Barbra Streisand plays against type, as well as actually letting her co-star, George Segal, get a word in edgeways, in this slick adaptation of Bill Manhoff’s Broadway hit play.
Meek, owlish book shop clerk and aspiring writer Felix (Segal) and strident, catty hooker – who claims to be a model and an actress – Doris (Streisand) live in the same apartment building.
His incessant typing bothers her. Her gentleman callers bother him. At one point, he tells her, “You’re a sexual Disneyland”.
Felix informs the landlord of her activities, so Doris moves in on Felix. When they both get thrown out, they move in with Barney (Robert Klein) – until they drive him out!
The movie goes on to illustrate perfectly how opposites attract and how, in a relationship, each partner becomes more like the other as they become a couple.
Director Herbert Ross and scriptwriter Buck Henry give the raucous original an extra glow of warmth, and Streisand and Segal are so good together you wonder why they never did a sequel.
Doris Wilgus/Wadsworth/Waverly/Washington/Winters/Wellington
Barbra Streisand
Felix Sherman
George Segal
Barney
Robert Klein
Eleanor
Roz Kelly
Rapzinsky
Jacques Sandulescu
Mr Weyderhaus
Jack Manning
Mrs Weyderhaus
Grace Carney
Ann Weyderhaus
Barbara Anson
Dress shop proprietor
Allen Garfield
Director
Herbert Ross