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Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Sorrell Booke ... see more see more... , Stefan Gierasch , Mabel Albertson , Joe Amsler , Jerry Brutsche , John Byner , Ted Duncan , Liam Dunn , Donna Garrett , Ted Grossman , Robert H. Harris , Bill Hickman , John Hillerman , Graham Jarvis , Madeline Kahn , Christa Lang , George Morfogen , Kevin O'Neal , Patricia O'Neal , Gil Perkins , Jack Perkins , Randy Quaid , Phil Roth , Carl Saxe , Jerry Summers , Mark Thompson , Jack Verbois , M. Emmet Walsh , Eleanor Zee , Craig R. Baxley , Loren Janes , Dean Jeffries , John Moio , Michael Murphy , Victor Paul , Glenn H. Randall Jr. , Paul Stader , Joe Alfasa , Richard E. Butler , Sean Morgan , George Robotham , Wally Rose , Stan Ross , Alex Sharp , Richard Washington , Marvin Walters , Paul Baxley , Don Bexley , Paul Condylis , Peter Paul Eastman , Elaine Partnow , Ernie Robinson , Fred Scheiwiller , Fred Stromsoe

With Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby (1938) as his blueprint, Peter Bogdanovich resurrected and payed homage to 1930s screwball comedy in What's Up, Doc? (1972). When wacky co-ed Judy Maxwell (Barbra ... read more read more...Streisand, in the Katharine Hepburn part) spies nebbishy musicologist Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal in bespectacled Cary Grant mode) in a San Francisco hotel lobby, she decides that Howard and his precious igneous rocks are right up her alley. Too bad Howard already has a fiancée, the propriety-fixated Eunice (Madeline Kahn in her film debut). Using all her arcane knowledge from brief stays at numerous colleges, Judy tries to charm her way to a $20,000 grant for Howard, and Howard himself, at a banquet with grantor Frederick Larrabee (Austin Pendleton). Things get even more complicated the next day when Judy's underwear-filled overnight bag gets mixed up with Howard's rock bag, which gets mixed up with Mrs. Van Hoskins' bag of jewels, which gets mixed up with Mr. Smith's bag of top secret government papers. All sides converge at Larrabee's mod townhouse and the chase begins. Retaining Hawks' machine-gun pace (as well as the sly pop culture referentiality of Billy Wilder), Bogdanovich and writers Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton updated the opposites-attract screwball convention for contemporary times. O'Neal gently parodied not only Grant but also his own Love Story (1970) preppy, while Kahn represents stiff-wigged 1950s manners as opposed to Streisand's long-haired, pants-wearing free spirit. The happy ending, in which Cole Porter-belting youth wins out over old manners, found favor with audiences, as What's Up, Doc? became one of the most popular films of 1972, and the second hit in a row for Bogdanovich after 1971's The Last Picture Show. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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86% liked it

9,255 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

34 critics

G, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich

Release Date: March 9, 1972

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DVD Release Date: July 1, 2003

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Stats: 920 reviews

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What's Up, Doc? Barbra Streisand (1972) Barbra Streisand Liam Dunn Barbra Streisand Madeline Kahn Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal What's Up, Doc? Howard's hotel room gets trashed Kenneth Mars Madeline Kahn and Austin Pendleton
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Flixster Reviews (920)

  • brooklynspo
    July 23, 2007
    brooklynspo
    "There's not much to see actually. We're inside a Chinese dragon."

