October
29
Bringing Up Baby: Hepburn, Grant and a Leopard
This clip from the Howard Hawks 1938 classic comedy Bringing Up Baby, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, is delicious, giddy fun. If there's anybody in today's acting pantheon who can do this kind of madcap slapstick comedy anymore, let me know. Maybe the Coens came closest with their acting ensemble in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The LAT bewails the lack of strong comedy roles for women. Brit Emily Mortimer does a good job in Lars and the Real Girl, which, happily, is picking up steam. Here's her New York Q & A.
William J. Mann's new book, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, features new material from the recently opened Hepburn private archives; he details her affair with macho director John Ford, and speculates on how close Hepburn got to crossing over to the lesbian side. (There are more than 20 books by or about Hepburn, whose account of shooting The African Queen with Bogey, Bacall and Huston is a must-read. There's also the gold standard, A. Scott Berg's authorized Kate Remembered.)
As for Howard Hawks, you won't do better than Todd McCarthy's engrossing biography, Howard Hawks; The Grey Fox of Hollywood. And here's Senses of Cinema on Hawks.
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While that L.A. Times article hits a lot of the right points, there's another more basic simple reason why women have such poor supporting roles in comedies nowadays. You may call it too simplistic a reason, but the fact of the matter is that most of these films are written, directed and greenlit by guys who were (or still are) geeks and nerds and the roles these women plays are a sort of revenge or payback for all the years, starting back in high school, when these guys were rejected by the cute girls in school (or in life in general) for the handsome, stud jock type. If they could never get the hot chick in real life, there's always to movies to live out your dreams. Think I'm kidding?
Look at Sideways which is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I admit that I like that film a lot, but ever wondered why it got so much praise from film critics? It because it was deep down inside for them the ultimate fantasy. The story about a loser schlub who finally meets the woman of his dreams, a hot babe who's just as just knowledgable and obsessed about the very same thing he is and who sees past his exterior for the guy inside. In the film it was wine, but it could have easily been movies. And The 40 Year Old Virgin? Please, do I have to explain that one?
Posted by: Sergio | October 29, 2007 at 10:09 AM
you know, i'm going out on a limb and predicting a change in the scene for women in film. i just sense it. and the main reason is knocked up. Katherine Heigl carries that movie -- she's the star. Seth Rogen is perfect but the movie would have struggled without Heigl's natural charm
Heigl is seen next in 27 dresses, written by a woman, directed by a woman, and starring a, um, woman. the thing about this movie that makes me think it's the start of a trend is that it's a crowd-pleaser. too many movies backed by women have been way too touchy-feely. there's nothing wrong with that but it leads to a stereotype. that is, simply, movies by women fail (because they don't appeal to a broad [pun neither here nor there] audience).
in other words, 27 dresses (and, i've only seen trailers) looks as if it could have been produced, written, and directed by men. so, what you end up with is a comedy with broad appeal that also just happens to be told from a woman's perspective.
if women can deliver pop entertainment they can work more. too often women make movies that are just so layered, subtle, cathartic, and, as a result, are total turn-offs. the box office for such movies does nothing to make studios rush to make more of same (and that goes for men who make such stuff -- studios aren't standing in line to work with them either)
i don't think anyone can dispute that these movies have failed at the box office, so the real question is 'why do women do this'? from a studio's perspective nobody cares why they do it
i don't know why but i think 27 dresses may be the one that opens women's eyes and gets them to make stuff a general audience will want to see
Posted by: Alan | October 29, 2007 at 07:44 PM
I'm still waiting for a remake of "Arsenic and Old Lace". Leading Man, Leading lady, two great roles for the "little old ladies", "character" victims, delicious ....
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