One of the funnest movies of the seventies and an all time personal film favorite, 1972's comedy classic WHAT'S UP DOC is 90 minutes of clever hilarity.
Ryan O'Neal stars as Howard Bannister, a musicologist with a suitcase full of rocks and zero personality.
Upon arrival in San Francisco with his overbearing fiancee Eunice (Madeline Kahn in a brilliant film debut), Howard soon discovers his case is an identical match for three others filled with diamonds, secret documents and cash.
Director Peter Bogdanovich (Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show) mines comic gold out of a flawless cast and a very funny screenplay by the legendary Buck Henry. Henry wrote such film classics as "The Graduate" and created the TV Show "Get Smart" with Mel Brooks. This is one of his best scripts, matching clever wordplay to rival Monty Python with classic physical comedy.
Barbra Streisand serves as the hilarious center of the plot as Judy Maxwell, a one-woman wrecking crew in the life of Howard. Barbra has never been more likeable in a film and shows terrific comic timing.
In a great cast, Kenneth Mars stands out as Howard's competitor Hugh Simon, with an unmanageable head of hair and bizarre accent. He is flawless at delivering lines like "I don't know who he his but she is definitely not herself!"
Liam Dunn has a great ten minute scene as a frustrated judge and John Hillerman almost steals the movie as a hotel manager, but its Kahn who truly walks away with every scene she's in. She went right from this to Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles and never looked back.
Look fast for John Byner and a very young Randy Quaid as fellow guests at the Larabee Foundation banquet. ("Waiter, what wine are you serving to table one?)
Featuring one of the best car chases ever filmed and nearly non-stop mayhem, What's Up Doc delivers a plaid overnight case full of laughs. As a matter of fact, FOUR cases full. A brilliant, laugh-out-loud A+ that easily grabs a spot in the top half of my all-time Top 100 films.
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