes
IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
MPAA Rating: Approved
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

Bringing Up Baby is the gold standard of the Hollywood screwball comedy — faster, funnier, and more anarchic than almost any film made before or since. Howard Hawks drives the story at relentless pace, never pausing for breath, while Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn generate chemistry that crackles off the screen with genuine electrical force.

The colorization process uses advanced digital techniques to ensure historically accurate colors while preserving every detail of the original cinematography.

This colorized version preserves the artistry of the original while breathing vivid new life into every frame.

Originally filmed in black and white, this classic film has been professionally restored and colorized to bring new visual richness to every frame. The lush Connecticut countryside, the gleaming museum corridors, Katharine Hepburn’s expressive wardrobe — all rendered in warm, vivid color that perfectly suits the film’s bright, anarchic comic spirit. The leopard Baby, a real trained animal whose unpredictability added genuine spontaneity to every scene, gains a new visual presence in color.

Cary Grant’s comic timing in Bringing Up Baby is some of the finest put on film. His entire genius as a comedian lay in playing dignity and composure against escalating catastrophe — the more chaotic the scene, the more rigidly he attempted to maintain his professional decorum, and the funnier the result. Katharine Hepburn, who had been labeled “box office poison” before this film, throws herself into Susan’s boundless, oblivious energy with total commitment, making her one of the greatest comic heroines in Hollywood history.

This is a classic film that rewards repeat viewing — every viewing reveals new gags, new timing nuances, new moments of brilliant physical comedy. In colorized HD, every expression, every reaction, every perfectly timed fall is sharper and more vivid than ever. Buy Bringing Up Baby today — the ideal colorized classic for any comedy fan’s permanent collection. This classic movie is also available in colour for international audiences.

Technical Details

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did Bringing Up Baby initially fail at the box office?
Bringing Up Baby was considered too fast and too chaotic for 1938 audiences. Katharine Hepburn was one of several stars labeled “box office poison” that year, and the film was seen as too frantic and commercially risky. It lost money on first release. History has thoroughly vindicated it: the film is now recognized as the cornerstone of the screwball comedy genre, and both Grant and Hepburn gave performances that defined their comic personas for the rest of their careers.

Is there really a live leopard in the film?
Yes — Baby is a real trained leopard. The animal was handled by professional trainers throughout production, and both Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant reportedly formed an affinity for the big cat. A second, genuinely dangerous leopard appears in later scenes, and filming sequences with unpredictable large predators gave the comedy an authentic edge of real-world chaos.

What makes the Hepburn-Grant chemistry so effective?
Both were natural physical comedians with extraordinary instincts for timing and reaction. Grant’s genius was comic understatement — his straight-faced bewilderment at each new disaster makes every scene funnier than it would be with conventional comic mugging. Hepburn’s genius was her completely guileless commitment to Susan’s logic: she genuinely believes everything she does is reasonable, which makes her unstoppable. Howard Hawks encouraged them to find their own rhythms, and the result has a spontaneous, unscripted quality that has never dated.

Is this the complete original film?
Yes. The full 102-minute 1938 RKO original, professionally colorized frame by frame. Howard Hawks’s complete vision — every gag, every pratfall, every perfectly timed exchange — preserved exactly.

How do I receive my download after purchase?
Your download link is sent instantly via email after payment confirmation. Click the link to download your MP4 file directly — immediate access, no waiting, no shipping.

Is this a DRM-free download?
Yes, completely DRM-free. Once downloaded, watch Bringing Up Baby colorized on any device you own — smart TV, laptop, tablet, or smartphone — with no restrictions, no subscription, no expiration.

What devices are compatible with the download?
Any device that plays MP4 files: Windows PCs, Macs, Android and iOS devices, smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and any modern media player. No additional software required.