Howard Bannister’s Rocks: Celebrating “What's Up, Doc?" and "Bringing Up Baby

Transcripts are computer generated with minimal editing.

Brad Shreve [00:00:58]:
Hello. I'm Brad Shreve, a big time movie buff.

Tony Maietta [00:01:00]:
And I'm Tony Maietta. And I'm not a film historian. I'm the film historian. Welcome to Going Hollywood.

Brad Shreve [00:01:09]:
And, Tony, you need to seek some help? We discuss movies and television from Hollywood's golden age. We'll stir some of your fondest or maybe not so fond memories. We go behind the scenes and share our opinions too.

Tony Maietta [00:01:23]:
And for our astute listeners out there, I was clearly quoting a line from one of my favorite movies. And, Brad, I believe it's one of your favorite movies. And it's a movie we're gonna talk about today, 1972. What's up, doc?

Brad Shreve [00:01:39]:
Oh, it's Hi. I'm one of my favorites. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi.

Tony Maietta [00:01:42]:
Yeah. You said that. You said that, like, off handedly. I think because we were talking about Streisand, and I was like, oh, really? Now it's one of my favorites too.

Brad Shreve [00:01:49]:
We may come up with some different opinions on scenes,

Tony Maietta [00:01:52]:
but I doubt this is not gonna be one that's

Brad Shreve [00:01:54]:
I don't think this is gonna be that controversial. Maybe when we talk about Bringing up Baby, but not this one.

Tony Maietta [00:01:58]:
I I think that I think that, What's Up Doc is pretty much I'm always amazed how many people love say to me when they ask me what because people have a tendency to say what are your favorite movie. And I'll ask them what are your favorite movies? And WhatsApp talk always seems to be up there. I just yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy how many people love What's Up Talk. And it's a it's I understand it. It's a wonderful fun movie.

Brad Shreve [00:02:21]:
Now see, I get a different experience. I am shocked by the number of people that have never even heard or at least never watched the film.

Tony Maietta [00:02:29]:
You gotta stop talking to these young guys,

Brad Shreve [00:02:31]:
Brad. Well

Tony Maietta [00:02:34]:
Don't know who Barbara Streisand is probably at this point. Really? That's interesting. See, I think that it's I just feel like it's in every gay man's DNA, but then again, that's just me being optimistic about it, I think, probably. But let me ask you a question since, we're talking about everybody knowing what's up to or not knowing. Were you aware or did you were you did you have knowledge of the idea that what's up doc was based on a 1938 film called Bringing Up Baby?

Brad Shreve [00:03:05]:
No. I did not. And having watched this movie before and seen some of the same stunts wasn't identical, but some of the same stunts that you would have thought I would have caught it, but it was actually a long time ago that I watched it. So when I watched it again for the show, it was very nice. It was like watching it all over again for the first time. I didn't remember so much that it wasn't, like, watching a

Tony Maietta [00:03:27]:
new show. Yeah. Here's the thing is that bringing a baby is, for me, the ultimate screwball farce. Now in the thirties, there was a wonderful period known as the screwball comedy period. And what that was was basically these wonderfully insane hate to use that word all the time, but wonderfully crazy films that were very verbal and had all kinds of energy, and they were almost they took place in a reality all their own. And this happened because when the production code came into force in 1934, it was very strict about what they could show and what they couldn't show and what they could say and what they couldn't say. And sex was, of course, number 1 on the list that you can't show. So when people can't make love physically, how do they do that? How do you show that? Well, they do it verbally.

Tony Maietta [00:04:16]:
And not only make love verbally, they fight verbally. So movies got very verbal. The screwball era started right after the production code kicked in and lasted pretty much to the beginning of World War 2, so about 10 years. And, yes, for me personally, I've seen a lot of screwball movies, a lot of screwball comedies. The minute I put bringing up baby on and I see Cary Grant in his Harold Lloyd glasses, it just makes me happy. I just smile. And then when I see Hepburn, I just start giggling, and I'm just in for the ride of my life.

Brad Shreve [00:04:48]:
I'm always smiling when I see Hepburn. Now some people may be just like me that have seen the movie but don't necessarily remember everything, so just give a really quick synopsis.

Tony Maietta [00:04:57]:
Sure. So Cary Grant plays David Huxley, who is a mild mannered paleontologist. And for the past few years, he has been trying to assemble the skeleton of a brontosaurus, but he's missing one Tony, just one Tony, the intercostal clavicle. And if you wanna laugh, hear Cary Grant say intercostal clavicle over and over again. So he's a very mild mannered, very milk toast. You know, his life is set. And just as he's about to get married, the day before actually, he quite literally is bowled over by this freewheeling heiress named Susan Vance, who is played by Katharine Hepburn. And for the remainder of the movie, it's how she she sets out to systematically destroy his life because she's in love with him.

Tony Maietta [00:05:52]:
So what do you do when you fall in love with somebody? You pretty much set out to destroy their life. So you can kinda see for anybody who's familiar with What's Up Doc, that's kind of the same thing about What's Up Doc. The premise is the same. You have this stuffy creature very much set in his ways, this academic whose life is blown apart by this freewheeling kook that he meets, and at the end, of course, ends up with her.

Brad Shreve [00:06:16]:
And I don't know. Did you mention that he is engaged?

Tony Maietta [00:06:19]:
Yes. He's about to get married. It's the day before he gets married that he meets Susan Vance on the golf course. Yeah.

Brad Shreve [00:06:24]:
So Kara Grant, doctor Huxley, who's also known as hysterically doctor Bones, is engaged, soon to be married, and then we have Catherine. I don't know what's gonna happen then.

Tony Maietta [00:06:34]:
I didn't say doctor Huxtable, did I? I hope not. No. You did not say doctor Huxtable.

Brad Shreve [00:06:38]:
That would be very easy to do, but you did not do it.

Tony Maietta [00:06:40]:
Doctor Huxley. Yes. David Huxley. Yes. You know, and so the bones, quote, unquote, uh-huh, paleontology joke, of bringing up baby are in WhatsApp doc. But the idea that What's Up Doc is based on bringing up baby is overblown and it's not true. Peter Bogdanovich, who directed What's Up Doc, Who is besides being a director and a writer and a sometime actor, he was a film buff of the nth degree. It's how he began his career, and he adored these films.

Tony Maietta [00:07:12]:
And so he himself said that the premise of What's Up Doc is the same as Bringing Up Baby, but there's only one joke from Bringing Up Baby that's in What's Up Doc.

Brad Shreve [00:07:22]:
Kinda 2.

Tony Maietta [00:07:23]:
What's the okay. What are the jokes? You

Brad Shreve [00:07:25]:
tell me.

Tony Maietta [00:07:25]:
One of

Brad Shreve [00:07:25]:
them is, is Kate Hepburn. I can't think of oh, Susan

Tony Maietta [00:07:29]:
Susan Vance.

Brad Shreve [00:07:30]:
Grabs doctor Huxley from the back and rips his suit. Tuxedo jacket. His tuxedo jacket. That happened in What's Up, doc?

Tony Maietta [00:07:39]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [00:07:39]:
The other is the fiance in both instances in both instances, but I I will say one thing, what's up doc has way over bringing up baby is, Madeline Kahn.

Tony Maietta [00:07:53]:
Well, that's part of the premise, have him him being him being engaged. And, yes, the part of Alice in Bringing Up Baby comes nowhere near the comic masterpiece that is Madeline Kahn in What's Up, doc. So so I see what you're saying. But, yeah, you got it right about the the tuxedo jacket and and the basic premise is right. But let's get so a little bit of background about bringing a baby before we before we go

Brad Shreve [00:08:19]:
Absolutely. I have a question because I'm curious if you know about this. It's so it's so popular right now, And I've seen the numbers, and it doesn't look to me like it did that bad, but I heard it did so so badly. It was a bomb that it really affected Hawkes and Hepburn's careers.

Tony Maietta [00:08:38]:
No. Not at all. That's not true at all. First of all, it wasn't a bomb. It cost 1,100,000 and it made 1,100,000. It did very well in some cities like San Francisco and the urban centers as usual, but it did not it was not a bomb. That's a myth. It was not a financial success the at its first release.

Tony Maietta [00:08:58]:
Now in the forties because none of Katharine Hepburn's films this is the thing. The late thirties Katharine Hepburn and in fact, not long after this film was released, she got the famous label box office poison, because none of her films after her initial success in the early thirties, pretty much after Little Women, none of her films, say, post 1935 made money. So there's that myth that she you know, that it that it was a huge bomb. It wasn't. It wasn't. When it was rereleased in the early forties after Katharine Hepburn's resurgence, after the Philadelphia story and she pretty much reconstructed her career, it made money. So it was always it was never a bomb. It kind of it it lost money at first, and then it eventually made money until in the late sixties, sixties mid late sixties when college students discovered it.

Tony Maietta [00:09:47]:
This happened a lot in the in the late sixties because this this is the generation that was brought up pretty much brought up on television. And when they were of college age, they discovered films. And what did they discover? They discovered these fabulous classic films, like The Awful Truth, like Bringing a Baby. Humphrey Bogart had his huge career resurgence long after he died because they discovered the Maltese Falcon and Casa Blanc and all these films. So that is when it really began its ascent into the pantheon of legendary screwball comedies. And to me, as I said before, to me, it's number 1. It's my absolute favorite screwball. I think of it more of a screwball farce as opposed to a screwball comedy because everybody in this film is absolutely nuts.

Tony Maietta [00:10:35]:
There's not one sane person in this film.

Brad Shreve [00:10:39]:
Tony, I'm stopping our conversation real quick.

Tony Maietta [00:10:42]:
Why? Why, Brad? We're we're in the middle of a podcast.

Brad Shreve [00:10:45]:
But this is about the podcast, and it's very important.

