As you might have guessed from the title, this is an article that analyzes why His Girl Friday is arguably the superior to Bringing Up Baby.

 A note on what follows: you may disagree with what I write and my feelings on the two discussed films; that is perfectly fine. I don't want to offend anyone, and I have the utmost respect for the creators and people involved with both His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby. They are both two classics and representative of the screwball comedy genre, the studio era, and American filmmaking at its near pinnacle. My thoughts are highly, highly subjective and are nothing more than my personal thoughts. My opinion can inform yours, but it shouldn't dominate or suppress your individual perspective and takeaways. In fact, I recommend that you, Dear Reader, if you haven't done so already, watch both films and come to your own conclusions. I will not include any spoilers in this review, but still, I highly recommend watching (and ideally enjoying) both films. With that established, let's get into the thick of things...

 To start, I think it's perhaps beneficial to establish a quick understanding of both films.

 Here's a plot summary of Bringing Up Baby: The movie revolves around paleontologist David Huxley, a klutz that seems to be a magnet for trouble. In order to raise the money needed for his museum, which helps to sponsor research for dinosaurs of various time periods, David must try to make a positive impression on Mrs. Random, a wealthy investor that is intent on giving away a million dollars to someone that needs it, which might just be the museum. However, things quickly get more complicated. On the day before he is supposed to get married, David Huxley tries to speak with Mrs. Random's lawyer, but this is quickly met with bad results. The problems all start when David meets a mysterious and unusual woman in Susan Vance, the adventurous niece of Mrs. Random that seems to only bring David problems. Susan quickly falls for David, but in doing so, she ends up trying to get to know him better and messes up his plan to talk with Mrs. Random in the process. While it seems like she is capable of formulating plans that can fix David's issues, it's clear that they almost always backfire. As the duo attempts to set David's life right, which includes trying to ensure that he is able to go to his own wedding and raise the money for the museum, they embark on a crazy roller coaster ride that involves wild leopards, committing grand theft auto, a missing dinosaur bone, and confusion galore.

 Here's a plot summary of His Girl Friday: The movie revolves around Walter Burns, a tough editor of a newspaper called The Morning Post, and Hildy Johnson, who is both Walter's ex-wife and a top-tier reporter for the newspaper. However, when Hildy falls in love with Bruce Baldwin, an insurance agent, she plans on marrying him and quitting journalism for good. Although Walter's plans to convince her otherwise seem to be failing, this all changes when Hildy learns that Earl Williams, who is convicted of murder, may actually be innocent. As Hildy Johnson and Walter Burns try to discover the truth about whether or not Earl is innocent, their passion for journalism takes them on a crazy adventure. 

 Aside from plot, both Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday are critically acclaimed, well-respected, and beloved screwball comedies that are fondly remembered even to this day, over 80 years later. Furthermore, both films boast equally phenomenal performances from Cary Grant, who deserves all the respect in the world for how exceptional he is when it comes to screwball comedies and films from the studio era. Some of his highlights include starring in The Talk of the Town, The Awful Truth, Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, and Only Angels Have Wings. None of these films have below a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think we should all stop and consider how oh-my-gosh-he-did-what impressive that is. Now that we've all appropriately stopped to appreciate Grant, another important similarity to consider is that Director Howard Hawks, who is just as renowned as Grant for his work with screwball comedies and other studio-era masterpieces, is also the director for both films. So, with similar lead roles from Cary Grant, the same director, and the same screwball comedy genre, you're probably wondering how can one possibly be considered better than the other? The answer is that because of their similarities, it's actually much easier to compare them (versus comparing two films from other genres) simply because they share similar goals but have slightly different results. With all of this background knowledge, I promise I'll finally dig into the core of my argument...

 Based off of the summaries above, you're probably wondering: Are both films outlandish and eccentric? The answer is: Of course! I mean, in one film you have a wild leopard serving as a pet, and in the other you have plenty of ridiculous shenanigans to prevent someone from getting married, including having a groom-to-be jailed multiple times for crimes he didn't commit. But that's expected from a screwball comedy (hence the "screwball" aspect).

