What's up Doc?

Taking its cues from the classic 1930s screwball comedies of Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, “What’s up Doc” is most reminiscent (more or less a remake) of “Bringing up Baby” (Hawks, 1938). Barbra Streisand plays the flighty university student Judy Maxwell, who has trouble deciding which course she is in, creating chaos wherever she goes with her free-spirited presence. After spying nerdy musicologist Howard Bannister (Ryan O’Neal), Judy decides they are a perfect match and sets her romantic sights on him. As per the genre, Howard has an equally nebbish fiancee, who is of course but a minor obstacle in the course of true love. The film scores lots of laughs with a series of mixed up suitcases, missing jewels, an extensive chase scene, and romantic interludes. “What’s up Doc?” manages a successful mix of rapid fire dialogue, physical comedy and charming lead performances, which made it one of the big hits of 1972, the second in a row for director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture show, Paper moon, The Cat’s meow). Features several songs by Barbra Streisand.