Bananas (1971)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) and
Mickey Rose (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.

Plot Keywords:

Directed By Star | Latin America | President | Protest | Political

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Fielding Mellish
Louise Lasser	...	Nancy
Carlos Montalbán	...	General Emilio M. Vargas
Natividad Abascal	...	Yolanda
Jacobo Morales	...	Esposito
Miguel Ángel Suárez	...	Luis (as Miguel Suarez)
David Ortiz	...	Sanchez
René Enríquez	...	Diaz (as Rene Enríquez)
Jack Axelrod	...	Arroyo
Howard Cosell	...	Himself
Roger Grimsby	...	Himself
Don Dunphy	...	Himself
Charlotte Rae	...	Mrs. Mellish
Stanley Ackerman	...	Dr. Al Mellish
Dan Frazer	...	Priest

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for comic sexuality including some pin-up nudity, some drug use and crude language.

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:16 | Iceland:Unrated | Ireland:15 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (cut) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

In the middle of the movie, during the turmoil that surrounds the dictatorship at San Marcos, outside, an old baby-carriage can be seen rolling off a stairs. This is a direct reference to the most dramatic scene in Eisenstein?s classic _Bronensots Potyomkin (1925)_ .

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Fielding is driving his Volkswagen and talking, there is a shot where his lips clearly aren't moving.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Don Dunphy: Good afternoon. Wide World of Sports is in the little republic of San Marcos where we're going to bring you a live, on the spot assassination. They're going to kill the president of this lovely Latin American country and replace him with a military dictatorship...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

Cause I Believe In Loving

The title says it all

"Bananas" is just that on the surface - a crazy, off the wall movie written by, directed by, and starring a very young Woody Allen as a clumsy New Yorker who winds up as the leader of a small country. In the beginning, Allen plays a product tester whose parents are surgeons (in fact, he walks in on them at one point while they're performing surgery, and they have him take over the reins). He basically just wants to get laid, and when a young activist (Louise Lasser) appears at his door with a petition, he sees an opportunity. The two eventually break up, and in despair, he quits his job and goes to San Marcos, one of her causes. There he becomes a pawn in the revolution, later becoming their leader dressed like Castro but with a red beard.

Only Allen could have imagined this, and it's quite brilliant. Underneath the one-liners and crazy situations is a statement about the war in Vietnam and the way it was reduced to sports reporting on television. To make his point, Howard Cossell is on hand for a play by play of the character's wedding night before an audience.

Total Woody, with some hilarious moments. Highly recommended.