Tony Maietta [00:10:48]:
Okay.

Brad Shreve [00:10:49]:
Listener, whatever app you're listening on, whether it's on the computer or on the phone, reach your finger or your mouse over. It usually says follow, some still say subscribe, and click that. And what's gonna happen when they do that, Tony?

Tony Maietta [00:11:02]:
They're gonna get notified when a new episode is available, and they can listen to us again. You know, I don't wanna miss that. No. Can we get back to the episode that we were recording?

Brad Shreve [00:11:11]:
Of course. Please? Of course.

Tony Maietta [00:11:12]:
Alright. Thank you. Don't forget to subscribe and follow.

Brad Shreve [00:11:15]:
There you go. I heard that Hawx said after the movie was done, the one mistake he made was every character was nuts.

Tony Maietta [00:11:26]:
Yes. He did say that. He did say that. And that's pretty that's and he's absolutely right. See look. For me, whenever I suggest whenever anybody asks me to first group, I'll comment and I suggest bringing a baby, I always say, look. You have to give yourself over to it. You just have to go for the ride.

Tony Maietta [00:11:40]:
And if you do, you will not regret it. It's totally worth the investment. But he was right. What he meant was was that the audience needs one person to identify with. They need one normal person because if they have one person to identify with, that allow they're they're acting as a portal into this world. They're getting the audience is saying, oh, they're seeing it from this person who's who they can identify with. Does that make sense? So they need somebody to identify with because that person then carries them into this strange world of insanity that is bringing up babies. So he had a very valid point.

Tony Maietta [00:12:15]:
I don't know who that same person would be, though, in that

Brad Shreve [00:12:18]:
Well, I'm thinking back to I'm thinking of Green Acres, which is one of my all time favorite TV shows, and I know a lot of people just groaned. We will do a show about it because it is a lot more intelligent than people think it is. In that if you watch Green Acres, the earliest episodes, Oliver was just as nutty as everybody else, but they very quickly he still was kinda heavy duty on running a farm. But beyond that, he wasn't nearly as nutty. He was the straight man, and that's what was so funny about it. He was a straight man in this just surreal world where everybody is nuts.

Tony Maietta [00:12:54]:
It's exactly the same thing. Think of it as Dorothy entering the land of Oz. True. Dorothy is us entering this strange land. Well, in a screwball, we need someone like a Dorothy to lead us through this crazy mixed up world. Now for me, like I said, bringing a baby just works regardless, but how but Hawkes did say that. And he was also, you know, looking back from the perspective that, you know, it was becoming a cult hit. So he was just trying to he was trying to figure out something to say about it that, would interest people, and I think and that's probably it.

Brad Shreve [00:13:27]:
I don't didn't know if I agree with him. I I think as a rule, that is a good rule, but I think this one worked even though he didn't do that.

Tony Maietta [00:13:35]:
Yeah. Well, it absolutely works for me. But like I said, I but I give myself over to it. I feel like, to me, it feels like you just have to let go and let it wash over you. And you you enter this you enter this delicious world of of insanity. Hepburn is so charming. She was never so light, so ebullient, so effervescent as she is in bringing bringing up baby. And what's sad is she never did it again.

Tony Maietta [00:14:02]:
She had never done it before, and we can get to the stories about that. And she never did it again, which is kinda sad because she's a brilliant farcical comedian. And, that's so sad, but she's so lovely, so wonderful, and I adore her in this film.

Brad Shreve [00:14:19]:
The one thing I've I have got to say that just blew me away, as you know, Katharine Hepburn is the only actor to win 4 Oscars. Nobody else has earned that many. In this movie, even though this movie was snubbed in the Oscars, this movie shows me exactly why. She has done so many much drama. She's she's done every kind of emotion there is. And here, for the first time, I see her hysterical, and I think it's a shame as well that she never did this again.

Tony Maietta [00:14:47]:
Hysterically funny, yourself?

Brad Shreve [00:14:48]:
Yes.

Tony Maietta [00:14:48]:
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Brad Shreve [00:14:49]:
She was brilliant.

Tony Maietta [00:14:50]:
Well, here's something that's interesting is that and this goes on with what you're saying, is that she wasn't initially getting it. Now like I said, she had never done this kind of farce before when they developed this story was developed for her. It was based on a short story by Hager Wilde, and it was adapted by screenwriter, Dudley Nichols, as a story specifically for Katharine Hepburn. And when they first started filming and the story is about an heiress who inherits a leopard. We didn't talk about the leopard when we were giving the breakdown of of the plot because it happens about 45 minutes into the Tony. Suddenly, she has a leopard, but a leopard plays a the leopard is baby. That's who they're bringing up. So the leopard is a big part of the plot.

Tony Maietta [00:15:34]:
But, anyway, so when she first started acting it, she wasn't getting it. Farce is a style. You have to learn it. So Howard Hawks turned to Walter Catlett, who plays the constable in the film, that hysterically funny constable who throws him in jail, and said, can you help her out? So what he did was basically give her a crash course in playing screwball comedy, and, hello, clearly, she got it like that because she's so brilliant. So when you talk about the fact that how brilliant she was and everything that she did, and she was a pretty damn fast learner because it was, you know, it was like she's Mensa with this kind of level of ability. And she's she goes to be she she doesn't know how to do it. She's told how to do it, and she becomes the ultimate screwball heroine. Amazing.

Brad Shreve [00:16:24]:
And, you know, we missed something that I think everybody misses. I don't I don't hear much of this, maybe flippantly, but it's like to me, it's actually critical to the film. And it's only about 30 seconds long. Because you think, okay. This guy's engaged, and he's gonna run off with this girl. And, you know, that's kind of kind of a cad. What's really important at the beginning is his fiancee reminds me very much of Lilith on Frasier. She's that cold, and she says to him, when they're talking about the honeymoon, she says, nothing must interfere with our work.

Brad Shreve [00:17:01]:
Our marriage must entail no domestic entanglements of any kind. Yeah. And he's like, any kind? So

Tony Maietta [00:17:11]:
and that So he's ripe for the picking. He's ripe for the picking. Yeah. That's the thing. You know? I When hepar when hepar comes upon him. Yeah. He's right. He's ready he's ready for it.

Tony Maietta [00:17:21]:
You you see it. He's just he's there's a part of him which is longing to burst forth. And can we talk about Cary Grant for a minute in this? Cary Grant had just made The Awful Truth the year before, and The Awful Truth was finally the film that really created the Cary Grant persona. So after The Awful Truth, he became, in every respect, Cary Grant. And so this was an unusual role for him to take because he also didn't know how to do it. Like Hepburn, he wasn't sure exactly how to play this part of this of this bumbling academic. And Howard Hawks said to him, go talk to Harold Lloyd. Now Harold Lloyd was a one of the big Shreve silent film star, Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd.

Tony Maietta [00:18:03]:
And Lloyd's character was called the glass character. He was this guy who got into all kinds of problems, and his hallmark were was this pair of glasses he would wear. So Grant went and talked to Lloyd, got some pointers, and basically based his characterization on Harold Lloyd. So you have, you know, these 2 iconic actors in what became an iconic film, both having difficulties at first, and both finding their characters and giving performances which are, in my opinion, legendary in in comedic film.

Brad Shreve [00:18:35]:
And one thing I gotta say about that is Cary Grant really pulled off the absent minded professor with the glasses on. Even though he's gorgeous, it worked. I think it worked in once of doc 2, but Ryan O'Neil still looked like Ryan O'Neil.

Tony Maietta [00:18:50]:
Well, Ryan O'Neil was Ryan O'Neil was trying to emulate Cary Grant, but he wasn't doing a very good job. But Ryan O'Neil was also playing Peter Bogdanovich. So let me can get to that later. But

Brad Shreve [00:19:00]:
Yeah. Yeah. But I was just talking about the look. I think Yes. Grant carried it better, but I also think there's a difference. So we will get to that.

Tony Maietta [00:19:07]:
Yes. But the thing about the thing I wanna stress about about What's Up doc or What's Up doc about bringing a baby being What's Up doc being based on bringing a baby is that what's up doc is based on a lot of screwball comedies. There's a lot of screwball influences in what's up doc. It's not just Bringing Up Baby. It's the Lady Shreve. It's Easy Living. It's My Man Godfrey. There's a whole slew of comedies that suggest that what Peter Bogdanovich was trying to do was create a modern screwball comedy because screwball pretty much disappeared, as I said, at the beginning of the war and never came back.

Tony Maietta [00:19:40]:
So what Bogganovich was trying to do was create a modern screwball comedy based a lot on the premise of Bringing Up Baby.

Brad Shreve [00:19:48]:
And for those that are younger, not young young, who may not be familiar with screwball com comedies, I'm gonna give an example because almost half of it is just there's a big misunderstanding. Yeah. So if you've ever seen 3's company, it is like a modern TV version because that was every every week. It was just a big misunderstanding. In fact, one of my favorite lines in, Friends was they're all watching 3's Company, and and Chandler goes, oh, I remember this episode. It's the one where there's a big misunderstanding.

Tony Maietta [00:20:21]:
Yeah. I'm I'm gonna kinda cringe at your example of 3's company.

Brad Shreve [00:20:25]:
Oh, I'm not saying that.

Tony Maietta [00:20:27]:
But, yes, the screwball comedies are very often based on a misunderstanding. They're very often based on people at cross purposes.

Brad Shreve [00:20:35]:
Yeah. I was not saying they're the same quality. Please No.

Tony Maietta [00:20:37]:
I I

Brad Shreve [00:20:38]:
I understand. Get that in there.

