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Bananas(film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the 2015 feature film, seeBanana (film).
For the documentary, seeBananas!*.

Bananas
Theatrical release poster byJack Davis
Directed byWoody Allen
Written by
Produced byJack Grossberg
Starring
CinematographyAndrew M. Costikyan
Edited by
Music byMarvin Hamlisch
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • April 28, 1971(1971-04-28)(United States)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million
Box office$11.8 million

Bananasis a 1971 Americancomedy filmdirected byWoody Allenand starring Allen,Louise Lasser,andCarlos Montalban.Written by Allen andMickey Rose,the film is about a bumbling New Yorker who, after being dumped by his activist girlfriend, travels to a tinyLatin Americannation and becomes involved in its latest revolution.[1]Parts of the plot are based on the bookDon Quixote, U.S.A.byRichard P. Powell.[2]

Filmed on location inNew York CityandPuerto Rico,[3]the film was released to positive reviews from critics and was number 78 onBravo's "100 Funniest Movies" and number 69 onAFI's 100 Years...100 Laughsin 2000.

Plot

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The film opens with Howard Cosell's coverage of theassassinationof the president of the fictional "banana republic"of San Marcos and acoup d'étatthat brings Gen. Emilio Molina Vargas to power.

Fielding Mellish is a neuroticblue-collarman who tries to impresssocial activistNancy by connecting with the revolution in San Marcos. He visits the republic and attempts to show his concern for the native people. However, Vargas secretly orders his men, disguised as Vargas's opponents, to kill Mellish to make the rebels look bad so that the U.S. will send Vargas financial aid. Mellish evades Vargas's assassins but is shortly captured by the real rebels. Vargas declares Mellish dead regardless, leaving Mellish no choice but to join the rebels for two months. Mellish then clumsily learns how to be a revolutionary. When the revolution is successful, Esposito, the Castro-style leader, goes mad. The rebels decide to replace him with Mellish as their president.

While traveling back to the U.S. to obtain financial aid, Mellish (sporting a long fake beard) reunites with Nancy and is exposed. In court, Mellish tries to defend himself from a series of incriminating witnesses, including a reigningMiss Americaand a middle-aged African-American woman claiming to beJ. Edgar Hooverin disguise. One of the witnesses does provide testimony favorable to Mellish, but thecourt clerk,when asked to read back this testimony, replies with an entirely different, wholly unfavorable rendition. Mellish 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 film ends with Howard Cosell's coverage of the between-the-covers consummation of their marriage, an event that was over much more quickly than Nancy had anticipated, with Mellish anticipating a rematch in the early spring.

Cast

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Eddie BarthandNicholas Saundersmake their theatrical film debuts as the characters Paul and Douglas, while comedianConrad Bainplays Semple and actorAllen Garfieldplays the Man on Cross. Uncredited appearances includeSylvester Stalloneas a subway thug #1,Mary Jo Catlettas a woman in a hotel lobby[4]andTino Garcíain an undisclosed role.

Production

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Development

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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 had been married from 1966 to 1970 and were divorced at the time the film was made.

The verdict in Mellish'slegal caseis portrayed as the headline story of aRoger Grimsbynewscast.[5]Included in the scene is aparodytelevision advertisementforNew Testamentcigaretteswith aCatholicpriest (Dan Frazer) promoting the fictitious brand while performing thesacramentof theEucharist.[6]The movie received a C (condemned) classification from theNational Catholic Office for Motion Picturesbecause of the spoof.[5]

Title

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The title is apun,"bananas" beingslangfor "crazy", as well as being a reference to the phrase "banana republic"describing the film's setting. When Allen was asked why the film was calledBananas,his reply was, "Because there are no bananas in it." Some writers have made the connection between this andThe Cocoanuts,the first film by theMarx Brothers,by whom Allen was heavily influenced at the time, and which featured no coconuts.[7]

