What's Up, Doc? (1972)

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Buck Henry (screenplay), David Newman (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbra Streisand	...	Judy Maxwell
Ryan O'Neal	...	Howard Bannister
Madeline Kahn	...	Eunice Burns
Kenneth Mars	...	Hugh Simon
Austin Pendleton	...	Frederick Larrabee
Michael Murphy	...	Mr. Smith
Philip Roth	...	Mr. Jones (as Phil Roth)
Sorrell Booke	...	Harry
Stefan Gierasch	...	Fritz
Mabel Albertson	...	Mrs. Van Hoskins
Liam Dunn	...	Judge Maxwell
John Hillerman	...	Hotel Manager
George Morfogen	...	Headwaiter
Graham Jarvis	...	Bailiff
Randy Quaid	...	Professor Hosquith

Storyline

Two researchers have come to San Francisco to compete for a research grant in Music. One seems a bit distracted, and that was before he meets her. A strange woman seems to have devoted her life to confusing and embarassing him. At the same time a woman has her jewels stolen and a government whistle blower arrives with his stolen top secret papers. All, of course have the same style and color overnight bag.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | neo screwball comedy | jewel | mix up | love | 

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Taglines:

A screwball comedy. Remember them?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Glimpse of Tiger

Filming Locations:

1000 Bush St. San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$66,000,000, 31 December 1972

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.,Saticoy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As his part is inspired by the stuffy professor played by Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby (1938), Ryan O'Neal met with Grant. The only advice he received was to wear silk underpants.

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Goofs

When they are traveling inside the Chinese dragon and the camera zooms in on their faces, both of Howard's hands are visible holding the horizontal bar inside the dragon's head, but in the wide angle views, both before and after, one of his hands is on the base of the vertical pole holding the dragon head up from the bicycle.

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Quotes

Judge Maxwell: I think I want to skip over this part, too.
Howard: That night, I went back to my room and she was in the bath.
Judge Maxwell: Who was there? No, don't tell me, just go on.
Howard: When Eunice walked in and the drapes caught fire, everything burned. They asked me to leave. I really don't blame them.
Judge Maxwell: Good boy. Is there more?
Howard: Sure.
Judge Maxwell: There's more.
Howard: Well, the next day, today, Mr. Larrabee asked me to his house with my rocks and to bring Eunice. Or rather, Burnsy, the one he thinks is Eunice. Is that clear?
Judge Maxwell: No, but it's consistent.
Howard:
[...]

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)

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Soundtracks

As Time Goes By
(uncredited)
Words and Music by Herman Hupfeld
Performed by Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal

User Reviews

Silly slap stick humour at its best

This film really does make the equivalent Carry On movies extremely juvenile. Very rarely, if at all does this film delve into lavatorial/innuendo humour. All of its humour is based on slapstick and a terrific script full of one-liners that you never tire of viewing. They could have made a sequel, but then the humour would have soured in the same way that the Naked Gun or Airplane films did. All the characterisations are spot on, everyone except Striesand is portrayed as being bumbling unsubtle fools including the CIA and Russian spys. It's basically a change to see the Americans not taking themselves seriously for once. Kenneth Mars is very amusing as O'Neal's opponent for the music grant. Of particular note is the car chase in San Francisco in an exaggerated Bullitt style. Granted, it is very dated - it's 1972 and chequered flares and velvet is much in evidence, but this adds to the film's charm. It is one of the few films that I was sad to see ending...