The classic movie Barbra Streisand loved but never understood: “I was always confused”
Before Barbra Streisand was an Oscar-winning movie star, she cut her teeth on Broadway, proving to be a magnetic and instantly captivating talent.
When she wasn’t on the stage, she could be found singing on television and recording albums, earning her first two Grammys in 1964 with The Barbra Streisand Album. Since then, the multi-talented figure has won countless awards, making her a rare EGOT winner.
By the late 1960s, the performer decided to take her skills to the silver screen and made her film debut with Funny Girl in 1968, which earned her an Oscar. She followed it up with another musical one, starring in Hello, Dolly! in 1969, which also garnered acclaim. A perfect leading lady, Streisand quickly established herself as a master of everything from singing and dancing to effortless comedy, but she soon realised she wanted to do something a bit more serious.
Thus, she was delighted to get the opportunity to work with Peter Bogdanovich, whom she had been keen to collaborate with after watching the gritty coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show. The director had other plans, and he soon proposed an idea to Streisand that would allow her to flex her comedic muscles in a way she hadn’t done before.
Bogdanovich wanted to make a screwball comedy just like Bringing Up Baby, so that’s what he did, and Streisand was the perfect actor to play an updated Katharine Hepburn-esque character. Fast talking and very eccentric, she was cast as Judy Maxwell, who meets Ryan O’Neal’s Howard Bannister—a Cary Grant-esque musicologist set to marry the very neurotic Eunice, played by Madeline Kahn. When a mix-up involving four identical tartan suitcases occurs, chaos ensues, resulting in an unlikely love story.
The movie pays homage to Bringing Up Baby perfectly without simply feeling like a cheap knock-off. A constant stream of jokes and gags makes for a highly entertaining watch, and if you’re a fan of car chases, then What’s Up, Doc? has you covered. However, when Streisand was filming the movie, she was a little confused about what was going on in the plot.
With four suitcases constantly getting switched around—one containing secret government documents, another millions of dollars’ worth of jewels, Howard’s case full of igneous rocks, and Judy’s with clothes—it is sometimes a little confusing trying to keep up with the mix-up.
However, the actor learned that sometimes you just have to trust your director. “I didn’t understand what was going on with the story half the time and just trusted Peter’s vision,” Streisand told The Hollywood Reporter. “I never knew it would become a big hit because I was always confused about which suitcase was which!”
She thoroughly enjoyed the process of filming the movie, and you can tell that everyone was having good fun; it practically bleeds off the screen. “Peter knew exactly what he wanted to do with the movie, and he put together a great cast. And the supporting actors were hysterical: Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton and Kenneth Mars. Polly Platt, the production designer, became a good friend. And I was thrilled to work with the great cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, who was a dream,” recounted Streisand.
What’s Up, Doc? is one of many fantastic movies released by Bogdanovich, who soon followed it up with another O’Neal collaboration, the beautiful Paper Moon.
