How a 1972 screwball comedy turned a $4 million budget into a massive box-office hit

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Director Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? was a deliberate homage to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. Starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal, this energetic farce became the third highest-grossing film of 1972, proving that classic slapstick humor could still dominate the modern American box office.

Conceived after a conversation between director Peter Bogdanovich and production head John Calley, the film was designed to capture the spirit of classic cinema, specifically Bringing Up Baby and Warner Bros. cartoons. The script was developed rapidly between May and August 1971, with writers Robert Benton, David Newman, and Buck Henry crafting three drafts each to meet the stars' tight schedules. The result was a chaotic narrative involving four identical overnight bags, a musicologist, and a charming, college-dropout trouble-magnet named Judy Maxwell.

The film’s production was as ambitious as its plot. Bogdanovich chose San Francisco as the backdrop to stage an elaborate spoof of the famous car chase from the 1968 film Bullitt. This sequence alone consumed one-fourth of the movie’s $4 million budget. The production team faced real-world challenges, including damaging concrete steps at Alta Plaza Park without city permission and a near-drowning incident involving actor Sorrell Booke during the climactic scene in San Francisco Bay.

Beyond its technical feats, the film is noted for its unique musical approach. Bogdanovich insisted on diegetic music, meaning there is no traditional underscoring; all music heard by the audience is also heard by the characters. This includes everything from Cole Porter standards to a Chinese marching band playing 'La Cucaracha' on glockenspiels. The film’s legacy is cemented by its critical and commercial success, grossing $66 million in the United States and Canada and earning a Writers Guild of America award for its screenplay.

While generally well-received, the film faced sharp criticism from some, including critic John Simon, who was the inspiration for the character Hugh Simon. Simon famously disparaged Streisand’s appearance and labeled the film a heavy-handed attempt at nostalgia. Despite such reviews, the film remains a staple of American comedy, frequently appearing on American Film Institute lists and maintaining a strong 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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