Showing: 03 August 2025
What's Up, Doc? joyously recaptures the bubbly style of 1930s screwball comedies—and firmly establishes Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal as an iconic romantic duo.
O’Neal stars as Howard Bannister, a duller-than-dull musicologist, and Streisand as Judy Maxwell, an up-for-anything young woman who unsettles the life of Howard after a luggage mix-up (and everyone else she comes into contact with).
The Bringing Up Baby–style plot is a mere starting point for a contemporary screwball comedy that incorporates a Buster Keaton-esque chase, stellar supporting turns by a gallery of brilliant comic players and 1970s-era sets, designed with purposeful ugliness by Polly Platt.
In an early example of how carefully Bogdanovich tailored his films to his stars’ personalities, Streisand is given several chances to belt out classic tunes, including a knockout version of “You’re the Top” over the opening and closing titles.
From the gumball bottom to the cherry on top, QFT is having a Screwball Summer. We are celebrating the fast-talking farce of the screwball comedy with a season guaranteed to tickle your funny bone.