 However, the key difference between these two films is that I personally found myself enjoying the romance between Walter Burns and Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday more than the romance between David Huxley and Susan Vance in Bringing Up Baby.

 In His Girl Friday, Walter Burns does plenty of despicable, arguably evil actions, including disrupting a marriage, jailing innocents to buy time, and whatever else is needed to obtain his goals. However, Cary Grant, who plays Walter Burns (and also stars as David Huxley in Bringing Up Baby), is so darn likable that Burns doesn't really come across as villainous. Instead, Grant is charismatic, charming, and oozes with the appeal of Daniel Day-Lewis at his finest. Grant is considered by many to be a legendary actor, and this portrayal justifies that claim with zeal. Grant is very, very skilled, and as the king of screwball comedies, he's playing at the peak of his powers here. And when an all-time great like Grant gets to display his chops, boy oh boy, it's simply an irresistible treat. Moreover, Grant has electric chemistry with Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson. Russell is energetic and enthusiastic as Johnson, but what's even better is the tension between Grant and Russell. Russell portrays (and justifiably so) Hildy Johnson as a strong heroine who's better at journalism than the majority of her male peers, and something about Johnson's strength makes her the perfect counter to the crazy antics Grant's Burns pulls to win her affection. Hildy Johnson, as a character, isn't afraid of standing up to Walter Burns and seeing through his self-centered attempts to get what he wants. As a result, Hildy Johnson is a character who's extremely easy to like. For me, something about both Cary Grant's Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson's likability makes the romance between them significantly more enjoyable. 

 In contrast, I'd say acting — the reason for His Girl Friday's success — could also be considered one of Bringing Up Baby's greatest weaknesses. Although Cary Grant also stars in Bringing Up Baby, and is just as fantastic as ever, it's not his acting that takes away, at least from my perspective, the romance between David Huxley and Susan Vance. Instead, it ultimately comes down to Katharine Hepburn's slightly forced portrayal of Susan Vance. 

 While Katharine Hepburn has provided some phenomenal performances in her impressive career — with highlights such as The Philadelphia Story (she starred alongside Cary Grant and James Stewart) and Little Women (the original 1933 version) — I don't think her portrayal of Susan Vance is her best performance. It might be a bit aggressive to say Hepburn struggles with the role, but she consistently comes across as trying too hard, as if she is trying to assume a role that wasn't meant to be a good fit. The best acting typically comes when you don't even realize someone is acting because said person is behaving and talking just so naturally; it's as if the character being assumed is how the actor is in his/her real life. However, this is certainly not the case with Hepburn's performance. It always feels like an over-the-top, in-your-face portrayal that can occasionally be perceived as annoying. Truth be told, I find her character to be very irritating at times. Susan Vance is supposed to be someone interesting and entrancing enough to cause David to want to leave behind his old life in order to spend more time with her. Instead, the slightly irritating performance detracts away from this aspect and creates a romance that I don't find believable. Screwball comedies are meant to rely on forbidden love and unexpected romances, and when that crucial component is taken away, the film generally loses impact as a whole. Therefore, that element of romance is made more powerful, pleasant, and enjoyable in His Girl Friday than in Bringing Up Baby. 

 All in all, both Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday are tremendous achievements that are hallmarks of the studio era, classic Hollywood cinema, and the screwball comedy genre. His Girl Friday is a film that shows all the quirks, thrills, and adventure of journalism in a way most other movies only dream of. While Bringing Up Baby may require some slightly more nostalgia-tinted eyes from audiences, it can still be a fun blast to the past that is very lighthearted and isn't afraid of taking exuberant silliness to the next level. However, for this movie reviewer, Rosalind Russell's terrific performance in His Girl Friday is the key differentiator that makes the romance in His Girl Friday so wonderful and pleasing. For me, that's enough to justify saying His Girl Friday is better than Bringing Up Baby.