What's Up, Doc?

Barbra didn't like the movie, called it "fluff"

There's absolutely nothing wrong with fluff when it is this well done. She should love it...she never looked better and she is very funny and believable.

R2 she didn't think the script was funny at all.

It's an homage to classic screwball comedy, and it succeeds on every level. It's one of her best films.

This OP claims to be a Eunice Burns.

I am not A Eunice Burns, I am THE Eunice Burns!!

Madeline Kahn was a tremendously talented performer.

On my first solo trip to San Francisco, I spent the better part of one day wandering from Alta Plaza to California St to Fillmore simply to track down better-known What’s Up, Doc filming locations.

Streisand never looked better. But I agree in a way with Pauline Kael saying that's it's easier to accept her in this movie than in others because her usual drive isn't on display here. But it shows that she can be a team player with the best of them.

Madeline Kahn had a string of such great work from the early to mid 70's, but rarely hit those heights afterwards.

Where is her New Yalk accent?

R5 don't you know the meaning of propriety?

it’s on full display when she redirects Eunice to the docks.

Cool.

How did she get off the ledge?

Ryan was at his most delicious in this movie.

Paper Moon is on right after.

Barbra really is an idiot for not recognizing that this was one of her best films.

I remember the DVD commentary. Barbra does several minutes. And just says stupid shit like, "Oh, I forgot that. That's funny." She also tries to distance herself from the film by saying, "I just did what they told me to do."

The director's commentary is much more interesting. One thing he said about Barbra, other than insisting she be filmed from her good side, is that she did her own stunts, walking in between moving cars. They would never have a star do that now.

Tom Cruise does his own stunts.

i'm pretty sure this was my introduction to Barbra. I liked her acting better than her singing style. Flame away!

There are so many great lines in this movie. "Banister as in sliding down the." Also, "everybody knows snakes have a mortal fear of.... tile."

It was only funny because of Madeline Kahn who stole every scene, like she always does in everything

R15 Yet it was co-star Austin Pendleton who showed himself full-frontal on Broadway in "Doubles".

Hyperbole thy name is OP. This movie is good but not that good.

Good DL thread about What’s Up Doc

She really kills "As Time Goes By." Spectacular.

Barbra didn't like it, but when on to make For Pete's Sake?

The dig at Love Story really added a punch to the ending. I'll give Ryan credit for making fun of what was quite a successful role for him. BS actually looked quite sexy in that scene to boot. She had a face made for radio but a body made for sin.

Anybody besides me remember the very short lived TV series sequel?

LOVE this movie and Streisand's performance is one of my three favorite comedic movie performances from my childhood. The others being Cary Grant in His Girl Friday and Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop. All three have absolute boundless confidence in their portrayals.

The script wasn't funny - PERIOD

-Barbra Streisand

r30

That's odd, all of my lines were very funny.

r28 There was a "Paper Moon" TV series, but I certainly don't remember a "What's Up Doc" series.

Barbra actually LOST money on this film - she usually received profit participation in all her films. However Barbra was so convinced this film was such a disaster and would bomb at the box office, she signed away her percentage and opted for one time flat payment.

Of course it wound up being a box smash and she lost a considerable amount of money.

I've never understood why Barbra tries to pretend this movie never happened. It's one of her best performances, and Peter Bogdanovich made her look better than any director before or since.

Barry Van Dyke as Howard!

R34 Babs reasoning is at R30

How is a flat payment losing money?

R37 the flat payment was LESS than what she would receive from a percentage of the profits off this film. Especially with the VHS, and now DVD sales.

R35 That was just a pilot that never went to series. Did it ever even air? And who the hell is Harriet Hall?

Barbra didn't think the script was funny, but she was very happy during the making of the film because she was having an affair with Ryan O'Neal. Her happiness shows on her face. O'Neal once said "I'm not a fan of marriage, but if I had to get married, it would be Barbra." This was long after they broke up. He never stopped having a great deal of affection for her, apparently. And she for him.

They did make a second film, "The Main Event" that wasn't particularly good if I recall, but Ryan was shirtless in it since he played a boxer in some matches.

Yes, they did The Main Event, but only after O'Neal insisted on humiliating Jon Peters by forcing him to give him a haircut. That was his condition on saying yes.

The TV show must have aired at least once because I absolutely recall seeing it

Why do people think this is funny? Other than Madeline Kahn the movie sucks. Had heard so much about it and just watched tonight - how disappointing. I don’t get it.

The pilot did air. Barry was kind of cute, Harriet was the poor man's Joyce DeWitt.

[quote]Why do people think this is funny? Other than Madeline Kahn the movie sucks.

Your opinion in this regard is riveting.

Some years back, the pizzeria in Barbra’s first scene had a hot Brazilian delivery driver.

