And for St. Patrick's Day, WHAT'S UP, DOC? -- something entirely different:

The Credits are a book's turning leaves of memory, a jaunty Cole Porter theme ("You're the Top") sung underneath by La Streisand -- and we are in San Francisco! No serial killers, no drive-by shootings, no terrorism, no homeless . . . well, maybe, one. This is Director Peter Bogdanovich's 1972 hit movie about the City by the Bay, the exteriors filmed entirely on location, which caused many a tourist to come and leave his/her heart there. Starring Barbara Streisand in her finest screen moments, Ryan O'Neal doing Cary Grant, and introducing the incomparable Madeline Kahn, who steals any scene she appears in. Just 90 screwball minutes of homage to the great Hollywood comedies of the 1930's, plus a few sly in-jokes.

At San Francisco International Airport, a furtive "Mr. Smith" (Michael Murphy) arrives with a red tattersall plastic cover satchel, so emblematic of the time. The bag is full of some sort of Secret Documents. Another furtive gentleman, "Mr. Jones" (Phil Roth), (lugging a case of golf clubs) is following Smith to the Downtown Hilton Hotel (the Hotel Bristol, in the film), hoping to retrieve those papers. Arriving at the same time, accompanied by his fiancee, Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn), is Dr. Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal), distinguished musicologist, who is in the City to attend a convention. He is carrying a nearly identical red tattersall case, containing ancient rocks (we may imagine, dinasaur gonads), which he intends to prove held important musical qualities for ancient peoples. Then, there is a homeless hoyden-flower child-college drop-out wearing an oversized cap, Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand), who slips into the hotel, trying to cop an empty hotel room and a room service roast beef sandwich. She has her underwear stashed in . . . a red tattersall suitcase.

And upstairs in the hotel, a certain Mrs. Van Hoskins (Mabel Albertson -- Darren's mother on "Bewitched") has her jewelry stolen by a thief who throws the gems into a --

When the bags are mixed up, you can see where the plot is going -- or not going.

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In fact, WHAT'S UP, DOC? scrambles at least four plots revolving around those bags, culminating in a Frisco courtroom, where they are all straightened out . . . sort of. The script by Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton keeps us captivated, using multiple shell games that hardly ever let us figure out what is happening. It doesn't matter because the suitcases are mutiple "MacGuffins," and the Players are the things which catch our funny bones.

At the center of the comedy is Ryan O'Neal, recently off the syrupy, huge hit, LOVE STORY (1970), who avoids the madcap Miss Streisand's yen for him, and tries to be loyal to the perpetually frustrated Miss Kahn. Director Bogdanovich prides himself in one long Wellsian tracking shot after another of these three, and others in the cast, always boffed with a quick cut to some comic surprise.

In Laszlo Kovac's gorgeous cinematography, we follow Mr. Jones while he follows Mr. Smith up a couple of San Francisco's fabled hills, watching him lighten his pack by throwing a golf club into a trash receptacle here, or another into bushes there. We soon realize Dr. Bannister is losing his rocks as he loses his heart to the captivating Judy Maxwell. We witness Mrs. Van Hoskins do a "dying swan" in the middle of the hotel lobby when she realizes that her jewels are gone.

A number of hallway tracking shots show us the activities of Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones, the hotel detective, a jewel thief and -- oh, yes, Judy Maxwell tracking down an empty hotel room and her roast beef sandwich.

Judy manages to ingratiate herself with Dr. Bannister, and attends the convention dinner with him while Eunice -- "Burnsie" -- remains indisposed upstairs. They meet Hugh Simon (Kenneth Mars), an expert on Croatian music, who is trying to suck up to Frederick Larrabee (Austin Pendleton), a distinguished authority (we are never sure on what). In the background, is Professor Hosquith (Randy Quaid, in his second film). Everyone meets again in a memorable scene under a table cloth in the main dining room.

When they are not involved with the suitcases, Judy, Howard, Burnsie and the others chase each other up and down hill, riding a bicycle cart, driving a Volkswagen, flagging cabs, chasing a Chinese New Year Dragon through Chinatown, causing accidents, splashing into San Francisco Bay.

You have to see it. If you have, you must see it again.

As others have remarked, Barbra Streisand was never better than in WHAT'S UP, DOC? -- deadpanning the title as pass at Howard, munching on a carrot, laying herself out on a piano to sing Hupfeld's "As Time Goes By." She could still genuinely laugh at herself then. Fresh off a series of what look now a bit ponderous films based on Broadway Musical Theater hits, she explored in THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT and WHAT'S UP, DOC? her gamine side. Unfortunately, her drive to dominate, to make the IMPORTANT statement, soon took over again, and though she has had a great career, I miss the essence of genius she displayed on the old late night Mike Wallace Show, as a teenager, drinking milkshakes, and singing "Happy Days Are Here Again."

[It is a mark of a certain lack of artistic taste, that she was convinced that WHAT'S UP, DOC? was trivial and would be a flop.]

Ryan O'Neal, too, of huge potential in 1972, after starring in the vastly underrated WILD ROVERS (1971), went on to star in Bogdanovich's PAPER MOON, and had strong parts in films like A BRIDGE TOO FAR, but alcohol, drugs, and general indirection sapped his career, as we notice occasionally in the tabloids.

Madeline Kahn went straight up, for directors like Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and a number of others. Her untimely death at age 57 represented the loss of a superb comedienne, still in full command of her powers.

What can we say of Peter Bogdanovich? After working as an actor, writer, museum curator and film critic, he made one of the great directorial debuts with TARGETS (1968), starring Boris Karloff. He formed a loose partnership with Orson Welles, who advised him in creating THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for eight others. WHAT'S UP, DOC? showed his flair for comedy, and for a time he moved from strength to strength. Then, his professional and personal life went into a power dive, from which he has only recently recovered. Now acting, directing, writing, commenting again, his fans hope that he will be able to fulfill his promise to Orson Welles and finally complete the old master's THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND (1972-1976).

On the DVD, Bogdanovich remarks how much fun they had improvising and testing their abilities in WHAT'S UP, DOC. It clearly shows.

What must have helped was San Francisco, which whatever troubles it was going through, just sparkled in this movie. Simple Yellow Cabs seem chariots of the gods in that moist early 1970's Bayside air. If one of the bags contained the Pentagon Papers, as Bogdanovich suggests, audiences did not worry over much. Nor certainly do we today (but we might be wise to). Just sit back and enjoy the whole thing.

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This review is for Van Stratten, who is taking his daughter home to Indiana this week. He sent me the DVD. Enjoy yourselves, Lee.

"Tha-THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!"

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WILD ROVERS --

http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-1197-1188F4E3-39B323B4-prod6



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12