Music

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Reception

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Critical response

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Bananaswas well received by critics; receiving an 83% rating onRotten Tomatoesbased on 35 reviews with anaverage ratingof 7.5/10.[9]

Vincent CanbyofThe New York Timespraised the film, saying: "Allen's view of the world is fraught with everything except pathos, and it's a view I happen to find very funny. Here is no little man surviving with a wan smile and a shrug, but a runty, wise-mouthed guy whose initial impulses toward cowardice seem really heroic in the crazy order of the way things are." He concluded: "Any movie that attempts to mix together love, Cuban revolution, the C.I.A., Jewish mothers, J. Edgar Hoover and a few other odds and ends (including a sequence in which someone orders 1,000 grilled cheese sandwiches) is bound to be a little weird—and most welcome."[10]Gene Siskelof theChicago Tribunegave the film three stars out of four and called the opening scene "one of the funniest bits of film," though he thought the romance "gets in the way" and "could have been omitted easily."[11]Charles Champlinof theLos Angeles Timeswrote: "Allen seems to have been unable to figure a suitable finish for the plot, which does not so much peak as stop. Still the best jokes have a glorious insanity about them. Given the diminishing ability to laugh like blazing idiots these days,Bananasis welcome even if Allen is not quite at the top of his form. "[12]Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Postwrote that the film was "in a word, hilarious," and "an immense improvement" overTake the Money and Run.[13]Richard Combs ofThe Monthly Film Bulletinthought that "the gags seem a little brighter than inTake the Money,"but also found the scattershot humor" too undisciplined and disparate. "[14]John Simonwrote of the film's plot: "None of it makes for sense or solidly developing humor, and much of it is in bad taste".[15]

Accolades

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The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institutein these lists:

References

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  1. ^"Bananas".Internet Movie Database.Archivedfrom the original on December 26, 2019.RetrievedMay 11,2012.
  2. ^Lax, Eric (1991).Woody Allen: A Biography.New York: Knopf. p.220.ISBN978-0394583495.
  3. ^"Locations for Bananas".Internet Movie Database.Archivedfrom the original on March 16, 2016.RetrievedMay 11,2012.
  4. ^"Full cast and crew for Bananas".Internet Movie Database.Archivedfrom the original on November 13, 2011.RetrievedMay 11,2012.
  5. ^ab"Bananas(movie detail) – American Film Institute ".Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 30,2021.
  6. ^Vitello, Paul. "Dan Frazer, Fretful Supervisor on ‘Kojak,’ Dies at 90,"The New York Times,Tuesday, December 20, 2011.ArchivedApril 3, 2017, at theWayback MachineRetrieved January 12, 2017
  7. ^Hischak, Thomas S. (November 9, 2018).The Woody Allen Encyclopedia.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN978-1-5381-1067-6.
  8. ^Harvey, Adam (2007).The Soundtracks of Woody Allen.US: Macfarland & Company,Inc. p. 30.ISBN9780786429684.
  9. ^"Bananas".Rotten Tomatoes.Flixster.Archivedfrom the original on August 25, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 18,2021.
  10. ^Canby, Vincent(April 29, 1971)."Woody Allen Leads a 'Bananas' Revolution".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 17, 2014.RetrievedApril 9,2014.
  11. ^Siskel, Gene(May 17, 1971). "Woody's 'Bananas'".Chicago Tribune.Section 2, p. 16.
  12. ^Champlin, Charles(May 13, 1971). "Woody Allen in 'Bananas'".Los Angeles Times.Part IV, p. 26.
  13. ^Arnold, Gary (May 20, 1971). "Peels of Laughter".The Washington Post.C1, C7.
  14. ^Combs, Richard (October 1971). "Bananas".The Monthly Film Bulletin.38(453): 191.
  15. ^Simon, John (1982).Reverse Angle A decade of American films.Crown Publishers Inc. p.40.ISBN9780517544716.
  16. ^"AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs"(PDF).American Film Institute.Archived(PDF)from the original on March 16, 2013.RetrievedAugust 20,2016.
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