The Rittenhouse Review

A Philadelphia Journal of Politics, Finance, Ethics, and Culture


Monday, May 03, 2004  

NO MORE CALLS
We Have a Winner!

No more calls -- or e-mails, really-- we have a winner.

Connie Conine of Belgium, Wisc., was first under the wire with the correct answer to the spur-of-the-moment Thursday-night-stay-up-too-late-activity contest, posted Friday at The Rittenhouse Review.

The hint I gave -- “Miss Burns, what are you doing in Dr. Bannister’s room? Don’t you know the meaning of the word propriety?” -- led Ms. Conine to respond, correctly, with the name of the film I was watching Thursday night and into Friday morning, namely, “What’s Up, Doc?”

And based on Connie’s e-mail I can say, with no hesitation whatsoever, she knows the film. I could determine readily there was no Googling going on.

If you haven’t seen “What’s Up, Doc?”, rent it. If you’ve seen it, watch it again.

“What’s Up, Doc?” is a great flick and one of my all time favorites. A serious, artistic endeavor? Hardly.

Instead, it offers the perfect mix of witty repartee, slapstick, and sight gags. The film stars Barbra Streisand as Judy Maxwell, Ryan O’Neal as Dr. Howard Bannister, and the late great Madeline Kahn as Eunice Burns. “What’s Up, Doc?” was directed and produced by Peter Bogdanovich, working with a screenplay by Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton.

I’ve seen “What’s Up, Doc?” so many times I can recite most of the dialogue from memory. (And so can two of my younger siblings, C. and C. Happy Thanksgiving!) (And so, I suspect, can Ms. Conine.)

And it’s still funny.

Every time I watch it.

Thanks to everyone who sent an entry.

[Note: My thanks, my many thanks, to reader L.H., who bought “What’s Up, Doc?” on DVD for me as a gift from my Amazon.com Wish List.]

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