Bananas (1971)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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:

Political | President | Rebellion | Product Tester | Protest

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Fielding Mellish
Louise Lasser	...	Nancy
Carlos Montalbán	...	General Emilio M. Vargas
Nati Abascal	...	Yolanda (as Natividad Abascal)
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

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, certificate #22817) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

According to the Eric Lax biography, the musicians in the dinner scene at General Vargas' house were actually to be playing instruments, but the rented instruments hadn't arrived, and rather than wait, Allen decided the miming would fit with the tone of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Fielding is offering Nancy some ribs, he has his hand on his collar. In the next shot his hand is by his side.

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 Apontes (1996)

Soundtrack:

Quiero La Noche

Often hilarious comedy with a few dead spots.

"Bananas" is one of Woody Allen's earliest films: a pure comedy, with some satirical and political overtones. It's a strictly hit-or-miss effort, but, fortunately, the hits are definitely more than the misses. It contains many laugh-out-loud scenes; the whole courtroom sequence, the scene where he tries to pass unnoticed while he's buying a pornographic magazine and his reaction to the line "You're not tense, are you?" are among the many highlights. It does have its dead spots, though, and some rather too obvious jokes that can't match the level of the rest. And it leaves no residue after it's over, failing to stay in your memory for long. But I admit that, while you're watching it, it's great fun.