R44, the OP was born in 1966. So he/she thinks this is the funniest movie ever because it brings back fond memories when he/she saw it ages ago.

You're right though, Kahn is the only reason to catch it, or even part of it.

The black guy who says "Yes, Eunice" is funny, too.

Couldn't I just kill her?

Why doesn't somebody remake this? It would totally work today with the right cast.

This movie is very funny, and everyone in it is funny. It is good across the board. You people saying Kahn is the only funny thing in it are retarded.

[quote] the OP was born in 1966. So he/she thinks this is the funniest movie ever because it brings back fond memories when he/she saw it ages ago.

People born that late wouldn't have had the opportunity to see it in the theater first run like some of us TRUE eldergays did. And remember that it wasn't that easy to see a old movie whenever you wanted in the pre-VCR days when that person would be coming of age.

I saw this in the theater and everybody in my 8th grade class thought it was hilarious. Buck Henry has that kind of appeal. The Saturday Night Live crowd. It holds up, though, because of the great performances.

I know how you feel mister. I hate it when my igneous rocks are even touched!

Yeah - I don’t get it. Is it an age thing? Anyone under 50 like this movie?

Fellow Brooklyn girl Kahn tried to be friendly to Barbra during the masking of the film. Her warmth was nor reciprocated.

It has the most flawless cast of any comedy in history. Everybody in it is simply sublime.

Bogdanovich said it was the most fun he ever had making a movie.

R24 Thanks for posting. One of the all-time great DL threads.

Don't you dare strike that brave, unbalanced woman!

I made this gif five years ago. I forget why. Just thought I'd share it. Babs is saying "We can make it!"

Related Thread

Everyone is great. Ryan actually has the hardest job as he has to be the "straight man" and yet also be just over the top enough to match the others. Madeline is perfection and Barbara, her comic timing and her voice, are sublime.

I love the film. I saw it as a little kid on television - they played it once a year, usually April, and we always watched it. It was my introduction to Streisand and I was puzzled to learn that most people joked about her being unattractive. Hell, she looked fine to me. The scene where all the male guests at the table lunge from their seats to have a chance to feel her heart beating only made sense years later, though.

You can't lose something you never had. Barbra didn't lose anything, she just would've made more.

It's like saying if you sold something for ten dollars and the guy you sold it to resold it for twenty, you lost money.. You didn't. You just didn't' make as much.

The Volkswagen floated, which got a huge laugh in the theater.

The tripping of Mabel Alberston, who played the rich old lady in the hotel, got a huge laugh.

The man being chased down the street , leaping over a wall and landing ass-hard on a cafe table got a huge laugh.

Liam Dunn as the aggravated judge got huge laughs. "They tried to molest me," Eunice says. "Thats ... unbelievable," the judge says.

In fact, the movie was full of slapstick sight gags and one-liners that got laughs from beginning to end.

It was one of the best comedies of the 70s, and made Bogdanovich a powerful A-list director, since this screwball comedy followed his success at the starkly dramatic The Last Picture Show. He quickly squandered his future with a love affair with Cybill Shepherd, the prom date of his dreams.

I suspect Babs hates this movie because Madeline Kahn receives all the richly deserved accolades for comedy. Although Babs is funny too.

Madeline Kahn was so horrified by the way she looked in the movie that she had to go into analysis.

Luckily her next movie was Blazing Saddles, in which she looked fabulous as Lili von Schtupp.

R66 - thank you for explaining what was considered funny about it. Just a different time in humor - kinda slapstick which I never liked. I guess I could see it being funny in a Groucho Marx kinda way.

[quote] You can't lose something you never had.

She did have it (profit sharing) but she signed it away at the very last minute.

I always loved this kind of comedy. I Love Lucy is one of my favorite shows ever, which is also sort of slapstick-style comedy. It's silly and it makes me laugh.

The studio executives didn't know what to make of the movie, since it was a throwback to the screwball comedies of the 30s. They found the humor dated and corny. It was not until the powerful reception it got from the audience at a sneak preview that they realized they had a hit.

Good slapstick never fails.

R68, you seriously don't find any of the word-play funny? I laugh almost all the way through this movie. It's freakin' hilarious. And not just because of slap-stick.

R71, What's Up Doc was released in 1972.

If anything, it was a throw-back to the kind of screw-ball star-studded comedy represented by "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" … release in 1963, not even a decade before.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a good example of when slapstick doesn't work all the time.

Bogdonavich said his movie was an homage to the screwball comedies of the 30s, with Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn and the many great character actors of the time.

The visual jokes are mostly drawn from silent comedy. Bogdonovich gives some of the sources in his commentary, but if you know Keaton and Lloyd you will recognize a lot of stuff.

r56 I’m under 50 and this has always been one of my favorite films, in no small part due to its featuring San Francisco landmarks in nearly every scene.