Tony Maietta [00:20:39]:
I understand what you're saying. But I think that the the reason that bringing a baby is another level of screwball. As I said, it's more like a screwball farce than a screwball comedy because it's so it's so untethered to any kind of reality but its own, and that's what farce is. Farce is Buck Henry said. Buck Henry Buck Henry was a screenwriter on What's Up Top, and he said farce generally means it's about nothing but itself, and that's what Bringing Up Baby is. It's it's exists in its own reality with this wonderful, wonderful cast of oddball characters. I mean, they're so I mean, May Robeson, who we just talked about in A Star is Born, by the way. May Robeson plays her aunt Elizabeth, hysterical.

Tony Maietta [00:21:22]:
Charlie Ruggles, who was a great standby comedic actor, Walter Catlett, Barry Fitzgerald. I mean, these are these are the hallmarks of thirties comedies, and they're all in this film supporting Hepburn and Grant in this wonderful, insane ride. Spring your baby.

Brad Shreve [00:21:41]:
When we get a little more detail, I wanna talk about Charles Ruggle because I loved his character. But as far as Diane goes, I would argue she is one of the few somewhat straight characters in here. She she was kind of she was the debutante well, not debutante. That's an important word. But Heiress. She she had craziness around her, and she wasn't, like, confused like the the straight person, but she also she kinda was dragged into it all by all these crazy people.

Tony Maietta [00:22:11]:
But she's funny because she won't listen to anybody. She doesn't listen to anybody in that film. She's constantly going against Yeah. Whatever Charlie Rockwell is saying to her. She's like, don't be ridiculous. Come over here. I mean, she's so she is in her own world too. She's not listening to anybody.

Tony Maietta [00:22:25]:
She doesn't understand what's going on. And, you know, some of the funny inside jokes in this book this this film, as I said, was designed for Hepburn. It was written for Hepburn, and it went over budget and it went over time because Hepburn and Grant who had worked together before by this time and were just perfect partners at this points in their career. They were so perfect together. We're constantly making each other laugh by all the double entendres. Because, first of all, the one I think there's a line where they talk about they're looking, obviously, they're looking for a dinosaur bone, and there's a lot of lines like the bones in the box. In the beginning of the film, they're trying to figure out the place to put one of the bones, and Alice says to Grant or Grant says to Alice, I can't remember which one, did you try it in the tail? And she says, we tried it in the tail last week.

Brad Shreve [00:23:13]:
So there

Tony Maietta [00:23:14]:
are so many double entendres that go right over the audience's head, and this was cracking them up.

Brad Shreve [00:23:18]:
I'm glad you mentioned because that one jumped out at me.

Tony Maietta [00:23:20]:
That's a very funny line. And you're like, did I just hear that? Did they realize what they were saying? And, of course, they realized what they were saying. And, of course, the big one, the elephant in the room, one that's always played whenever you talk about the Sceloy Closet or the history of gay cinema is Cary Grant in the negligee when she first meets May Robeson as Anne Elizabeth, and she wants to know why he's in these clothes, why he's in a negligee, and he's so exasperated. He says, I just went gay all of a sudden, and he jumps in the air. And you're like, did he just say that? Did that did he mean that? And, Bogdanovich said that, you know, although gay was not used was not a common term to mean homosexuals then, he very well could have That's a very well what he could have meant and it could have what the screenwriters meant, and it just went over the censors heads, or he could have meant gay as in deliriously happy.

Brad Shreve [00:24:15]:
And this intrigued me so much. I had to deep dive into it because I've heard the I've heard the the argument that he was referring to gay as homosexual, and I've heard the argument that he was referring, like, a gay in for less evening kinda thing. So I had to find out because I thought, I don't think gay was used then. So I looked. Gay became somewhat calm and not heavily like it is now, but somewhat common in the twenties. But they believe it actually started in the late 1800. And there's 2 movies you see this movie being credited as the first one to use that, and there's actually 2 movies before that. Did you know that?

Tony Maietta [00:24:52]:
I remind me because I'm I'm I

Brad Shreve [00:24:55]:
only know this because I deeped it because this was really intriguing me.

Tony Maietta [00:24:57]:
This is a deep, deep dive Yeah. That use the term gay. Yes. Referring to homosexuals.

Brad Shreve [00:25:03]:
The first one kinda sorta should get the first one. It was cut, but it's called My Weakness. It was in 1933. Mhmm.

Tony Maietta [00:25:11]:
And Pre code, obviously.

Brad Shreve [00:25:13]:
There's 2 men that are after this woman, and she's snubbing them both. And one of them says, let's be gay. Now that was cut out. Mhmm. Then oh my god. I can't I can't think of the other movie. I'll have to look it up while we talk. There's another movie where a decorator is it was about probably 5 years before this one.

Brad Shreve [00:25:33]:
A decorator is showing floral patterns for curtains and a chair to this man. And the man says and the and the decorator is a little flamboyant. And the man says, it strikes me as a bit too gay. Now both of those, you can well, the the let's be gay is kinda hard to interpret otherwise. It strikes me as a bit too gay. I think it'd be read Brad either way, and that's probably why it passed.

Tony Maietta [00:25:59]:
Well, yeah. I think that's the thing. It wasn't common use enough that the it would have flagged the production code. It would have flagged the sensors to say, wait a minute. Are you talking about homosexuality? You know, and and gotten up in arms? I mean, before the code crackdown, there were plenty of depictions of gay characters and films like Call Call Her Savage takes place if there's a scene in a gay bar. And I mean, so there's lots of depictions of it, but I don't know that that term was used before them. But I don't wanna get I don't wanna get in that rabbit hole because then it becomes a whole other podcast.

Brad Shreve [00:26:32]:
Right. Right. Right.

Tony Maietta [00:26:32]:
I'm not but that is something that I mean, it's just another one of these Easter eggs that are in Bringing Up Baby, which to all modern audiences are just so funny because you're just wondering, do they know what they're saying? Is that true? And they did. And they do. And you can see it in Cary Grant's eyes too. He knows what he's doing.

Brad Shreve [00:26:51]:
So I want you to explain to me because you said this movie wasn't a bomb as people claim it as.

Tony Maietta [00:26:57]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [00:26:57]:
But my understanding is Hawkes was fired by the studio right after this, and Kate, they were gonna throw into a bunch of b movies because this movie was did so poorly. Can you state

Tony Maietta [00:27:08]:
those? This was a this was a for Katharine Hepburn, yes. Hawks was let go from RKO after this. It didn't make Tony. So it wasn't I what I meant was it wasn't the colossal, you know, Hepburn and Tracy's first Hepburn and Tracy. It's just rolls off the tongue. Hepburn and Grant's first film was a notorious flop called Sylvia Scarlett, in which throughout talk about gay. Throughout half of the movie, more than half the movie, she masquerades as a boy. That was a huge, huge bomb.

Tony Maietta [00:27:41]:
Today, it is a cult classic. People wanna see this because it was so far ahead of its time, and it's actually a very good mood. So Hepburn had a series of these films that bombed and that didn't bomb that didn't make money. Did she meant she did stage door before she did bringing up baby. It made a very little amount of money, but she was also in a cast of incredible actresses. So it was just like one thing after another with Hepburn. And finally, when this film came out, she got the famous moniker box office poison because her movies just weren't making money. She wasn't clicking anymore with the American public.

Tony Maietta [00:28:15]:
When she came out in 32 in bill of divorcement, she was this exotic creature. No one had ever seen the likes of this girl before. The way she spoke, the way she moved, the way she looked, she was exotic. She was like the American garbo they tried to bill her ass. And that wore off after a couple movies.

Brad Shreve [00:28:31]:
Well and I wanna say this kinda shows how Hollywood works. She had already won her first Oscar before this movie. And so she won an Oscar, and then very quickly, she's poisoned. That's so hard.

Tony Maietta [00:28:43]:
Quickly she very quickly filed a favor, and she lost her footing. So she did right after this movie, almost you know, before Hepburn and Grant went into Holiday, the film Holiday, right after this, Probably before this movie was even released, they started working on Holiday, which was another comedy, but it was a it was a sophisticated comedy. It was a comedy of manners. It was based on a Philip Berry play. It wasn't screwball. So she did holiday, and that's when after holiday, she had a really tough time, and that's when they offered her mother carries chickens. Now the title alone can you imagine Katharine Hepburn in a film called Mother Carries Chickens? That's when she saw the writing on the wall.

Brad Shreve [00:29:23]:
I don't know who starred in that, but I'm scratching my head, and I certainly don't recall ever hearing of that film.

Tony Maietta [00:29:28]:
You've never heard of Mother Carries Chickens?

Brad Shreve [00:29:30]:
No. Has anybody?

Tony Maietta [00:29:33]:
Mother Mother Carrie's Chickens starred Anne Shirley. Do you know who Anne Shirley is? No. No.

Brad Shreve [00:29:40]:
You're gonna tell me I should know. I probably know her by face.

Tony Maietta [00:29:43]:
You don't need to know who Anne Shirley is. So Hepburn was horrified. Hepburn saw the writing on the wall and realized she had to buy herself out of her RKO contract. So she left RKO and had Philip you know, when Philip Berry is a friend of yours and he says, I wanna write a play for you. Okay. And Philip Berry wrote the Philadelphia Tony, and she was off to the races again. So none of them did. Grant and Grant came Grant was not Grant came out of all of this unscathed.

Tony Maietta [00:30:12]:
He came out of Sylvia Scarlett unscathed. Unscathed. In fact, he was ahead of the game after Sylvia Scarlett. Sylvia Scarlett gave him an idea of what kind of actor he was. He George Cukor said he felt the ground under his feet after because before so before Sylvia Scarlett, he just been kind of like a run of the mill, gorgeous, leading man, but who had no discernible personality. And Sylvia Scarlett gave him a personality and suddenly, you know, what happens when you feel the ground under your feet? You're standing up straight. You know who you are. You're owning your space.

