Bringing Up Baby: Howard Hawks Director

Bringing Up Baby: Howard Hawks Director is a critical analysis of the 1938 screwball comedy film, focusing on director Howard Hawks' techniques and artistic choices. The book examines the production history, casting decisions, and technical elements that shaped this classic Hollywood film. The text includes scene-by-scene breakdowns and detailed discussions of the film's dialogue, pacing, and visual composition. Mast provides context about Hawks' directing style and career trajectory, connecting this work to his other films and the broader landscape of 1930s cinema. This study explores the film's place in the screwball comedy genre and its influence on subsequent romantic comedies. The work also investigates Hawks' collaborative relationships with stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, analyzing their performances and on-screen chemistry. Through careful analysis, Mast reveals how Bringing Up Baby exemplifies Hawks' signature themes of gender dynamics, professionalism versus chaos, and the transformative power of disruption in ordered lives.

There are not enough internet reviews to create a summary of this book. Instead, here is a summary of reviews of Gerald Mast's overall work: Film students and scholars appreciate Mast's accessible writing style and detailed analysis of comedy techniques. His "A Short History of the Movies" remains popular in film courses. Readers note his ability to explain complex film theory without academic jargon. What readers liked: - Clear explanations of film history and technical concepts - Thorough research and historical context - Insightful analysis of comedy mechanics - Strong focus on specific examples from films What readers disliked: - Some dated cultural references - Occasional dense academic passages - Limited coverage of non-Western cinema - Text can feel dry compared to modern film writing Ratings: Goodreads: A Short History of the Movies - 3.8/5 (127 ratings) The Comic Mind - 4.1/5 (43 ratings) Amazon: A Short History of the Movies - 4.2/5 (31 reviews) One film student wrote: "Mast breaks down complex ideas about comedy in a way that enhanced my appreciation of classic films." Another noted: "The historical sections drag but his analysis of specific movies is excellent."

His Girl Friday: The Screwball World of Howard Hawks by Molly Haskell An analysis of Hawks' rapid-fire dialogue and treatment of gender dynamics in his comedies explores the same themes found in Bringing Up Baby.

Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise by Scott Eyman This biography delves into Grant's collaborations with Hawks and his development of the comic persona showcased in Bringing Up Baby.

The Screwball Comedy Films by Duane Byrge and Robert Milton Miller This examination of 1930s comedy filmmaking provides context for Hawks' work and includes detailed analysis of Bringing Up Baby's place in the genre.

Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success by Joseph McBride The book explores a contemporary director of Hawks who worked in similar genres and with many of the same actors during Hollywood's golden age.

Hawks on Hawks by Joseph McBride This collection of interviews with Howard Hawks presents the director's own perspective on Bringing Up Baby and his other classic films.

🎬 Author Gerald Mast was a renowned film historian who taught at the University of Chicago and wrote ten influential books about cinema, including one of the first comprehensive histories of comedy in film. 🎥 "Bringing Up Baby" was a box office failure when it was released in 1938, but Mast's book helped establish its later reputation as one of the greatest screwball comedies ever made. 🌟 The book reveals how director Howard Hawks deliberately had Katharine Hepburn speak at a much faster pace than normal to create the character's scattered personality, often having her deliver lines at 100 words per minute. 📚 Mast's analysis shows how Hawks used sophisticated techniques like overlapping dialogue and carefully orchestrated physical comedy to create what appeared to be chaos but was actually precisely planned. 🎭 The book details how Cary Grant's famous line "I just went gay all of a sudden!" was one of the earliest uses of the word "gay" in its modern context in mainstream American film, though it was largely overlooked by censors at the time.