I've always loved this movie and was so glad that I caught it channel surfing just as it was starting.

Other than Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hit Tin Roof, I can't think of a movie where both of the leads looked as great as Ryan and Babs. Hard to believe from this movie that Ryan would go on to become a fat, nasty drunk and spawning some of the biggest miscreants known to Tinseltown. .

Barbra didn't like the movie because she was out-acted by everyone else in the film and, egomaniac that she is, cannot acknowledge it.

Barbra considers Sophie's Choice a comedy.

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun has the two most beautiful leads, R77, but you are correct that Ryan and Barbra never looked better and had loads of chemistry.

[quote]She did have it (profit sharing) but she signed it away at the very last minute.

No, she didn't she had the potential, that is not the same thing. That is like saying you gave up being a doctor, before you graduated. Unless you actually possess something, you do not have it.

I have yet to see this.

How are Babs's scenes with Bugs Bunny?

Does Foghorn Leghorn make an appearance?

To this day, Barbra still doesn't "get" this movie.

[quote] Unless you actually possess something, you do not have it.

Don't go to Vegas R81 cause you DO NOT know the concept of how to gamble.

Barry Van Dyke was very fuckable!

"Hello, Hans." "I am Fritz, madame." "Where's Hans?" "There is no Hans. Just me, Fritz." "Oh, what a shame."

[quote] You can't lose something you never had. Barbra didn't lose anything, she just would've made more.

It’s called ”opportunity cost.” Please open a book every once in a while, for your own sake.

"Use your charm."

One of the best sight gags ever in film.

I loved how the Chinese parade people were playing "La Cucaracha" on xylophones as they marched.

Before the screenwriters sent Barbra the script, they sat her and Ryan down to watch some of the most classic screwball comedies in history "The Lady Eve" and "Bring Up Baby" so she could get an idea of the type of movie she was going to be doing.

Barbra sat in stone silence watching both films, finding neither film funny and instead counted the amount of close-ups the female lead had over the male lead. She kept saying these films "Are not funny"

Throughout the filming of the movie "What's Up Doc" several people commented that Barbra seemed to be working through gritted teeth, as she was convinced this was going to be a bomb - she could be overheard on the set telling Ryan O'Neal "We're in a piece of shit"

And she would say openly to Ryan on set (in front of everyone) "This is not funny, Ryan I know what's funny. and I'm telling you this movie is not funny"

Then when Barbra went to the screening she would tell people sitting around her (while the movie was playing) "I told you this wasn't funny"

And so convinced Barbra was that this film was a disaster, she sold her 10% share in the movie back to Warner Brothers, in exchange for a flat one-time payment.

I have to admire Babs for doing her own stunts. The scene at the beginning when she crosses the street in pursuit of the pizza delivery guy and narrowly misses being hit by the motorcycle must have required a lot of fortitude and trust in the stunt driver and coordinators.

This is funny 😂

Yentl. Now THAT was funny!

R88, agreed, and I love how it sets up the later joke where they are battling in the hallway and there is a cut-away to inside the room and you just HEAR the thud which is even funnier after the initial setup.

Babs has no sense of humor about herself. She still doesn't get screwball comedies and considers WUD unfunny. She probably thinks the forced neurotic Jewish New Yorker "humor" in the first half of the ghastly "Mirror Has Two Faces" was a laugh riot.

Watched it gain last night on TCM. I think it tries too hard to be the ultimate screwball comedy--especially as an homage to "Bringing Up Baby," and Streisand just isn't Irene Dunne, Carole Lombard or even Kate Hepburn where the daffy but naughty side of the screwball heroine is concerned (O' Neal is no Cary Grant, but he's perfectly fine as the mild-mannered bookish academic). Everyone else brings their A-game to the tropes--especially Kahn, Mars, Pendleon, and Mabel Anderson in the Alice Brady role. And Liam Dunn comes on and walks away with the last fifteen minutes. The whole film is good-natured NDA fun.

You know what is unfunny?

The Swan Lake scene in Funny Girl.

Barbra mugging for the camera is so cringey.

Thanks for the information, R90. What is amazing to me is she thought that and felt that but still somehow manages to be absolutely perfect. I don't understand how she be completely out of touch with the humor but deliver it with such aplomb. It's almost akin to acting in another language and just reciting the lines from matching pronunciation.

Don't know why they cut "Rat-tat-tat-tat" for that stupid, unfunny Swan Lake thing.

I think "For Pete's Sake" is quite funny, too. Love Molly Picon and Estelle Parsons, and Michael Sarrazin was always nice eye candy.

Estelle Parsons said Barbra is a very "inward" looking person

When San Francisco was still bohemian and zany!

Maybe "What's Up Doc" works because Barbra didn't think it was funny -- and therefore wasn't mugging to the camera.

Her playing the ridiculousness "straight" helps it work and draws a great contrast to Kahn's performance.

