Bananas
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Bananas
Plot
One of Woody Allen's earlier, more slapstick-oriented efforts, Bananas tells the story of Fielding Mellish (Allen), a neurotic New Yorker who follows the object of his affections, Nancy (Louise Lasser), to the fictional Central American country of San Marcos, where she is involved in a revolution. Nancy wants nothing to do with Fielding, but he soon becomes a guest of the country's dictator (Carlos Montalban), before accidentally becoming the leader of San Marcos himself. Fielding is eventually shipped back to the US and tried as a subversive, but being that this is a comedy, and an especially light one at that, everything works out in the end. A far cry from Allen's later, more somber films, Bananas still works as an often hilarious amalgam of sight gags, one-liners, and bizarre asides. ~ Don Kaye, RoviReview
A prime example of the "earlier, funnier" Woody Allen films, Bananas is a consistently off-kilter story about an American product tester (Allen) who ends up as a Latin American dictator. It's an anarchic take on 1960s-style revolutionaries. The satire is light, but the film is packed with trademark Allen one-liners, slapstick, and sight gags, and Allen the actor is in top form. Some of the material became quickly dated, but Bananas is an excellent showcase for the often-overlooked comic talents of the first of Allen's three leading actress/girlfriends, Louise Lasser. Marvin Hamlisch's witty score is a great contribution to the success of the film. Asked why the film was called Bananas, Allen told an interviewer: "Because there are no bananas in it." Building on the cult success of the extremely silly Take the Money and Run two years earlier, Bananas marked the real start of Allen's remarkable run of comic successes in the 1970s. ~ Michael Betzold, RoviCast
- Woody Allen - Fielding Mellish
- Louise Lasser - Nancy
- Carlos Montalban - General Emilio M. Vargas
- Natividad Abascal - Yolanda
- Jacobo Morales - Esposito
Credit
Vicky Hernandez - Casting, Gene Coffin - Costume Designer, Fred T. Gallo - First Assistant Director, Woody Allen - Director, Ron Kalish - Editor, Marvin Hamlisch - Composer (Music Score), Yomo Toro - Composer (Music Score), Howard Liebling - Songwriter, Guy del Russo - Makeup, Ed Wittstein - Production Designer, Andrew M. Costikyan - Cinematographer, Robert J. Koster - Production Manager, Jack Grossberg - Producer, Charles H. Joffe - Producer, Ralph Rosenblum - Producer, Jack Rollins - Producer, Jake Holmes - Singer, Herb Mulligan - Set Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Nathan Boxer - Sound/Sound Designer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter, Mickey Rose - Screenwriter, John Strauss - Music Editor| Bananarama: True Confessions (1989 Film), Banana Spirit (1992 Film) | |
| Bananas!* (2009 Film), Bananas: Tim Hawkins, Act 2 (2008 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Bananas (film)
For the documentary, see Bananas!*.
| Bananas | |
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.jpg) Theatrical release poster by Jack Davis |
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Jack Grossberg |
| Written by | Woody Allen Mickey Rose |
| Starring | Woody Allen Louise Lasser Carlos Montalban |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Cinematography | Andrew M. Costikyan |
| Editing by | Ron Kalish Ralph Rosenblum |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | April 28, 1971 |
| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,000,000 |
| Box office | $11,833,696 |
Bananas is a 1971 American comedy film directed by Woody Allen and starring Allen, Louise Lasser, and Carlos Montalban. Written by Allen and Mickey Rose, the film is about a bumbling New Yorker who, after being dumped by his activist girlfriend, travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.[1] Parts of the plot are based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell.[2] Filmed on location in New York City, Lima, Peru, and Puerto Rico,[3] the film is number 78 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
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Contents
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Plot
Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) is a neurotic blue collar man who tries to impress social activist Nancy (Louise Lasser) by trying to get in touch with the revolution in San Marcos, a fictional South American country, or "banana republic." He visits San Marcos and attempts to show his concern for the native people. However, nearly killed by the local caudillo, only to be saved by the revolutionaries, he is then indebted to help them. Mellish clumsily learns how to be a revolutionary. When the revolution is successful, the Castro-style leader goes mad, forcing the rebels to place Mellish as their President.
When traveling back to the U.S. to obtain financial aid, he reunites with his activist ex-girlfriend and is exposed. In a classic courtroom scene, Mellish tries to defend himself from a series of incriminating witnesses, including a middle-aged African-American woman who facetiously claims to be J. Edgar Hoover and is taken seriously by the whole court. He is eventually sentenced to prison, but his sentence is suspended on the condition that he does not move into the judge's neighborhood. Nancy then agrees to marry him. The between-the-covers consummation of their marriage -- an event that was over much more quickly than Nancy had anticipated -- was announced "play by play" by Howard Cosell.
Cast
- Woody Allen as Fielding Mellish
- Louise Lasser as Nancy
- Carlos Montalban as Gen. Emilio M. Vargas
- Natividad Abascal as Yolanda
- Jacobo Morales as Esposito
- Miguel Ángel Suárez as Luis
- David Ortiz as Sanchez
- René Enríquez as Diaz
- Jack Axelrod as Arroyo
- Howard Cosell as Himself
- Roger Grimsby as Himself
- Don Dunphy as Himself
- Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Mellish
- Stanley Ackerman as Dr. Mellish
- Dan Frazer as Priest
- Dorothi Fox as J. Edgar Hoover
- Martha Greenhouse as Dr. Feigen
- Axel Anderson as Man Tortured
- Tigre Pérez as Perez
- Baron De Beer as British Ambassador
- Arthur Hughes as Judge
- John Braden as Prosecutor
- Ted Chapman as Policeman
- Dagne Crane as Sharon
- Eddie Barth as Paul
- Nicholas Saunders as Douglas
- Conrad Bain as Semple
- Sylvester Stallone as Subway Thug (uncredited)
- Mary Jo Catlett as Woman in Hotel Lobby Cheering Honeymoon (uncredited)[4]
Production
According to an interview in the notes of the film's DVD release, Allen said that there is absolutely no blood in the film (even during executions) because he wanted to keep the light comedic tone of the film intact.
Allen and Lasser were married from 1966 to 1969 and were divorced when the film was made.
Title
The title is a pun, "bananas" being slang for "crazy," as well as being a reference to the phrase "banana republic" describing the film's setting. The title also may be a respectful nod to The Cocoanuts, the first film by the Marx Brothers, by whom Allen was heavily influenced at the time.[citation needed] However, when Allen was asked why the film was called Bananas, his reply was, "Because there are no bananas in it." In Don Quixote, U.S.A., the novel by Richard P. Powell that served as a source for Bananas, the protagonist was an agronomist specializing in bananas.
Reception
American Film Institute recognition
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #69
References
- ^ "Bananas". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066808/. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Lax, Eric (1991). Woody Allen: A Biography. New York: Knopf. p. 220. ISBN 978-0394583495.
- ^ "Locations for Bananas". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066808/locations. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "Full cast and crew for Bananas". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066808/fullcredits. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bananas (film) |
- Bananas at the Internet Movie Database
- Bananas at AllRovi
- Bananas at Box Office Mojo
- Bananas (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
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