“I just went gay all of a sudden!”
synopsis
A mild-mannered paleontologist about to secure museum funding becomes entangled with an eccentric heiress — and her pet leopard. Over the course of escalating chaos, mistaken identities, missing bones, and rapid-fire misunderstandings spiral into one of cinema’s definitive screwball romances.
pairs well with ...
mini-review
This is elite screwball. The pacing is relentless, the dialogue crackles, and the chemistry between Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn is electric. It was initially considered a commercial failure, but history corrected that mistake. The comedy is fearless — absurd, physical, verbal — yet always precise. It’s foundational rom-com DNA.
Champagne and the willingness to surrender to chaos.
Absurdist's Corner
Convincing a museum board that your funding crisis was caused by a leopard and a missing dinosaur bone.
fun facts
The leopard was played by a trained big cat named Nissa.
Cary Grant later said it was one of the most fun films he ever made.
The film bombed on release but is now considered a classic of the screwball genre.