[quote]Mabel Anderson

Oh, DEAR.

To her credit, at least Barbra didn't try to get Madeline fired from the picture the way Lucy did with "Mame"when Lucy saw there was someone who could steal a lot of the picture from her.

Fritz : You will enter Mrs. Van Hoskins' room, through the adjoining room and you will take the jewel case to the basement.

Harry : What if she wakes up and sees me?

Fritz : You will tell her you are smitten with her, that you have have followed her all night, and you will make passionate love to her.

Harry : Couldn't I just kill her?

R87, "opportunity cost" is not the same as a loss. (Maybe that is why they did not call it "opportunity loss.") The term refers to the "price" you pay for not taking advantage of an opportunity that would have been advantageous. "Loss" only occurs if you actually have made an investment and its value decreases.

Also, the term refers to investing, not labor. The fact that you did not negotiate the best terms of employment is not an "opportunity cost."

^^^ That's pronounced "boo-kay...." [R104]

[quote] To her credit, at least Barbra didn't try to get Madeline fired from the picture

She thought the film would disappear from the movie theaters after a day, so why would she care.

If Barbra didn't think the film was funny, maybe she didn't get how funny Madeline was in it. She may not have realized that she was having scenes stolen out from under her.

A wise director knows exactly which rushes to show his stars...

She should have flared her nostrils more like Carol Burnett did when she was imitating Ali.

Didn't someone on the sets report that Babs and O'Neal would read the script, count the number of lines everyone had and then complain if there were scenes where the supporting cast had more lines than they did? I suspect Babs would have found the script funnier if she and Ryan had been in every frame of the movie.

Here's a thought: Barbra takes her work very, very seriously. Given her mugging in previous film work, maybe she went all method for What's Up Doc, and decided the only way to make the film work was to make her character completely oblivious to the humor she was creating? Many an actor gets into character for a role and stays in it through the filming -living it rather than putting it on and taking it off. Streisand was pitch-perfect as Judy (Judy, Judy) and showed exactly the right amount of daffiness mixed with sincerity. I find it much easier to believe she was exercising craft and discipline than to think she just didn't "get" the script.

Kahn stole every scene away from Pendleton and O'Neal, but she didn't steal any from Streisand. They were almost never on screen at the same time. Wise director.

Barbra looks better as a blonde with long hair. Very flattering.

r114 Barbra apologist

^^ Not at all. I'm just trying to account for a great performance from someone who allegedly didn't seem to know what she was doing...

Oh, Madeline and Barbra at least are in the scene where they drag Madeline away screaming. They are in several scenes together with other characters.

Kahn is in top form, and just as good in Paper Moon. In Paper Moon, her character Trixie Delight climbs a steep hill to coax Tatum O’Neil’s character back into a car. It’s a great scene. As she climbs the hill and stumbles, her character’s underlying courseness slips out when she curses reflexively “son of a bitch!”, then recovers her higher pitched “sweet” voice. It’s so clever.

For R119

Check out Kahn in The Hideaways -It was the first film version of the children's book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, with George Rose. Kahn has a cameo as a teacher taking her class of students through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As usual, she steals the scene.

[R120] I haven't seen that scene in years -Damn, she was good! So many levels playing at the same time.

R122 really and truly... the construction of that scene overall is pretty amazing. It looks to be in full midday light but it’s free of shadows and the sound is so crisp. And Kahn is doing everything with her character, in a short window of opportunity. It’s like a jewel of character acting, up there with Eileen Brennan, Mercedes McCambridge and a few other greats.

I fucking loathe Barbra Streisand and all that she touched - with this the one exception. It figures she would dislike it.

I was one of the ~5,000 people who went to an outdoor (nighttime) screening of WUD in San Francisco's Dolores Park, 15 or so years ago. People brought blankets, sat on the grass with thermoses, and had a truly magical time.

Here's where the cast stayed while they were filming.

It bothers me that every man in the movie seems to find Barbra totally, totally beautiful.

R121, Kahn, Rose, and Bergman were all in the film From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. There has not been a remake.

Here it is.

R120 I'm really impressed with how long a take they got from Madeline. She goes through so many emotions without a cut. And she doesn't rush anything.

Just checked. The original film was released on DVD under the title The Hideaways.

Which is weird considering the book is so well-known and beloved.

Enough already about "so many levels", "without a cut" Kahn! She watched me work and got a master class in comedy.

Barbra never looked better than she did at the end of this film with her long, blonde, straight hair.

(R103) & (R114) exactly nail it. THEY get it. Barbra is grounded with just the right amount of irreverence. Madeline knocks it out of the park.

[quote]Barbra never looked better than she did at the end of this film with her long, blonde, straight hair.

Hold my beer.

Her performance was like the one she gave in "All Night Long."