Tony Maietta [00:30:42]:
So he actually came out ahead. So the the the myths about bringing a baby being a a huge stinker or flop, just not true. It didn't make money the first time, but it wasn't this colossal bomb.

Brad Shreve [00:30:54]:
Now Kate did buy her contract out, so she wouldn't star in the 30, what, $35100 movie? Whatever it is.

Tony Maietta [00:31:01]:
$3,000 budget.

Brad Shreve [00:31:03]:
$3,000 budget.

Tony Maietta [00:31:04]:
I'm sorry. 3 thou $300,000 budget.

Brad Shreve [00:31:08]:
The number that I heard that she paid the studio is astronomical considering it's 1938. I heard $220,000.

Tony Maietta [00:31:16]:
Oh, I believe it, but she had the resources. She had some rich friends. One of them named Howard Hughes. Yeah. We're buying. So she, she was always buying she this was the first time she bought herself out of the con out of contract. She bought herself out of a contract with Jed Harris when she was in a play called The Lake, but I don't wanna go into a Katharine Hepburn, you know, rabbit hole. But she also arranged smart woman.

Tony Maietta [00:31:39]:
She also arranged to own the rights to the Philadelphia story. Either had Howard Hughes either bought them for her and gave them to her or he worked with her on it, but she when it came time, the Philadelphia story was a huge hit on Broadway. So when it came time to make the film version of the Philadelphia story, guess who owns the rights? Katharine Hepburn does. So these studios have got to deal with Katharine Hepburn. And, of course, this was all this she she planned all this because she knew no studio was going to allow her they would put another star in the Philadelphia store, so she had to own it in order to make her comeback. And who did she want in the Philadelphia story? Well, she actually wanted it she wanted Spencer Tracy

Brad Shreve [00:32:24]:
Of course.

Tony Maietta [00:32:24]:
And Clark and Clark Gable to be in it. They she wasn't gonna get so much Tracy Clark Gable, but who did she get? She said, Jimmy Stewart because he went he was under contract to MGM. MGM had bought it. And anybody else you want for the second part. And, of course, who did she pick to be her costar? Cary Grant. So this is this is just how how much these two meant to each other and how important they were to each other's careers at this time.

Brad Shreve [00:32:49]:
Before we transfer over to What's Up Doc, I wanna talk about 2 scenes really quickly.

Tony Maietta [00:32:54]:
Okay.

Brad Shreve [00:32:55]:
1 just really blew my mind, and that is the scene inside the country club. Oh, fuck. Past the censors. The back of her dress Yes. Gets ripped off, and she's wearing tights, but you can pretty much see her ass. And Shreve immediately threw puts his top hat, which was a very nice top hat Mhmm. To cover her butt. Mhmm.

Brad Shreve [00:33:17]:
And he then follows her around directly behind her very, yeah, very, very close to her so that people didn't don't see it.

Tony Maietta [00:33:26]:
That's a wonderful scene.

Brad Shreve [00:33:28]:
I'm just are you not amazed they got away with that?

Tony Maietta [00:33:30]:
Well, I'm amazed that they could do it. First of all, that was a that was a old vaudeville bit that he from his days as in vaudeville as an acrobat. This is what's amazing about Carrie Gray and Katharine Hepburn. You know, she was he was an acrobat. He had such incredible control over his body, and he was constantly coming up with little bits that he had done in vaudeville, and he incorporated them into his films. So that's such a wonderful thing. They are literally pressed up, you know, get behind me. We'll get get closer.

Tony Maietta [00:33:56]:
He's like, I can't get any closer. And they walk out in lock step, and it's such a it's such a wonderful scene. I love that. I don't find anything necessarily salacious about it. I think it's hysterically funny and a brilliant bit, but I don't find anything necessarily salacious about that.

Brad Shreve [00:34:13]:
Oh, I certainly don't, but I would have thought at that time, they would.

Tony Maietta [00:34:18]:
Well, no. Because it's a because it's an old vaudeville bit.

Brad Shreve [00:34:21]:
Okay. So that's how they got away with it.

Tony Maietta [00:34:23]:
She's so charming. Oh, she's so charming. I fall in love with her every time.

Brad Shreve [00:34:27]:
Well, that scene is great, but I wanna tell you what my favorite scene is. Mhmm. It's the one with Charles Ruggles as major Horace Applegate. And he is the neighbor, and it's not really said, but it's kind of alluded to. There's kind of a love interest between him and,

Tony Maietta [00:34:44]:
Nate Ropes and aunt Elizabeth.

Brad Shreve [00:34:46]:
Yeah. You kinda get get the hint that they kinda have a thing for each other when they're all having dinner. So he's there. The aunt's there. Katharine Hepburn's character, I can't remember her name, and Cary Grant are there.

Tony Maietta [00:35:00]:
Susan Vance and David.

Brad Shreve [00:35:01]:
Quickly, they have a dog who reminds me very much of Eddie on Fraser, who he he takes the dinosaur bone that Grant has been waiting for, and he buries it somewhere in the yard. So they're following the dog to try and find where this bone where he buried this bone.

Tony Maietta [00:35:19]:
Hey, George. George. George. George.

Brad Shreve [00:35:22]:
Yes. That goes on for a very long time.

Tony Maietta [00:35:24]:
Good, George. Good, George. Yeah.

Brad Shreve [00:35:26]:
They finally get pulled into the house to have dinner with the major and the ant. Right. But every time the dog walks by, Cary Grant just stands up and just wanders off, and they're all like, this guy is insane. And he just keeps doing that, and it's just a hysterical And

Tony Maietta [00:35:45]:
what what is his what is

Brad Shreve [00:35:46]:
out loud.

Tony Maietta [00:35:47]:
What is his pretend name? Do you remember that? In that

Brad Shreve [00:35:50]:
Doctor Bones.

Tony Maietta [00:35:51]:
Yes. Yes. It's so funny. It's so funny. Major Applegate. Just Charlie Charlie Ruggles is so insufferable. He's the one he's, you know, he plays the know it all. He knows everything.

Tony Maietta [00:36:01]:
And

Brad Shreve [00:36:01]:
Oh, god. Yes.

Tony Maietta [00:36:02]:
Baby the leopard, of course, is crying and he's like, that's a loon. Hepburn and his crew are like, that's baby. That's the leopard. Because they're trying to keep the leopard away from aunt Elizabeth. They don't want aunt Elizabeth to know there's a leopard in the barn. And, as it turns out, of course, it's actually aunt Elizabeth's leopard, which it's just oh my god. I love when they all come together in the prison. And it's just one comic bit of brilliance after another.

Tony Maietta [00:36:30]:
It's so cheap.

Brad Shreve [00:36:31]:
A Yeah. The the prison is just awesome because you get all almost all the the crazies in one small place.

Tony Maietta [00:36:39]:
Yes. In Walter Catlett.

Brad Shreve [00:36:42]:
First of all, they're locked up, and then they're hiding from the leopard. It's leopard. Right? Yeah. It's a leopard.

Tony Maietta [00:36:48]:
Yeah. There's 2 leopards.

Brad Shreve [00:36:49]:
Yeah. Well, actually, it was played by one leopard is what I'm told.

Tony Maietta [00:36:51]:
I think that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Two characters. Yes. Nisi was the leopard's name.

Brad Shreve [00:36:56]:
1 of the 1 of the leopards is tame, and that's the one and then, of course, and, of course, then a wild leopard, because we have to have this, gets loose, and they keep mistaking him for the tame one. So It's comedy ensues.

Tony Maietta [00:37:12]:
Comedy definitely ensues. Insanity ensues. And what a wonderful and it's just, it's just such a wonderful it's a 102 minutes of heaven, as far as I'm concerned.

Brad Shreve [00:37:26]:
Shall we go to What's Up Doc?

Tony Maietta [00:37:27]:
Now the which leads us to What's Up Doc? Isn't that interesting? Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. So

Brad Shreve [00:37:32]:
What's Up Doc came out in 1972, and the star of the film is the city of San Francisco and the beautiful Hotel San Francisco, which they call the Hotel Bristol. That is the star of the film. The Hilton Was that the the Hilton action. Oh, the Hilton. Yes. You were correct.

Tony Maietta [00:37:47]:
It's the Hilton. Yes.

Brad Shreve [00:37:48]:
And then there's 2 other kinda costars. There's Barbara Streisand, and you may have heard of her. She's Judy Maxwell and Ryan O'Neil as Howard Bannister as in sliding down the. But he's also known as Steve because Judy keeps calling him Steve for whatever reason, which is part of I

Tony Maietta [00:38:08]:
know why. I'll tell you what.

Brad Shreve [00:38:09]:
Which is part of the whole Yeah. Fun in the in the in the film. So the story is it's very simple. There are 4 overnight plaid bags. 1 has Judy's clothes in it. 1 has Howard Bannister's igneous rocks. Now we'll get to why he's carrying igneous rocks. The rocks are replacing the bones in the first movie.

Brad Shreve [00:38:34]:
Then we have Jules, Mabel Albertson, who she was incredible. She you probably know her as playing Phyllis Stevens, Darren Stevens' mother. I think that's what most people know her as.

Tony Maietta [00:38:46]:
Yes. So Frank, I have a sick headache.

Brad Shreve [00:38:47]:
Yeah. Frank, I have a sick headache. This picture her in a was it a tiger? What was that outfit she wore? Leopard print. Leopard print

Tony Maietta [00:38:58]:
It's a hallmark. It's a it's a yell back to bring a baby.

Brad Shreve [00:39:01]:
Yes. A leopard print dress, high boots, and leopard print shorts.

Tony Maietta [00:39:07]:
Go go pants.

