5. Bringing Up Baby/His Girl Friday
Howard Hawks made many brilliant comedies in his career so really any of them could be put together for a fantastic double bill. Although, for me, I consider Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday the two best examples of his comedic talents. They both feature an incredible performance from the always amazing Cary Grant but the female leads steal the show in both of the movies. Katherine Hepburn's Susan is the prototype for the manic pixie dream girl cinematic trope but her banter with Cary Grant's David is immensely enjoyable. The way that she seems to undermine him at every turn and have such a lighthearted attitude about it keeps the comedy coming non-stop. His Girl Friday is a slightly different story. The film is just as funny but in a much darker way than Bringing Up Baby. The comedy is no longer lighthearted but instead more sinister since it is dealing with a life or death situation for wanted man hiding in a newsroom. Both films feature a very prominent use of the Hawksian female archetype but watching them back to back really gives you the ability to see the evolution of the character. In Bringing Up Baby the female character is very silly yet strong but in His Girl Friday the female character is just as strong but now a little more spiteful. It's been said that Hawks only made movies for men to enjoy which is ironic because the female characters were always the most interesting and fully developed in his movies.