What's Up, Doc?
The tagline says it: “A screwball comedy. Remember them?”. But Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? is so much more than a mere screwball comedy. It is a film that celebrates the history of film comedy, incorporating elements of Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, the Keystone Cops, and more into an electric screwball romance. The result is one of the all-time great film comedies. After watching it twice in six hours, I am already eager for a third visit to the calamitous world of Judy Maxwell and Howard Bannister (or is it Steve?).
It was a delight to find What’s Up, Doc? teeming with my favorite brands of humor. There are several delightful visual gags, including, but not limited to: a crooked hotel detective chasing a woman in an attempt to trip her; a summit meeting under a dining room table; an extended street chase scene straight out of a Buster Keaton film; and a hilarious hotel room fire in which every person in the shot is reacting (or not) in their hilarious way. There is also an amount of absurdly gratuitous car and motorcycle violence to rival The Fast and the Furious. The cast masterfully delivers perfectly written one-liners. What else would you expect with a star-studded group including Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, and Kenneth Mars? This film is rare in the screwball comedy genre to me, in that the two leads are well-matched. In many a screwball comedy film, I find that the leading lady often outshines her male counterpart, and while Judy is the more effervescent of the two leads, I find O’Neal’s performance extremely hilarious, many times eliciting laughs with merely a look. The leads are two entirely different types of funny that work incredibly well against each other.
What’s Up, Doc? is an aptly titled movie. Streisand’s Judy is, indeed, Bugs Bunny. She is animated, quick-witted, indestructible, and always leaves chaos in her wake. She also enjoys the occasional carrot. While her dialogue and direction are brilliant, much of what makes Judy one of the best film characters ever (I said what I said) is Streisand’s performance. She is quick, dynamic, and magnetic in every single frame. She is part Groucho Marx and part Lucille Ball, but she is also a being all her own. While Streisand gave my favorite performance in the film, the biggest surprise was from Ryan O’Neal. While I have found him a great actor in movies such as Paper Moon (1973, dir. Peter Bogdanovich) and Barry Lyndon (1975, dir. Stanley Kubrick), I did not expect him to be so genuinely funny as he is in this film. Howard/”Steve” is a preoccupied, intellectual buffoon. He has to be guided every step of the way, at first by his fiancée, Eunice (Madeline Khan), and later by Judy. His awareness is constantly waxing and waning. The character description sounds like Gary Cooper in our last Film Club pick, Ball of Fire. However, while Cooper chose to make intellectual synonymous with lifeless and robotic, O’Neal’s Howard takes ownership of those same characteristics and allows himself to be foolish. Howard is a multi-purpose tool in the film; sometimes he is the agent of chaos, other times he aligns more with the audience in what would typically be the ‘straight man’ role… except that he is never ‘straight.’ Even at his most exasperated, Howard never loses the qualities that make him a comic character. The performance made me respect O’Neal as an actor all the more. He even closes the film with a joke at his own expense, mocking the iconic line from Love Story (1970, dir. Arthur Hiller), a film he had starred in just a couple of years prior.
The acting talent does not end with the leads. Madeline Kahn gives a solid debut performance as the patiently fed-up fiancée. Kenneth Mars is wonderfully over-the-top as Howard’s rival, Hugh (and no one does a ‘hair flip’ quite like him). Liam Dunn, who plays the disgruntled judge in the courtroom scene, absolutely steals the movie for the ten or so minutes that he is onscreen. Mabel Albertson's Mrs. Van Hoskins has some chucklesome exchanges with other characters, as well as some impressive physical comedy. There was no weak link to be found in the entire film, and that is a rare feat in my experience as a viewer.
What’s Up, Doc? is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. There are so many perfectly executed elements, from characterization to direction. Its absurd sense of humor will keep me coming back time and time again. If you are yet to see it, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. It will be sure to bring you a bit of joy even in these darkest times. – Bailey 🚲
Of the three highest grossing films at the box-office in 1972, number one The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola), number two The Poseidon Adventure (dir. Ronald Neame), and number three What’s Up, Doc? (dir. Peter Bogdanovich), the latter ranks as the top contender in my book in terms of rewatchability. Hands down, I will take a screening of What’s Up, Doc? over the other two films any day, mainly due to this movie’s unwavering ability to make me laugh. Sure, I’ve seen this film before (perhaps one too many times), but I appreciate the comedy and film’s continual homages to early screwball tropes.
It is easy to make connections between What’s Up, Doc? and Looney Tunes cartoons, as the title is, after all, an homage to one of Bugs Bunny’s rather famous taglines, which is also repeated the moment Judy (Barbra Streisand) first approaches Howard (Ryan O’Neal) in the hotel drugstore. The plot of the film is easily recognizable as a playful variation of the 1938 screwball romantic comedy, Bringing Up Baby (dir. Howard Hawks), but updates a few of the key plot points. One of the main changes is the location switching to San Francisco and swapping out David’s (Cary Grant) search for his bone for four identical plaid overnight bags, which becomes the main source of frustration for all the characters in What’s Up, Doc?. One of the key dynamics that remains the same within both films, but takes greater focus in What’s Up, Doc? is the romantic comedy love triangle that develops between Judy and Howard, and his fiancé Eunice (Madeline Kahn).
From the moment she appears on screen, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake as she follows some pizza boxes being delivered to a hotel, Judy, portrayed by the hilariously incomparable Barbara Streisand, is an absolutely mesmerizing presence in this film. Part of the joy of watching What’s Up, Doc? is to see just what strange tricks Judy has up her sleeve next, in her relentless pursuit of Howard. Ryan O’Neal, as the straight man and musicologist Dr. Howard Bannister, becomes the perfect target for Judy to set her sights on. One cannot help but sympathize with him, particularly during a couple of the moments in the film where Howard looks directly into the camera, breaking the fourth wall, and quietly begs for help in navigating Judy’s zany antics. This coupled with Eunice’s constant nagging and superbly shrill demeanor, makes the audience really root for Howard to succumb to Judy’s charms. However, it becomes clear, from the very beginning, that Judy will most certainly get her man in the end. How could the film end any other way?
Part of the joy in watching What’s Up, Doc? is picking up on all the different comedy styles that this film draws upon. One that stands out to me is the references to early Keystone Cops style chase scenes. The moment that Judy and Howard get their hands on all four of the plaid suitcases, they start one of the most epic chase scenes in cinema. They truly do not make chases quite like they used to! The pace is just slow enough at times that you can appreciate all the comedic moments built into the action. From the twisting turns on Lombard Street, to the parade in Chinatown, and eventually ending up with a multi-car pile up in San Francisco Bay, you cannot help but appreciate the timing and details that went into orchestrating and editing a classically epic chase scene like the one featured within this film. The moment of the chase that gets me laughing every time is the bit where the cars manage to avoid the ladder and giant piece of glass, only to have things reach a rather satisfyingly shattered conclusion just a bit later, and certainly not how one would expect the scene to play out. That is where the comedy of the film is at its finest, in subverting the expectations of the audience, and setting up for some rather satisfying and hilarious conclusions.
What more is there really left to say about What’s Up, Doc?, as this film is truly a delightfully madcap comedy from beginning to end. With excellent lead performances, and a well-rounded supporting cast, the film knows just when to play into its tropes and source materials, and when to twist things just enough to keep the audience on its toes. I, for one, will be sure to keep What’s Up, Doc? in my comedy film rotation for many years to come! – Sarah 🥕
What did you think of What’s Up, Doc? and what moment of the chase scene was your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and be sure to check back soon for our February Film Club Pick!
Copyright © 2022 Sarah Crane & Bailey Lizotte Clark