Brad Shreve [00:39:08]:
She yeah. She looks fabulous. Well, she has a bag of jewels because she's very wealthy. And then the other one is top secret documents, and there's an activist who has those and then a government agent who's trying to get them back. And, of course, their names are Smith and Jones, which which is great. What I think is hysterical because it's so obvious, if the activist stole the documents, why would the government agent have to chase him around for it? They would've arrested the guy, but then you wouldn't have the hysterical. It's just hysterical. The, the agent, Jones is with his golf clubs.

Brad Shreve [00:39:46]:
We'll get to that. It's just great. So that actually is really the story. Barbara well, Judy Maxwell's clothes is the only bag that nobody is interested in. Well, actually, Howard's. Nobody's really after Howard's, but people were after the jewels, and people were after the top secret documents. And all these bags are getting switched around, so everybody has the wrong bag. And that is really what happens, and a huge portion of this film takes place in one hallway.

Tony Maietta [00:40:17]:
Yeah. That brilliant hallway. That garish, brilliant hallway.

Brad Shreve [00:40:19]:
Well, the garish, brilliant hallway, which was a set, matches the garish actual real, lobby

Tony Maietta [00:40:26]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [00:40:27]:
Of the Hilton.

Tony Maietta [00:40:28]:
And, my god, you look at that,

Brad Shreve [00:40:29]:
and you're like, oh, thank god. The sixties is over or the early

Tony Maietta [00:40:33]:
summer. Yes. It's all about 4 plaid suitcases. You know, it's interesting. Originally, there were only 3 suitcases. Did you know that? No. The original script was written by David Newman and Robert Benton who wrote Bonnie and Clyde. Only had 3 suitcases, and then Buck Henry came in because the script needed some major doctoring, and he added the 4th.

Tony Maietta [00:40:52]:
And the reason he added the 4th was the one with the top secret papers because the Pentagon Papers were everywhere at this time. So the 4th actually represents the Pentagon Papers. But anyway, so circling back on some of the things you said, yes. Mabel Albertson, missus Stevens, you know, it's just so wonderful. Somebody said, you know, how can they say that What's Up Doc is based on bringing a baby? There's no leopard. And I'm like, no. There's not a leopard, but there's a cougar and it's missus Van Hoskins.

Brad Shreve [00:41:18]:
Oh, yeah. She she has her young men.

Tony Maietta [00:41:20]:
She has her young men, and she is hysterically funny. She's hysterically funny. You know, there's so much about there's there's so many things to say about this movie that I adore so much, and I know that you do too. You know, it's funny because it all kinda started with Elliot Gould. Alright? Now would you did you would you think that What's Up Doc started with Barbara Streisand's ex husband, but it did. Because Elliott Gould was working on this film called A Glimpse of Tiger, and he basically had a breakdown. He was a big star at this time. M*A*S*H had come out, Bob and Carol, Ted and Alice.

Tony Maietta [00:41:51]:
They had just gotten divorced, and he had a breakdown. And so Warner Brothers, as you do, the head of Warner Brothers contacted Barbara, his ex wife, and says, do you wanna take over this film? I guess, I don't know why. But, anyway, so Barbara was to take over this film called A Glimpse of Tiger, but she was also dating Ryan O'Neil at this at this point because she was just divorced from Elliot Gould. So she bought she wanted to be sure that there was a part for Ryan O'Neil in it. Now at about this time, there was a film that had just finished production and was making the, quote, unquote, Bel Air Bel Air circuit. It was making, quote, unquote, the Bel Air circuit, which is basically the homes, the screening the screening rooms of all the big wigs in Hollywood. And it was a movie called The Last Picture Show, and it had a tremendous buzz. And it was directed by this young, Orson Wellian type director, this wunderkind, young boy wonder named Peter Bogdanovich.

Tony Maietta [00:42:50]:
And what happened was the head of Warner Brothers production, John Calley, screened the last picture show for Barbara, and Barbara saw it and turned to John Kelly and said, I want him to direct A Glimpse of Tiger. That's how that happened. Bogdanovich, thrilled, wanted to work with Streisand, but he didn't wanna work with her in this drama. He wanted to work with her in a comedy, a screwball comedy, like the kind that he grew up loving as a kid. And because in his mind, she has she was kind of like the closest thing around to a Hepburn, Carole Lombard screwball comedy heroine. So Barbara wanted to work with Peter Bogdanovich, and she agreed to do this screwball comedy, which became what's up top, which is a really long way of going into the weeds, but you got a film, mister Rainer, so you're gonna get the background, And I find that background fascinating. Do you?

Brad Shreve [00:43:48]:
Yes. I do. I didn't know all of that. I kinda heard about the LA Ghul thing. I forgot that she and Ryan were dating. Yeah. Now I see how he got the movie. And let me speak to Ryan on in this role because you mentioned that he was trying to be Cary Grant, And I read an old, review by Roger Roger Ebert Mhmm.

Brad Shreve [00:44:06]:
And he said, Ryan O'Neil is no Cary Grant. And as you told me before, even Cary Grant said he's not Cary Grant. So first of all, that's unfair.

Tony Maietta [00:44:14]:
Said Cary Grant said Cary Grant wasn't Cary Grant, not that Cary Grant Ryan O'Neil wasn't

Brad Shreve [00:44:19]:
Carrie Grant. Yeah. Well, actually, Roger Ebert, though, said Ryan

Tony Maietta [00:44:22]:
O'Neal is Ryan O'Neal wasn't.

Brad Shreve [00:44:23]:
Right. But I see this as very different. Carrie Grant's character in Bringing Up Baby was crazy. Ryan O'Neil has a lot of funny lines, but because he's so stuffy. He is the really the straight man in this movie. Mhmm. So I don't see I see the characters as so different

Tony Maietta [00:44:41]:
that I

Brad Shreve [00:44:42]:
don't think there can be a Karen. I think Ryan O'Neil did brilliant. I think it was perfect and looked delicious, but that's a whole different story.

Tony Maietta [00:44:48]:
Well, he's a he's a strangely buff musicologist. I mean Yeah. Send me to Ames, Iowa if that's who I'm gonna be because wow. I mean, Ryan O'Neil. They're both if you notice, he's also a very strangely tanned musicologist. He both

Brad Shreve [00:45:02]:
he and Streisand. From Iowa?

Tony Maietta [00:45:04]:
Oh, yeah. From Iowa. I mean, they're just gorgeous, gorgeous people in this. I think Streisand is at her at her most sexy.

Brad Shreve [00:45:10]:
I don't think she's gorgeous.

Tony Maietta [00:45:12]:
Ever been more appealing. And that was a thing too. That was what a lot of the reviewers responded to, was that this was this was Streisand's light. You know? This was this was a Streisand who was tailored for the masses and clearly worked because of the film was a huge hit. But now going back to the Ryan O'Neil thing, Ryan O'Neil had never done a comedy before. Love Tony had come out in 1970 and, you know, was the movie to end all movies. So Ryan O'Neil was a humongous star, but he had never done a comedy, and he didn't really know how. So he did, Peter Bogdanovich in kind of modeling him on Cary Grant in bringing a baby, which was also modeled on Harold Lloyd.

Tony Maietta [00:45:55]:
So he kind of he was trying to give Ryan O'Neil something to play, but even then, Ryan O'Neil couldn't necessarily get it. So what Ryan O'Neil was essentially doing was playing Peter Bogdanovich. Peter Bogdanovich would place Ryan O'Neil, you know, would give him the line readings, would give him would position him. In fact, it's very funny. Bogdanovich got so used to giving Ryan O'Neil attitudes and Ryan O'Neil line readings that he absentmindedly and maybe for expedience's sake, gave one to Streisand. And she stopped filming, and she turned to him and she said, are you giving me a line reading? And he never did that again.

Brad Shreve [00:46:43]:
Because, you know,

Tony Maietta [00:46:44]:
I'm good at Barbara Streisand online reading. So I see what you're saying. I find him he works, though. He's he's he's incredibly, as she is, incredibly appealing in this film.

Brad Shreve [00:46:55]:
I think they both are. I I love them both. And I and I mentioned the igneous rocks and because Tony just mentioned that he's a musicologist. The story of the igneous rocks is they are there for this music convention, and they he and Kenneth Mars, who's fabulous in his role as as Hugh I can't remember Hugh's last name.

Tony Maietta [00:47:17]:
Hugh Simon.

Brad Shreve [00:47:18]:
Hugh Simon. Oh, he's just

Tony Maietta [00:47:19]:
Hugh Simon. I am Hugh, I am Hugh. You are me. I am you. Stop saying that.

Brad Shreve [00:47:22]:
You've never loved to hate a character more. He's he's brilliant. He those 2 are up against trying to get this money to do further investigation on their theories.

Tony Maietta [00:47:32]:
Yes. A $1,000,000 grant.

Brad Shreve [00:47:33]:
A million no. Actually, it's only $20,000.

Tony Maietta [00:47:36]:
I'm sorry. $20,000 grant. 20 it's a 1,000,000 in bringing a baby.

Brad Shreve [00:47:39]:
Yeah. That's what really blew my mind. It's a million in bringing a baby, and then, 40 years later, it's $20,000. $20,000. So what Howard Bannister's trying to prove is, it just makes no sense. He has this tuning fork, and he keeps banging on rocks because he wants to prove that early man used certain rocks for music, which I I don't know how you could prove that, but it's just absurd. So that is why they are in San Francisco.

Tony Maietta [00:48:11]:
Well yeah. And here's the interesting thing too, some some more factoids behind the scenes, is the original setting in in in Newman and Benton's original script, the setting was not San Francisco. The setting was Chicago. And I don't wanna go too deeply into the weeds of Peter Bogdanovich and Polly Platt, his estranged wife, but Polly Platt was the production designer. And Polly Platt was someone that Bogdanovich, even though they were separated because he had had an affair with Cybill Shepherd on The Last Picture Show. He treasured he valued Polly Platt. And Polly Platt is the one who said, Chicago is too close to New York. You really need a fish out of water location for Barbara.