    Kinda like Bringing Up Baby meets one of those 70s's Alka Seltzer commercials - with Babs. A funny, silly movie.
  • ironclad1609
    March 10, 2011
    ironclad1609
    Classic 70s chaos comedy about a girl called trouble and four identical bags with very different contents. The mix up and chase after these bags still belongs to the most hysterical pieces of comedy Hollywood ever delivered. The fun being, that the film takes itself and its chara... read morecters entirely serious, the actors being accordingly convincing, even though they are all totally mental and it's all so very silly. What follows are the funniest car chase and the funniest court scene ever. A riot.
  • deano
    February 21, 2011
    deano
    Superb zany, riotous slapstick comedy of the 1970s! It makes me can't stop laughing heaps. Silly, simple and superficial, with no lowbrow, leering takes or hidden moral messages lurking, "What's Up, Doc?" is pure, unadulterated fun. Bugs Bunny should be proud.
    Barbara Streisand ... read moreand Ryan O'Neal are my favourite comedy-romantic due uniquely endearing in screen history. Streisand delivers like a sniper and actually looks sexy and desirable and O'Neal is a perfect foil as an uptight college professor completely bamboozled by Streisand.
    Director Peter Bogdanovich's version of the car chase which closes the film is so tremendously funny and entertaining - that's my favourite scene.
  • ajv2688
    December 29, 2010
    ajv2688
    This is my favourite movie with Streisand, it's hilarious and has a great cast and director. It's an adventure comedy, and it's really fun, I highly recommend this movie.
  • pier007
    October 25, 2007
    pier007
    Bogdanovich, an eloquent director but most important of all an avid cinephile, puts his love for the old screwball comedies in this wacky film that (of course) lacks the charm of the classics it was inspired by. some hilarious moments save the day.
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    Quite a funny homage to the screwball comedys of the 40s, Ryan O'Neal's bookish hero and Streisand's wacky goofball hark back to the likes of Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn's Bringing Up Baby. It's not the measure of the best of the genre, but not bad at all.
  • jjnxn
    April 4, 2007
    jjnxn
    I am Hugh.
    You are me?
    No, I am Hugh.
    Stop saying that!!
  • zillionaire
    May 30, 2006
    zillionaire
    Ultimate screwball rom-com..I can fully relate to Ryan O'Neill's character in this..bloody women!
  • fb20312798
    January 7, 2009
    fb20312798
    It's a great homage to screwball comedies. Streisand is at her least shrill, and she's actually pretty funny. Ryan O'Neal is a great opposite to her character and Madeline Kahn and Kenneth Mars are hysterical in their supporting roles. I always liked this as a kid, but it still r... read moreetains its humor as I have gotten older.
  • SunilJawahir
    September 10, 2010
    SunilJawahir
    I was expecting a lot more but Barbara Streisand was actually pretty charming as Judy. Ryan O'Neal was the bore and this movie probably would have been a lot better with a different lead man.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
October 18, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

This picture is a total smash. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The strength of a movie like this, of course, is that you don't have to believe too much for too long, because there's something else happening. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Not the least of Bogdanovich's triumphs is his success in scaling down Miss Streisand's superstar personality to fit the dimensions of farce. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The busy script by Buck Henry, Robert Benton, and David Newman keeps things moving, but the spirit of pastiche keeps this romp from truly rivaling its sources. Full Review

Nell Minow
December 29, 2010
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media

A lot of fun for the whole family. Full Review

Peter Canavese
August 9, 2010
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

No one is going to match Grant and Hepburn, but Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand give it the ol' college try in the criminally entertaining What's Up, Doc? [Blu-ray] Full Review

Ian Nathan
February 2, 2009
Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine

It's never quite as tight or fierce as the original screwballers, but is fizzy and loveable and always worth watching. Full Review

February 2, 2009
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Bogdanovich has delivered a film with energy, wit, and a madcap pace that is well worth watching. Full Review

Steven D. Greydanus
October 29, 2008
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide

Never less than entertaining and is sometimes side-splittingly hilarious. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
March 6, 2008
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Enjoyable thanks to the fine use of San Francisco locations and an agreeably nutty Barbra Streisand. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Judge Maxwell: Aw! You made me smash my lifesavers!
    • Howard Bannister: What are you doing? This is a one way street!
    • Judy Maxwell: We're only going one way.
    • Frederick Larrabee: I must point out to you that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
    • Judy Maxwell: I know I'm different, but from now on I'm going to try and be the same.
    • Howard Bannister: The same as what?
    • Judy Maxwell: The same as people who aren't different.
    • Judy Maxwell: But you know something Steve? Love means never having to say you're sorry.
    • Howard Bannister: That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
    • Eunice Burns: Don't you know the meaning of propriety?
    • Judy Maxwell: Propriety? Noun. Conformity to established standards of behavior or manners, suitability, rightness or justice. See etiquette.
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What's Up, Doc? Trivia

  • In which comedy movie did Barbara Striesand play a young woman who gets kicked out of colleges and causes bad luck for others?  Answer »
  • Which actress made her film debut in the movie "What's Up Doc?"  Answer »
  • In the film, "What's up Doc" how many matching cases are there?  Answer »
  • Which of these is not something that was in one of the matching cases in "What's up Doc?"  Answer »
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