61 AFI 100 Comedies

68 AFI 100 Romances

A

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”

The self-declared screwball-comedy, What’s up Doc? maintains that level of wry wit mixed a collage of frantic erudite shenanigans worthy of the Keystone Cops but with an authentic level of romance. This is a screwball-comedy the likes of which have not been matched since the John Turturo Marx Brothers reincarnate Brain Donors.

When Kenneth Mars (reprising his role of the douchebag European from The Producers) is hit by a pie in the face it has reached the excess of successful screwball. This movie also proves Ken Mars was the Will Ferrell of his time (also see Young Frankenstein and Otto the Ranch owner from Malcolm in the Middle).

I re-fell in love with Madeline Khan, the consistently shit-upon fiancé of Musicology doctor Howard Bannister. And like the first time I saw Cabaret, with the surprise of Liza Minnelli in her prime hotness, I am astonished to find myself very attracted to the devilish charm of a young and very hot Barbara Streisand.

On its surface the movie is about Streisand’s courtship of the unsuspecting Doctor Bannister, a man whom she insists on calling ‘Stan’. Below this level we find a hallway-shuffling spy and jewel caper film.

It frankly reminds me of an extremely well written Muppets movie. The characters are endearing in their staunch seriousness amidst bright chaos. There is a car chase scene that rivals Bullet in its ridiculousness. Streisand gets her obligatory song sung on a piano as the romantic lead plays for her. She sings a stunning version of ‘As Time Goes By’ from Casablanca.

Streisand is the movies Groucho. She looks onto the man of her desires with bright puppy dog eyes and woo’s a party of important musicologists with grace, intelligence, charisma, and charm. We slowly see how she wins him over, breaking an engagement with Madeline Khan (don’t worry she finds romance as well) and at the end he has fallen in love with this queen of chaos. That journey is a comedy of errors so well written it is no wonder it was penned by the genius comedian Buck Henry and co-written by director Peter Bogdanovich.