Buried Treasures: What's Up, Doc?
Let me begin by saying how honored I am to be writing for The Film Yap. I feel like the new kid on the block, yet I’m probably older than any other writer here (although I’m not going to ask the others).
In “Buried Treasures,” I hope to highlight some small gems you may have missed the first time, or big hits which are now long-forgotten. Let’s begin with a big hit from my youth.
When Peter Bogdanovich first hit the scene in 1971, he was cited by some critics as the next Orson Welles. His debut effort, The Last Picture Show, was hailed as the best “first film” since Welles’ "Citizen Kane" 30 years earlier. An adaptation of the Larry McMurtry novel, "The Last Picture Show" was a black-and-white coming-of-age story about two young high school seniors, set against the bleak backdrop of a deteriorating West Texas town in the early 1950s. It was a critically acclaimed masterpiece in a year that had its fair share ("Carnal Knowledge," "A Clockwork Orange," "Harold and Maude").
The film world anxiously awaited Bogdanovich’s next film, which was released the following summer. Working with a big Hollywood budget this time, the result couldn’t have been a more different picture. "What’s Up, Doc?" paid homage to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and ‘40s. But unlike Mel Brooks, Bogdanovich didn’t spoof screwball comedies. Instead, he actually made one!
"What’s Up, Doc?" stars Barbra Streisand in her second big non-musical role — a highly intelligent drifter who’s instantly smitten with a Midwestern doctor of musicology who’s visiting San Francisco for a convention. Streisand employs all her magical Jewish charm to flesh out a role that could have easily gone sour for a lesser actress. Her Judy Maxwell character is intentionally annoying yet charming in her capable hands, and "What’s Up, Doc?" cemented her status as the top comedic actress of the early ‘70s.
Ryan O'Neal, fresh off his huge success in "Love Story," plays the musicologist as a somewhat weaker version of the classic Cary Grant character — well-meaning and likable, yet as absent-minded as a child. O’Neal’s Dr. Howard Bannister is the proverbial lost balloon — moving in whichever direction the wind blows. His hen-pecking fiancée tells him what to do, when to do it and how to do it — just as his mother must certainly have done. Enter Streisand. Why her character would have the slightest bit of interest in O’Neal’s is beyond comprehension. But it doesn’t matter. The fun begins almost immediately, as a bevy of characters congregates in a ritzy downtown hotel. Four of the characters, in completely unrelated stories, carry identical plaid overnight bags. You see where this is going?
The ensuing madness escalates exponentially throughout, culminating in the funniest chase scene ever filmed. I laughed more in those 20 minutes than I did during the entire three hours of "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Streisand and O’Neal were a rom-com match made in heaven (although do not see their only other pairing, 1979’s "The Main Event," which just may have been the worst picture either one of them ever made), and the supporting cast Bogdanovich assembled featured many future stars. Madeline Kahn made her screen debut as Dr. Bannister’s thoroughly unpleasant fiancée. I don’t think she’s ever been funnier. Kenneth Mars (the police inspector in "Young Frankenstein") played a rival musicologist, in town to promote his own thesis — one which Streisand knows has been plagiarized. For the life of me, I have never been able to tell exactly what nationality Mars’ highly mannered character is supposed to embody. But again, it doesn’t matter. I don’t think Mars was ever funnier either.
"What’s Up, Doc?" was a huge critical and commercial success, and proved superior to most of the screwball comedies it honors. To this day, I consider it to be the greatest motion-picture comedy ever filmed. And here’s why I chose to highlight it: It’s still funny! Unlike many Brooks films, this one isn’t the least bit dated (save for the clothes, the hairstyles and one hilarious jab at O’Neal’s role in "Love Story"). Have you seen "Airplane!" lately? Often considered the funniest movie ever, "Airplane!" certainly still packs a punch. But much of its humor is topical, same as that of Brooks. "Airplane!" even has a one-liner about Gerald Ford. Heck, I don’t even remember enough about the Ford Administration to find it funny anymore.
None of that topical humor applies to "What’s Up, Doc?" If I had to compare it to anything, I’d pick Frank Capra’s 1934 Oscar-winner "It Happened One Night" — long considered to be the best screwball comedy ever made (and one of only three films to win the “big three” Oscars of Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress). "What’s Up, Doc?" is that good! Watch this one after a long trying day at the office. Or when the kids are on your nerves. Your spirits will be lifted in a way that too few pictures today can manage. You can thank me later.