Those are the only two films where she seems very relaxed and has a naturalness to her delivery.

And I think it's because she didn't give a shit while she was doing it. They weren't "important" movies to her.

R127 I didn’t realize that but it’s true. I think that was Mae West’s trick.

R136, I thought there was a relaxing, dreamlike quality to her performance in "Up the Sandbox".

Ludes

I agree with Barbra - this wasnt funny. Maybe if you consider Charlie Chaplin funny.

I love Adam Sandler comedies.

Sorry, [R128], but you're incorrect. There was a made-for-TV remake in 1995, under the novel's original title, starring Lauren Bacall. The story was moved to the west coast and a Los Angeles (area) museum. It is available on DVD...

Barbra looked at her peak in terms of pretty in this film.

But she's also one of those actresses that looks down on comedy.

R142, I see there was a remake. But the 1973 film also was made under the book's original title.

The title change was made for video release

From the way Streisand talks about this film you'd think the rest of her films were made by Bergman and Renoir. Anything but.

One of the very few times I went to Radio City to see a movie and couldn't get in.

Stanwyck though in Lady Eve gives one of the greatest performances ever in an American film. One of Sturges best which is saying a lot.

I think it's quite possible that simply looking at a script of WUD, it might not have 'read' funny. There are so many sight gags and lines depend on the perfect timing of the actors delivering them. It might have seemed juvenile, which in fact it was, but it also happened to be hilarious. I think we can forgive Barbra for not knowing right away that it would turn out to be a comedic masterpiece and her best comedy ever. She is excellent in it, and that is gift enough.

Coincidentally, Spotify decided to put this in my playlist today.

R147: "FISH!"

Madeline rushes the last second-to-last line, stepping on Bernadette's line.

Babs I'm sure still thinks it's not very good. Especially since she made the dumbo decision not to take profit participation. And she probably made that decision alone. Mengers herself probably knew it was a mistake.

No way of knowing that, r149. Speculation is futile. I'm sure she remembers the filming fondly, having spent the nights in Ryan O'Neal's beautiful arms.

I love this, where Madeline Kahn misses her musical cue in an on-book concert version of Anyone Can Whistle at around 3:45.

And then asks the orchestra to start again. The audience is totally with her and she then nails the song.

It's really beautiful music.

Does Ryan O'Neal have a tan in the film, like Barbra?

You can watch the movie and find out you know.

Kahn in the Met Museum scene.

Kahn was never good again after Paper Chase. She became too mannered after that, like she was doing an impersonation of herself. Her voice and mannerisms became tiresome really quick and that's why her career fizzled quickly.

r155

No it fizzled because everyone was afraid to be in a scene with her as she'd steal it.

Well, her death had something to do with the downturn in her career.

Also, the cocaine years....

R155 Well, after you've starred opposite John Houseman, it's all downhill, I guess.

Madeline did have a cocaine problem. And was "difficult."

Yes, she was amazingly talented, but those things can hurt a career.

I was at the Anyone Can Whistle concert at Carnegie Hall. I pity any of you who weren't there.

Why wasn't Madeline Kahn a HUGE Broadway musical star?

This is a very difficult song and she totally nails it.

R161 I am very envious! I have the CD and love it.

When she passed away the convicted rapist Bill Cosby did a very nice tribute to her on his show.

r164 How interesting. Two sexual predators sitting around talking.

Cos is so pompous about Thelma Houston/ Telma Hopkins.

....

Kahn not winning the Oscar over Tatum was the biggest joke in Oscar history.

In the biography of Kahn do they explain why she left Two by Two early? Was she having a problem with Kaye? Which would be ironic considering Lawrence didn't have him thrown out on his ass in Lady in the Dark. As a true star she simply topped him when everyone thought he had stolen the show from her.

Kaye loved to be topped!

You can read between the lines: Kahn was extremely talented, but a NIGHTMARE on On the Twentieth Century.

[quote]In the biography of Kahn do they explain why she left Two by Two early? Was she having a problem with Kaye?

Kaye was a notorious asshole during that show. He would change lines to fuck the other actors up so he could draw attention to himself.

He was a horrible human being and a very unprofessional actor.

First, the coke years, then the Diet-Coke years.

I saw 2x2 in August of '71. Kahn was gone by then. Kaye played it as a one man show paying no heed to the score, book or the other actors on stage. Still he was incredibly charismatic and entertaining despite it being one of the most disgraceful unprofessional performances I've ever seen.

At the end the audience was of course on their feet applauding and cheering. Kaye came forward thanking the audience on behalf of the entire cast for us appreciating all of them. Even though I was very young I was thinking he was a disingenuous phony.

And the kicker is I am still a fan!

r169=Larry Olivier

Did Bogdanovic follow up What's Up, Doc with Paper Moon? I forget what the timeline is.

How long does Bugs Bunny appear in the film?