Tony Maietta [00:48:53]:
And she's the one who flew to San Francisco and stayed in the Hilton, by the way, and realized that this this movie that Peter Bogdanovich envisioned as a living cartoon was perfectly set in San Francisco because San Francisco was kind of like an otherworldly place. And San Francisco hadn't been overdone in movies the way New York had been overdone. There were some movies that were set in San Francisco, but it wasn't the audiences weren't saturated with San Francisco. So it was still kind of like a strange kind of Netherland. So, you know, with the hills Still in. Yes. It is. The hills and, you know, Lombard Street with the terns and everything, it was just a fantastic place.

Tony Maietta [00:49:32]:
It was like Oz in many ways. So she's actually she was instrumental in getting the film's location changed to San Francisco. She was also instrumental in in many other things in the film. She was instrumental in putting the trench coat, which I love, putting the trench coat on Barbra Streisand, because that was Pauley Platt's trench coat. Oh. And I love Streisand and that trench coat. It's such a it's such a great it's an iconic image. So she was she was instrumental in that.

Tony Maietta [00:50:00]:
But I think that she was also instrumental in the Hilton. She stayed she went to the Hilton. She was like, this place is outrageous in its decor. So that's why they set the film in the Hilton Hotel It worked. In San Francisco.

Brad Shreve [00:50:13]:
Now it's hard for me to imagine what it would have looked like in Chicago. It may have worked, but watching this film, it's just so hard to imagine because they have every San Francisco cliche there ever was. All the hills, you know, running up and down the hills or driving up and down the hills. They of course, in San Francisco, they have Chinese New Year every day, so, of course, there has to be a Chinese dragon, which do you know what the music they're playing while the Chinese dragon they're having this Chinese festival?

Tony Maietta [00:50:42]:
What's the music?

Brad Shreve [00:50:43]:
They are playing La Cucaracha.

Tony Maietta [00:50:45]:
That's right. They are.

Brad Shreve [00:50:48]:
I'm like it it took me I don't know how long before I one day, I'm like, wait a minute. That's the Kookaracha. Kookaracha.

Tony Maietta [00:50:55]:
There's not much to see, actually. We're inside a Chinese dragon.

Brad Shreve [00:50:58]:
Yeah. So and on top of that, they drive down Lombard Street, of course, the winding they do all the San Francisco cliches. I don't know if they're the first, but it it's that is why I said the city San Francisco is the star of this.

Tony Maietta [00:51:11]:
It is the star of it. It is the star of it. And that chase scene okay. Here's the idea. The budget of What's Up, Doc, was $4,000,000. A quarter of that was spent on the chase scene. The chase scene near the end of the movie, not at the very end of the movie, near the end of the movie. And, yes, that was definitely developed after they changed the locale from Chicago to San Francisco because they wanted to take advantage of the incredible talk topography of this wonderland that they were in, this this kind of otherworldly place.

Tony Maietta [00:51:41]:
A couple of things about the chase scene, which I find amazing, of course, besides the fact that it's hysterically funny and inventive, is that they this was back when you could do this, I guess. They didn't have permits to film in some locations.

Brad Shreve [00:51:54]:
Oh my lord.

Tony Maietta [00:51:55]:
There's a scene in the chase scene where the cars I mean, they're going all over the place. The cars come down the steps at Alta Plaza Park, which is a park in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. And you can clearly see the damage these cars are are doing to these steps. And the city of San Francisco didn't know they were gonna do this. And the city is

Brad Shreve [00:52:16]:
wondered about that because I'm

Tony Maietta [00:52:17]:
like, you're

Brad Shreve [00:52:17]:
gonna have to fix those steps.

Tony Maietta [00:52:19]:
They didn't. They you can go today, to this day, and every time I go to San Francisco well, not every time. I'm not that much of a Shreve, but almost every time I go to San Francisco. I will go to Alta Plaza Park, and you can see the cracks in the steps. They fixed some of them, of course, but you can still see the damage they did to those steps. So, I mean, that's just that's insane to me. The whole chase scene is insane. Insanely funny.

Brad Shreve [00:52:45]:
I haven't been to San Francisco in ages, and now you make me wanna go there just to that No. I have pictures of out of

Tony Maietta [00:52:51]:
the park.

Brad Shreve [00:52:52]:
Every time I watch that scene, I'm like, they just damage those steps. And Yeah. Last night, the last time I just watched it for the show, I was not gonna watch it. And we're gonna tell you, there's a very important reason I did because I Brad a huge discovery. But the last time I just recently watched it

Tony Maietta [00:53:08]:
I would think you'd watch it for this podcast we're doing right now.

Brad Shreve [00:53:11]:
You don't know how many times I've watched this movie. No. I know. Just watched this just recently. So I didn't think I had to. And then I'm like, I probably should because maybe I forgot some stuff. I didn't forget anything, but I did have a moment. So, anyway, every time I watch that, I'm like, it must be a set.

Brad Shreve [00:53:30]:
They wouldn't let them do that to that sidewalk.

Tony Maietta [00:53:32]:
To to to Alta Plaza Resort.

Brad Shreve [00:53:34]:
Scares. Yeah.

Tony Maietta [00:53:35]:
Yeah. Well, I I was watching with my friend and he said on Lombard Street, he said, is is that a I said, I'm like, no. It's Lombard Street. That's real. They're actually driving that way down Lombard Street. I don't think you could do that today. I I just I mean, obviously, San Francisco learned its lesson after what's up doc almost decimated the city with this change. But it's it's it's it's it's such an incredible set piece and the the things that happened and the Chinese, you know, we're inside a Chinese dragon.

Tony Maietta [00:54:03]:
And they, you know, they get in the car and they go into the ocean and they're fished out of the ocean. One thing we haven't mentioned, and it's funny that we're this far into what's up doc and we haven't mentioned this, is the brilliant genius of Madeline Kahn. Can we just have a moment of silence for the brilliant genius, the comedic insanity of Madeline Kahn.

Brad Shreve [00:54:23]:
You don't have to ask me twice.

Tony Maietta [00:54:26]:
And this was Madeleine Cahn's film debut, in case anybody doesn't know that. This was her first film.

Brad Shreve [00:54:33]:
She is amazing. I I think some people would argue that she is a star. She had more scenes, but, actually, she's better as a secondary character because she she's perfect.

Tony Maietta [00:54:43]:
Yes.

Brad Shreve [00:54:43]:
If she was I would

Tony Maietta [00:54:43]:
agree with that.

Brad Shreve [00:54:44]:
Star, it'd be a little over

Tony Maietta [00:54:45]:
the it'd be a little

Brad Shreve [00:54:46]:
too much. She is beautiful.

Tony Maietta [00:54:48]:
This film is so as Bringing a Baby is, it is chock full of brilliant character, comedic comedic character actors that just ratchet up the insanity level. We mentioned Kenneth Mars playing Hugh Simon, who's actually named after a terrible a critic named John Simon that Bogdanovich had problems with. So that's Bogdanovich's revenge is naming this this idiot character after you. Of course, Mabel Albertson playing missus Van Hoskins. Thoreau Booke, the guy who plays Franz. There's just there's so many there are so many brilliant, brilliant characters in this film that feed off of each other. Austin Pendleton.

Brad Shreve [00:55:28]:
Oh, he was great.

Tony Maietta [00:55:29]:
I I mean, these wonderful these wonderful people. I I I recently read that Mel Brooks was putting together his quote, unquote, repertory company at about the same time that What's Up Doc came out. And you can see half these people who are in this film, Liam

Brad Shreve [00:55:48]:
Liam Dunne.

Tony Maietta [00:55:49]:
Liam Dunne. Yeah. I know. I was I was Oh, good.

Brad Shreve [00:55:51]:
I'll let you finish.

Tony Maietta [00:55:52]:
Okay. Liam Dunne, who plays the judge, was a casting director, and Bogdanovich knew him and made and he had an entire career in Mel Brooks films. Liam Liam Dunn, Kenneth Mars, and, Austin. I mean, the all these people ended up in Mel Brooks films and Madeline Kahn, obviously, because they were so genius. But Madeline Kahn truly sets the bar for comedic brilliance. Don't you think so?

Brad Shreve [00:56:20]:
Oh, yeah. I mean, she, yeah, she's brilliant. Her timing is perfect. She her her lines are perfect the way she she is Eunice Burns. Mhmm. She is Eunice Burns. She's played so many great characters, but in this movie, that she's all I think about.

Tony Maietta [00:56:40]:
Yeah. Well, I mean, she's a she almost yeah. I almost I heard what you were saying and I know where you're going. She almost steals the picture. Yeah. She almost does, which is which is a pretty amazing thing considering your star is Barbra Streisand. I mean, she and, you know, there's been a lot of talk. One of the things one of the legends about this movie I don't know if it's a legend, so legend to me is that Streisand wasn't crazy about What's Up, Doc.

Tony Maietta [00:57:03]:
She didn't think it was funny. She kept telling Peter Bogdanovich during the filming, Peter, I know funny. This isn't funny. And I think it's because she wasn't the funniest. I mean, this is the first time really since her Broadway debut, and I can get it for you wholesale, that she was part of an ensemble. She wasn't the main show. So she's sharing the screen with this, you know, collection of oddballs who are just scene stealers by nature, and she was probably feeling like, am I funny enough? Am I funny enough? Well, she is. She's the spark plug that holds this whole thing together.

Tony Maietta [00:57:38]:
And Madeline Kahn is just just the the brilliant brilliant comet that comes out, and you just you adore her. You adore her. We lost someone else who died too young. You know, she died

Brad Shreve [00:57:51]:
Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Tony Maietta [00:57:52]:
Much too young. You know, when you said that that, you know, Madeline Kahn is Eunice Burns, yes. She makes Eunice Burns her own, but Madeline Kahn had some issues because Madeline Kahn was a beautiful woman. All you gotta do is watch Blazing Saddles.

