We'd seen this film before and knew it was fantastic; we included it in the festival to enjoy it again and to help spread the word.
Specs:
About an hour and a half, black and white. We found it on VHS tape from the library. Oddly there was a long waiting list for the title. So clearly others have good taste too!
Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
8.5
More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is truly a great movie! Laugh aloud funny throughout, it is fast-paced, silly and surprising. It benefits from Katherine Hepburn in a ditzy role and Cary Grant in a nerdy one. The two are always good together and this film showcases their individual and collective appeal to tremendous advantage. The whole cast is deeply talented and everyone seems to get into the absurdness of the film.
The plot turns on the paleontologist David (played by Grant), seeking a huge donation from a Mr. Peabody, and tracking him to a golf club where David instead encounters Susan (Hepburn). As she blazes into his space, playing his ball and crashing, then taking, his car, David realizes he is seriously in over his head and wants only to get away. But for her part, Susan falls in love quickly and does all in her power to keep him around. When her brother sends her a beautiful tame leopard ("Baby") they all end up at Susan's aunt's country home attempting variously to keep track of the leopard, find David's "intercostal clavicle" dinosaur bone, deny David's identity, and stay out of the crazy house, or the big house. It's good stuff.
One of the more amazing things about the movie is the beautiful leopard "Baby," played by Nissa who seems really quite gentle and reportedly got on splendidly with Hepburn - who clearly was not afraid of the cat. The movie made use of optical effects (split screen and rear screen projection) and puppets in order to portray the cast interacting with Baby. These effects are really well done and never distracting.
It is extremely family friendly a picture -- kids (and grown ups) are bound to enjoy it. My kids were laughing fit to burst and we can't wait to watch it again. We recommend it highly.
Iconic shot:
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