Is Babs supposed to be Bugs Bunny? Sorry, Babs, Bugs is cuter and funnier than you.

R175 Yes, Paper Moon was his follow up to What's Up Doc.

R172 I've never heard that Madeline Kahn had a coke problem. Where did you get this information?

R176 In about the last minute of the film. A Bugs Bunny cartoon is playing on the airplane movie screen as Babs and Ryan fly away.

I think the reason Barbra has the same hair style(but shorter) now as WUD is James likes it that way.

I actually prefer it over Bringing Up Baby.

Mabel Albertson was a scream. No longer playing an annoying mother in law she was a hotsy totsy older lady. Whoever put hot pants on her was a genius.

I think this well be remembered as Barbra best film. Funny Girl is a great movie musical but a little old fashioned. I'm a die hard fan and e njoy all her films even some parts of Nuts and TMHTF.

[quote]From the way Streisand talks about this film you'd think the rest of her films were made by Bergman and Renoir. Anything but.

Very true. She can stop being so dismissive of WUD, considering her filmography is littered with melodramatic crapfests like "Prince of Tides", "Nuts", "Way We Were", ego trips like "Yentl" and horror films like "Mirror Has Two Ugly Faces".

R179, that was the rumor back in 78 when she was in Twentieth Century. The recent biography features a lot of people who claim she was on coke and others who claim she could not have been.

Kahn had problems. She suffered from anorexia and bulimia--which are also addictive behaviors.

So maybe the constant rumor that she was a coke head is wrong.

However, something caused her erratic behavior and unstable emotions, which ultimately led to her being replaced by Judy Kaye.

Babs was only really in one comedy...and that was NUTS.

Try and watch this scene with a straight face.

It cracks me up everytime.

Judy Kaye was very wonderful in 20th. Still I can't help thing that Kahn possibly brought an extra movie star sparkle and brilliance to the role.

Cullum could have used it as well. As good as he was I couldn't help but think that the role needed an Alfred Drake kind of charismatic powerhouse.

Kline and Coca were perfection. Two of the best performances you could ever see in a musical comedy.

I think Bab's was resentful as she was not the only one getting laughs. Mabel Albertson was a hoot, esp. when she had that meltdown in the lobby over her jewels getting stolen.

I can't help thinking she sounds like Dolly Levi talking to middle aged Horace Vandergelder.

Thieves! Robbers!

R185 Kahn was great on the nights she was good. But there were at least as many nights when she was just appallingly bad.

You do not replace a name star with an understudy unless you are afraid that the star is doing serious damage to the production's chances of making money.

There are many myself included that think Barbra is beautiful.

It has been said many many times not all high priced hookers are supermodels. In the movie it shows Barbra in glamour shots looking very sexy.

It's one of three ridiculous, stupid comedies I like, not so guilty pleasures. The others are Trading Places, and Shaun of the Dead.

R190 her face was never gorgeous. Her nose was way too big and her face was off. She did have sex appeal though. Her body was nice and she had amazing eyes.

I saw Nuts in the theater and audience members were literally rolling in the aisles with laughter.

Went with my mom and grandma and I remember my grandma getting up at one point and announcing to everyone that the Barbra Streisand that SHE knew would never have such a filthy mouth on her.

People started laughing even harder.

My mother about died from embarassment.

Foul Play is similar

Was it a shocker to hear Streisand be so profane?

Why is that funny?

[quote]Why wasn't Madeline Kahn a HUGE Broadway musical star?

Because she couldn't sing. Her campy singing style was cringeworthy and not the least bit commercial. It only worked within the confines of comedy.

"What's Up Doc?" is a reminder of how tacky the '70s were.

That hotel decor is atrocious.

Barbra Streisand starred in the best comedy of the past 50 years: What's Up, Doc?

The best musical: Funny Girl

The best romance: The Way We Were

And in the best delusion: the state of R198's mind.

I hope R193's grandmother never saw "The Owl and the Pussycat" (which to me is almost as good as WUD.)

[quote]I think Bab's

Oh, dear.

I wouldn’t disagree with 198. I like Chicago but the MTV editing bugs me. Although Oliver! Came out the same year as FG and still holds up and it also won Best Picture that year.

Barbra must have liked Mabel they did two movies together.

Shaun of the Dead isn’t a guilty pleasure. It is considered a good movie by many. A guilty pleasure is a movie you are embarrassed to like.

R196 YOu couldn't be more wrong. She had a strong coloratura and could do Cunegone and Aldonza ( and there recordings to attest to that).

Cheers, R203. But your guilty pleasure may not be my guilty pleasure. All of those three films have their supporters, but they're not the sort of comedies I normally like.

I think I remember reading, possibly here on this datalounge site, that at the first table read for “What’s up, Doc?”, Kahn had the production team in stitches while Streisand sat stone-faced.