Brad Shreve [00:58:04]:
Oh, yes.

Tony Maietta [00:58:05]:
She does Shreve on Stupp. You know? She's a curvaceous, buxom, beautiful girl, operatic voice. You know, she she studied opera. She was on Brad. So she kind of felt a little she didn't have the greatest feelings about Eunice Eunice Burns and what it did to her persona. I mean, she kinda dealt with that the rest of her life, so she always tried to go away from that as as you can see in other films that she did, like Paper Moon where she plays this buxom kind of this vixen and in, Blazing Saddles.

Brad Shreve [00:58:36]:
And I'm sorry to hear that because I I thought she was brilliant in this film, and then Blazing Saddles is a totally different character, and you believed her there too. Yeah. She was that character as well.

Tony Maietta [00:58:46]:
And She's a brilliant, brilliant performer.

Brad Shreve [00:58:48]:
Talking about the cast, I gotta say I'm not gonna say this is the best movie ever, but I think it was a Perfect. I this movie is perfect. It's perfect. There is not a single person that wasn't casted just right. There is not a single scene in this film that I would take out. There is not a single line in this film that I would take out. It's it's nonstop nonstop. They did a brilliant job of only making it 90 minutes long.

Tony Maietta [00:59:17]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [00:59:17]:
So there's not any there's not a dull moment. The only time you get to take a breath is at the end when everybody's when they're kinda they've tied up the loose ends and and everybody's going their own way. Yeah. That's the only time you really take a breath, and even that's funny.

Tony Maietta [00:59:35]:
From the get go, it it just goes, and you have to keep up with it. With the back to the bring a baby illusion, I wanted to mention this at the top when you talked about their names. So another reason why this people think that this is a remake of Bringing Up Baby is because of the characters' names. Howard Bannister is named after Howard Hawks, who was the director of Bringing a Baby. Total homage to Howard Hawks, and the reason she calls him Steve is because Steve was Howard Hawks' wife's nickname for him. Howard Hawks' wife at this time, at the time that of bringing a baby, was none other than Slim. Her name was Slim Keith. She was one of Truman Capote Swans.

Tony Maietta [01:00:18]:
If you just watched Swans feud, you know who Slim Hawkes is. So that was her nickname for him was was Shreve. And also and Howard Hawks took that also and put it in to have and have not. Lauren Bacall calls Humphrey Bogart's character Shreve in to have and have not even though his name is Harry. So that's where that comes from, the whole Steve Howard thing. Barbara Streisand's character's name is Judy as a tribute to Cary Grant because impersonators always do Judy Judy Judy even though Cary Grant never said that in any film. He never went duty duty duty. He had just the one duty.

Tony Maietta [01:00:55]:
So that was an homage to Cary Grant. So that's also another reason why the people, I think, feel that this film is that based on Bring It Baby. But there's a bunch of films that this that what's up doc calls out. As I said, it calls out the Lady Shreve. It calls out the awful truth in the in the courtroom scene. A whole bunch of silent films including 7 Chances, the Buster Keaton film, that scene where the garbage cans are rolling down the hill,

Brad Shreve [01:01:21]:
and the guy

Tony Maietta [01:01:22]:
starts to run and he jumps. That's out of a Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton is it was rocks in the Buster Keaton film called 7 chances. As I just said, to have and have not, came mutiny. I mean, there's just so many references. What what Bogdanovich was doing was harking back to all these classic films to make this modern screwball comedy.

Brad Shreve [01:01:42]:
Well, I wanna talk about 2 things for sure. 1, I wanna talk about the revelation I had this last time I I watched it. And now we get a little bit into the dialogue because I it's part of the it's perfection. It is. The the revelation I had is I've always wondered why is this movie called what's up doc? She says it when when Howard Bannister meets Judy for the first time, she says what's up doc. I think she even bites into a carrot, don't she? Yes. She does. She bites in a carrot.

Brad Shreve [01:02:09]:
She said, what's up, doc? And then at the end of the movie, in the plane, we see bugs and and Elmer doing the the WhatsApp doc dance routine. It's so famous. And I thought, why else? Watching it, it really became obvious to me. Barbara Streisand is bugs. Yeah. And Howard is Elmer. Because Elmer was a straight man, but was a bit goofy.

Tony Maietta [01:02:34]:
I love that connection, Brad.

Brad Shreve [01:02:36]:
And I

Tony Maietta [01:02:36]:
didn't make that connection.

Brad Shreve [01:02:37]:
I didn't make that connection until I heard but but Bogdanovich. I know I just

Tony Maietta [01:02:42]:
spoke to him.

Brad Shreve [01:02:44]:
When I heard that because I always heard it was bringing a baby. I only recently learned that he said this is gonna be a cartoon.

Tony Maietta [01:02:50]:
Yeah. A living corpse.

Brad Shreve [01:02:51]:
I read that, I thought it through, and I'm like, uh-huh.

Tony Maietta [01:02:54]:
Plus, they're

Brad Shreve [01:02:55]:
in Warner Brothers. I don't know if I'm right, but that is my theory because it works for me.

Tony Maietta [01:02:58]:
No. You're you are partially right. Plus the film was made at Warner Brothers. Who owned Warner Brothers? I mean, I mean, not who owned Warner Brothers. The film was made at Warner Brothers. Who did Bugs Bunny? Bugs Bunny was Warner Brothers. I mean, that was part of the studio. So, actually, it was Polly Platt once again who said, if you're going to make a living cartoon and we're at Warner Brothers, why don't you call it what's up doc? Because we can do that.

Tony Maietta [01:03:24]:
We're at Warner Brothers. And the reason he bookends it with Porky Pig at the end going, that's all folks, is because he was he was driving home a point of this is a living cartoon. These people are cartoons. And But I love that. I love that analogy you made.

Brad Shreve [01:03:37]:
That's great analogy. Very well. And also I I wanted to just touch on the dialogue as part of where I think this show is perfection. There's 2 movies that I think just are amazing when it comes to great lines that you can quote. Steel Magnolias and Birdcage. There's probably others, but those are the 2 I can quote virtually every line from both of those films. And I always thought Wes Up Doc would be the same, but it's not. There's a couple lines that are can stand alone, like, don't shoot me.

Brad Shreve [01:04:07]:
I'm part Italian.

Tony Maietta [01:04:08]:
You don't even have you

Brad Shreve [01:04:09]:
don't need a frame of reference to understand that. And snakes, as you know, live in mortal fear of tile. Now that Yes. That just sounds absurd just hearing it, but most what I realized is as I'm looking through the dialogue, most of these are not funny if they stand alone.

Tony Maietta [01:04:25]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [01:04:25]:
They have to have the frame of reference, and we need the frame

Tony Maietta [01:04:28]:
of reference.

Brad Shreve [01:04:28]:
And the characters. Yes. But when you get when you get those, it is brilliant. So the dialogue it's the the back and forth is what makes it like, oh, one of my, like, my favorite scene. Who is that dangerously unbalanced woman? If you watch that scene, what what I just said isn't funny. But if you watch that scene, it's hysterical.

Tony Maietta [01:04:50]:
No. I agree with you, and it's the actor's inflections. Every single line Madeleine Cahn just to say all she has to say is Howard, and you're in hysterics.

Brad Shreve [01:04:58]:
Yes.

Tony Maietta [01:04:59]:
Because of the way she says that I am the unit I am not a Eunice Burns. I am the Eunice Burns. I don't have a badge for Eunice Burns. I agree with you on some levels, but there are some for me personally, this is a this was a big movie when I was in college. We would constantly quote I think I we talked about this. We would constantly quote high anxiety and what's up, doc? And we would quote the lines like why those are Howard's, what on earth are you doing with Howard Bannister's rocks? Now the reason that's so funny is because of the way Madeline Kahn says it. Right. I also like, I am you.

Tony Maietta [01:05:28]:
You are me? No. I am you. Stop saying that. Make him stop saying so it is. It's the it's the way. It's the context. Yeah. And it's the characters the the the characters who are saying them are just so perfect.

Brad Shreve [01:05:41]:
So listener I

Tony Maietta [01:05:42]:
mean, Hugh Simon. Oh, god. I love that character.

Brad Shreve [01:05:45]:
So listener, if I say you're upside down, it's not funny. It is very funny in this movie. You know?

Tony Maietta [01:05:53]:
Yes. There's it's definitely a character driven yes. Absolutely. I I would agree with you. The the lines are best said out of the mouths of these insane characters created by these brilliant, brilliant comic actors.

Brad Shreve [01:06:08]:
And Austin Pendleton, where at towards the end of the film when he's having this event at his home, very beautiful San Francisco home, and there's a large number of people there. It's a it's a function, and a gunfight starts. And his his brilliant line is, this is inexcusable. You can't come in here uninvited.

Tony Maietta [01:06:30]:
And you notice that the the butler at the door who just opens the door and lets them out and then put closes and folds his hands again just like the waiter when the hotel was on fire?

Brad Shreve [01:06:39]:
The waiter in the room is hysterical. He the waiter comes in. He's the room service waiter, and he's setting up the little table nice and fancy. And it's pure chaos all over the room. Things are burning down. People are crashing the windows, and he doesn't blink. He continues to set up this little table.

Tony Maietta [01:07:00]:
Yeah. He puts the he puts the ice cream sundaes down, which is in you notice how also this is another interesting thing. So there's there's always food being delivered because that's on that's Streisand. Because Streisand is legendary for always wanting to eat. You know, she was on the inside the actor's studio, and she goes, what? You don't have the Kit Kat? Do you have anything to eat here? So Bogdanovich put that in where this character, Judy Maxwell, is always hungry. Oh, yeah. She's always eating. So she, you know, she orders the roast beef sandwich mustard on top, mayonnaise on the bottom, and a coffee, hot fudge Sunday bottle of diet, anything is what she says.

