Bringing Up Baby

I find Hepburn's agent of chaos largely insufferable on the surface, but there is really something interesting going on in her interactions with Grant's character. The necessity of sympathetic community is one of Hawks' major themes, where people come together to bring about thriving. Grant's Dr. Huxley is completely emasculated when this film opens--not at all on a path to a thriving and life-giving existence (e.g. the skeleton is their child). But over the course of his manic interactions with Susan, he is challenged to fight for himself and eventually to save the day. That only happens because of Susan's devotion to him as well as the unique challenges she poses for him given his persona.