I know Kahn was uneven over the whole arc of her career, but her Eunice was so good that she was the only character I recalled from seeing the film as a really young kid (I think we saw it at a Drive-In).

The scene where she is frightened by the suggestion of a snake loose in her hotel room is so perfect. When she climbs on the bed and rocks back and forth, she’s like a stressed out primate. It’s really good physical comedy. It’s hard to do that.

[quote]How long does Bugs Bunny appear in the film?

Longer than Mickey Mouse.

Did Babsala fell threatened by her talent?

I thought What's Up Tiger Lily was more hilarious.

I like What's Up My Ass?

Definitely one of my favorite comedies. I don't think I ever saw Streisand look so good on film. Ryan O'Neal was at peak hotness. Madeleine Kahn stole every scene she was in. Kenneth Mars was hysterical as Hugh. You are me? No, I am Hugh! Austin Pendleton, Mabel Albertson, Liam Dunn--all were just so good.

It was a throwback to the screwball comedies of the 1930s with rapid fire dialogue and good physical comedy. Plus Barbra sang! I watch it at least once or twice a year. Still holds up well despite the outdated fashions.

Who are they going to believe? The girl in the bath tub or the man with his pants down?

"Did anyone ever tell you you're incredibly good looking?"

"No."

"They never will."

"How would you like a sandwich de knuckles?"

[quote]Because she couldn't sing.

I thought I heard here awhile back that she was a classically trained opera singer.

[quote]classically trained opera singer

Opera is not singing.

Whatever. It sounds like singing to me.

Here is Kahn doing a great version of a Broadway song by Irving Berlin

I don’t know who he is but I hate him.

That felt like a Barbra improvise

How about Amy Schumer for the lead in the remake if there ever was one?

R220 Over my dead body.

Whatever you think of Barbra or Madeleine, the film itself is marvelously funny, and holds up today far better than most comedies of the period. I have shown it to students (who don't know/recognize anyone in the cast) and they laugh all the way through. The get totally involved in the big chase scene, and big reveal in the courtroom at the end always gets a few screams. About the only joke they don't get is the Love Story reference at the very end.

THAT CAN BE ARRANGED.

Love Story a gigantic hit at the time even got 2 not very good actors Oscar nominations is almost totally forgotten now.

Do you see this yellow pill? You know what it's for? It's to remind me to take this blue pill!

What's the blue one for, Judge?

I don't know. They're afraid to tell me.

r206, there is a similar story about I Love Lucy. One of the writers on the show was on NPR before she died and said "If you'd seen the initial Monday read-through of the script, you'd say "They're all great but get rid of the redhead." Not being funny at the read through means nothing. Some people need to process first and get a grip on what style of comedy it is.

(R206) & (R226) Wise words.

[quote]The dig at Love Story really added a punch to the ending.

R27, I guess I'm insufficiently familiar with 'Love Story' to have picked up on it (my only viewing of 'Love Story' was back in 1970, when I was six, at a drive-in with my parents. I went to sleep in the back seat). What was it?

[quote][R27], I guess I'm insufficiently familiar with 'Love Story' to have picked up on it (my only viewing of 'Love Story' was back in 1970, when I was six, at a drive-in with my parents. I went to sleep in the back seat). What was it?

Barbra says that being in love means never having to say you're sorry, which Ryan states is the stupidest thing he's ever heard.

And she blinks her eyes very fast several times in response.

The movie made $66Million back then, talk about a hit.

Why didn't she flare her nostrils?

The table read story is told in the Bogdanovich interview in the Related Thread. However everything that Peter says about Barbra makes her sound funny. But his claim that Barbra said he was the first director to direct her is spurious.

What does the blinking mean?

While Wyler was known for saying just do it again as opposed to saying what to change, he has said that he vetoed some of Barbra's suggestions. That is part of directing.

Bogdanovich says in the DVD commentary that the blinking was copying something Lauren Bacall did in one of her films with Bogart - I forget which one.

The bike ride/chase goes on too long, but other than that it is great.

About Wyler. There is the story about Mrs Miniver(if this is wrong somebody will correct me) where the family is walking into the open church entrance and either at the rehearsal or the first take without being told the young boy without thinking banged the knocker on the church door as they passed it. They didn't get it but Wyler liked it so much without telling anybody he had them repeat the entrance over and over again until the boy did it again. It took many takes. .

"I know what ya mean, mister. I hate it when my igneous rocks are even touched!"

One of the things I love the most is that you've spent the entire movie with a cast just knocking it out of the park and you get to the end and, lo and behold, there is Liam Dunn as the night judge/father and he is just unbelievably perfect. Every line reading is great! And he get's my favorite setup and payoff line an entire movie of great lines:"That's...unbelievable."

Did Madeleine and Ryan get along?