Tony Maietta [01:07:28]:
And so he's he's putting the the food down on the tray and then they're picking the food up and trying to put the fire out. Yeah. But he continues to do what he's doing. And John Hillerman. We forgot about John Hillerman who has one wonderful scene as the hotel manager.

Brad Shreve [01:07:43]:
It's Shreve. Sure.

Tony Maietta [01:07:45]:
After the chaos and says, mister Bannister, I have a message for you from the hotel staff. And Brian O'Neil goes, oh, really? What's that? Goodbye.

Brad Shreve [01:07:54]:
John Hillerman has a very short role, and he's perfect in it.

Tony Maietta [01:07:58]:
Mhmm. Someone else who became a Brooks repertory actor though, John Hillerman. He's in he's in, a lot of Mel Brooks stuff.

Brad Shreve [01:08:06]:
And then Liam Dunn, who plays the judge, he's perfect. He's he has a bigger role because it's towards but it's pretty big role. But the bailiff is Graham Jarvis, who's perfect. Now he I always get him confused with Frank Oz because they look very similar.

Tony Maietta [01:08:20]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. I see what you're saying.

Brad Shreve [01:08:21]:
But he was great Shreve though it was very small role. Sorrell Brooks, who people know as Boss Hog Boss Hog. He plays the hotel security that's trying to rob the jewels.

Tony Maietta [01:08:31]:
Couldn't I just kill her? Yes. That we didn't that's another genius moment when he's when he's trying to stop Mabel Albertson, and he says, use your charm. And he's like, use your charm. Use your charm. So he trips her, and then it keeps tripping her. It just built and built and built.

Brad Shreve [01:08:47]:
Here's what I love about that that. As she's trying to walk to her room, he keeps tripping her through the lobby. And then when up in the floor, the elevator opens up, and he continues as she's trying to get to her room, tripping her. I'm like, what happened in the elevator from the lobby to that floor? Was he tripping her in circles?

Tony Maietta [01:09:09]:
It's so ingenious. And Bogdanovich said that that was only supposed to happen once, but it got such a great they've just loved it so much, the initial trip, that they said, why don't we just continue it through? And so that's why when they come up in the elevator and she's walking to the home, he's tripping her again. And then he's fighting with her on the floor, and they, like, do karate poses. Ugh. Couldn't and he says, you know, stop. Couldn't I just do what you want? Make tell her you're you're in love with her. I wanna make Brad, passionate love to her. Couldn't I just kill her?

Brad Shreve [01:09:40]:
And Mabel Everson, again, one of her brilliant moments, and, again, it's it's one of these that you have to see to realize how funny it is, when she realizes her jewels have been stolen.

Tony Maietta [01:09:50]:
Oh, yes.

Brad Shreve [01:09:50]:
And she goes running to the lobby, thieves, proppers, and she collapses to the floor, and she's screaming. And and she looks around, everybody just kinda looking at her like she's nuts.

Tony Maietta [01:10:00]:
It's so over the top. And we've talked about lines that, you know, aren't funny on paper, but they're funny the way the characters do them. That was a line that we always did in college, and I would you would hear people in my college, someone someone that scream, and you hear someone go, thieves, robbers, thieves. And it's just funny because it's so over the top and she's so funny at it. It is. It's the characters and the context of these lines. Well, I think, I wanna say about what about What's Up Doc? Is unlike bringing a baby, there's no question about the success of What's Up Doc. What's Up Doc broke a 33 year old house record at Radio City Music Hall.

Tony Maietta [01:10:41]:
Now I'm pretty sure everybody's familiar with Radio City Music Hall, but it's 65 100 seats are in Radio City Music Hall. And this was when it was a $2 top. Movie ticket cost $2. Wow. And it broke a 33 year old record at Radio City Music Hall. In fact, Peter Bogdanovich talks about when the movie was was completed, he called Cary Grant because he was good friends with Cary Grant and and Cary Grant. And I'm not gonna try to imitate Cary Grant. But Cary Grant said and he told him I was gonna play at Radio City in Cary.

Tony Maietta [01:11:11]:
So that's wonderful. I had many films play Radio City. He said, I tell you what you should do. You should go in the back of the theater and just listen to the sound of 65100 people laughing at something you created. It'll do your heart good. And Peter Bogdanovich did that, and he said it was one of the greatest moments of his life. So what's up doc? Ended up grossing $66,000,000, 3rd highest grossing film of 1972 behind The Godfather and The Poseidon Adventure. So, you know, that's not a bad third place.

Tony Maietta [01:11:42]:
It's gonna be

Brad Shreve [01:11:43]:
a very different movie than the other 2.

Tony Maietta [01:11:45]:
Yeah. Exactly. So it was a tremendous success. It was never really replicated again. The interesting thing about about Peter Bogdanovich is is that after this, he went on to direct Paper Moon, which is a Tony which is an also an homage to, it's in black and white. It's also a very different film, but a very wonderful film. Oh, yeah. Highly recommend Paper Moon.

Tony Maietta [01:12:08]:
And then Polly Platt stopped working with him because by this time, they were divorced. And the only reason she had worked with him on on what's up doc was because if she worked on what's up doc, she could be allowed into the production. Because she was the production designer, she could be allowed into the union if she worked on a studio film. So that's the only reason she agreed to do it. And then the only reason she agreed to do Paper Moon was because Ryan O'Neil begged her to do it. Then she stopped. And strangely after that, Peter Bogdanovich kind of his run of great films ended. So there's a lot of controversy about who is really the genius behind these films.

Tony Maietta [01:12:47]:
These first films was Peter Bogganovich or was it Polly Platt? So Polly Platt went on to have a very illustrious career. She was nominated for an Oscar for Terms of Endearment, she worked on Brad News, War of the Roses, I mean, these are some wonderful films. So you draw your own conclusions from who was really the mastermind behind these great films, of the early seventies that Peter Bogdanovich directed.

Brad Shreve [01:13:16]:
And I know you and I are both a little skeptical of AFI, the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 films.

Tony Maietta [01:13:23]:
Right.

Brad Shreve [01:13:23]:
The fact that this movie is not on I looked at the list of movies on there. I'm like, WhatsApp doc should be on there. I'm gonna give you an example. It's a Wonderful Life

Tony Maietta [01:13:32]:
on their comedy? It's not even on their comedy list?

Brad Shreve [01:13:34]:
It is on their comedy list. But as far as the top 100, it's not there. What is on there, one example, is It's a Wonderful Life. It's a Wonderful Life is a nice, heartwarming film. I can't argue. I enjoy it like everybody everybody else every year, but it is no way better than this film. And there are other examples I can give as well.

Tony Maietta [01:13:54]:
Well, you know how I feel about Jimmy Stewart. I'm not a big Jimmy Stewart fan, so I find that, I mean, I find that ridiculous. I think that what's up doc? On just for the cast alone, just for Madeleine Cahn's film debut alone, just it it's should definitely be on that point. Any final thoughts on bringing up baby or what's up, doc?

Brad Shreve [01:14:18]:
No. I think I will say I think what's up, doc, and I think you probably agree, is far superior to bringing up baby, and some people may say that's unfair.

Tony Maietta [01:14:26]:
Oh, I don't agree with you at all on that.

Brad Shreve [01:14:27]:
No. I think it's far superior. Far, far superior.

Tony Maietta [01:14:31]:
Oh, I don't. I'm sorry.

Brad Shreve [01:14:32]:
I I liked bringing up baby. I actually laughed a lot, but I don't think I think there were moments where it could have been better. I think the casting could have been better. Not every character to me was perfect, so that's why.

Tony Maietta [01:14:46]:
Feel every character is perfect in in what's up doc?

Brad Shreve [01:14:48]:
Oh, yeah. I I I would have a really hard time finding a flaw. There's only one fly I can see, and it it's just a a a blooper as far as the the stunt goes. Beyond that, everything's

Tony Maietta [01:14:58]:
Oh, you know, and what's up doc? I'm gonna come back to that. But what's up doc was the was the first, I believe, according to Bogdanovich, was the first film to actually give credit to the stunt people. If you watch the credits, the stunt people aren't listed. Thank god. Because these stunt people worked their asses off in this film, and they deserve the credit. So that's kudos to What's Up Doc for that. No. I don't agree with you on that.

Tony Maietta [01:15:22]:
Because in my top five, bringing up babies in my top five, and I think What's Up Doc's like, the

Brad Shreve [01:15:26]:
I'm in I'm in shock. I can't imagine well, anyway.

Tony Maietta [01:15:29]:
Right?

Brad Shreve [01:15:30]:
I am in shock. Well, you know, for sure we'd be on the same level here.

Tony Maietta [01:15:34]:
Well, I'm but what what's up Docs like 6

Brad Shreve [01:15:37]:
Okay.

Tony Maietta [01:15:38]:
In my list, and bringing up babies may be 4. So they're pretty close, but I will always, always, always, always, always. As much as I love Streisand, and as much as I lust over 1970 two's Ryan O'Neil, I will always go to Hepburn and Grant,

Brad Shreve [01:16:00]:
always. Do you enjoy going Hollywood? Well, of course, you do. And Tony and I would like you to do something for us and more important for other podcast listeners out there. Go to Apple Podcast, iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast and rate and review the show. A 5 star would be especially nice. That way, when others are looking for a new show, they'll see ours and see those reviews, and they will stop and listen. And, boy, that will make their day. It will be much appreciated.

Brad Shreve [01:16:32]:
Thank you for being with us.