This idea that William Wyler was an inarticulate man seems hard to believe when you watch the 1997 American Masters documentary about him called Directed by William Wyler. Barbra is interviewed in the film. Wyler makes the comment that she knew more about her part in Funny Girl than he because she had done in on stage and she certainly knew more about how to sing a song. Bette Davis is also interviewed.

oops it was released in 1986/1987 not 1997.

Barbra told Bogdanovich that she directed Funny Girl when they were making WUD. She told Peter that he was the first person who ever really directed her. And he said, "Well, what about William Wyler and Gene Kelly?" She told him that she directed both Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly! herself.

Found the Wyler documentary on YouTube. The Funny Girl section is from 7. 04 to 9.11.

The one gag that doesn't work for me is the man leaping over the fence to escape the garbage cans. IIRC, he landed wrong performing the stunt and hurt himself seriously.

^Julianne Moore?

Just thinking about when I went with my mom and gammy to see NUTS.

I must have been 11 ('87 right?) or may have still been 10 and wish I had been old enough to understand its camp appeal.

One part that really stuck out to me all these years later was when they flashed to a child lookalike in the bath tub. These queens in the theater were screaming with laughter. It was funny to hear them laughing but I can't remember what was so knee slapping hilarious about it.

Then, of course, there was the scene with Leslie Nielsen where she is "entertaining" him while weird Indian music plays. To which one queen exclaimed, "My God, she even fucks to world music!" Which resulted in even more laughter.

I really need to see it again now through adult gay eyes.

Your mother and grandmother took you to see a movie about a prostitute when you were 10 R248?

Did they not know the meaning of the word propriety?

Wyler is actually on record as saying "She didn't need directing. She knew the part better than I did." I think Wyler's biggest contribution was probably 'restraining' Barbra from overacting. He kept her right on the mark. Yes, of course, that is directing and Wyler is a great one and undoubtedly part of the reason Barbra won the Oscar.

What Bogdanovich really ought to have said was that he was the first director who actually gave Barbra line readings, which she took great umbrage to at first. Unlike O'Neal, who imitated exactly what Bogdanovic wanted with no backtalk. But Bogdanovic knew what he wanted and he knew instinctively what was going to be funny, so Barbra wisely eventually complied and did what he asked.

Doesn't she consider Funny Girl her best film? It also happens to be by the most esteemed and popular of all her directors. That's not an accident.

Babs did overact and mug for the cameras in Funny Girl, though. Her performance, apart from a couple of the songs, is very mannered and hasn't held up well at all.

R249 Propriety; noun: conformity to established standards of behavior or manner, suitability, rightness, or justice. See "etiquette."

Don't forget about John Hillerman's hilarious cameo as the hotel manager. His dry exchange with Ryan O'Neal was so good.

"Dr. Banister, I have a message for you from the staff of the hotel."

"What is it?"

"Goodbye. "

Did John Simon review the film? What was his reaction to the Hugh Simon character who was supposed to have been based on John Simon?

R249, I don't think they knew she was a hooker. It was just Barbra in a movie so they were instantly hooked and had to go. I think we had been out that morning shopping and my mom might have suggested we go see it.

I loved the movies and never cried or threw fits. I must have been 5 when the family went to see 9 to 5 and I never uttered a peep. I also remember seeing The Toy, again no problems.

Now my aunt did take me with her to see Nightmare on Elm Street...at age 9. I got through it just fine but was scared shitless for like 2 weeks at night in bed.

I can't complain. All the kids at school (and the teachers, too) were shocked/impressed that I was allowed to watch R rated movies.

Nothing was ever censored and I appreciate growing up like that. I was allowed to watch, ask questions about things I didn't understand and was answered honestly.

The whole movie is funny and then you have the coda, the courtroom scene, which is hysterical. Perfection, the timing, the line readings, everything about that scene is incredible.

R245 Jesus Christ, Barbra has had some hideous hairstyles.

The one in this movie was quite an exception.

All about Madeline and Babs and WUD

R259 That book confirms that Kahn got all the laughs at the table read and Streisand and O'Neal were not happy about it.

It's interesting that Kahn HATED playing Eunice -- particularly the way she looked.

I wonder what the song/bit was that she says Streisand stole from her.

R259 What an awesome link.

Note to self: Add Rex Reed to the 2021 list of “The Oscars Remember...”

It’s a homage to excrement

r262 should stick to Schoolhouse Rocks.

R256 I think it's wonderful you had such an open, progressive family (thus my tag "Lucky Kid") my family was so astoundingly uptight it was suffocating. I was envious of you, not being critical.

What's an homage to excrement? Cats?

[quote]should stick to Schoolhouse Rocks.

But what if he prefers igneous?

his igneous rocks have never been touched.

R255, I remember reading John Simon's review and he singled out Kenneth Mars' performance for insult.