Bananas (1971)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

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

Release Date:

19 July 1971 (Sweden)

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. Mellish
Dan Frazer	...	Priest
Martha Greenhouse	...	Dr. Feigen
Axel Anderson	...	Man Tortured
Tigre Pérez	...	Perez (as Tigre Perez)
Baron De Beer	...	British Ambassador
Arthur Hughes	...	Judge
John Braden	...	Prosecutor
Ted Chapman	...	Policeman
Dorothi Fox	...	J. Edgar Hoover (as Dorthi Fox)
Dagne Crane	...	Sharon
Eddie Barth	...	Paul (as Ed Barth)
Nicholas Saunders	...	Douglas
Conrad Bain	...	Semple
Eulogio Peraza	...	The interpreter
Norman Evans	...	Senator
Bob O'Connell	...	FBI Man #1 (as Robert O'Connel)
Robert Dudley	...	FBI Man #2
Marilyn Hengst	...	Norma
Ed Crowley	...	FBI Security
Beeson Carroll	...	FBI Security
Allen Garfield	...	Man on Cross
Princess Fatosh	...	Snake Bite Lady
Dick Callinan	...	Cigarette Commercial Man
Hy Anzell	...	Patient In Operating Room (as Hy Anzel)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anthony Caso	...	Subway Thug #2 (uncredited)
Mary Jo Catlett	...	Woman in Hotel Lobby Cheering Honeymoon (uncredited)
Danny DeVito	...	Subway Hood (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Ines Hellendall	...	Patron (uncredited)
Sylvester Stallone	...	Subway Thug #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Woody Allen

Writing credits
Woody Allen		(written by) &
Mickey Rose		(written by)

Produced by
Jack Grossberg	....	producer
Charles H. Joffe	....	executive producer
Jack Rollins	....	executive producer (as a Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe production)
Ralph Rosenblum	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Marvin Hamlisch		(music)

Cinematography by
Andrew M. Costikyan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ron Kalish		(film editor)
Ralph Rosenblum

Casting by
Vicky Hernández		(as Vicky Hernandez)

Production Design by
Ed Wittstein

Set Decoration by
Herbert F. Mulligan

Costume Design by
Gene Coffin

Makeup Department
Guy Del Russo	....	make-up

Production Management
Morton Gorowitz	....	unit production manager
Robert J. Koster	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred T. Gallo	....	first assistant director
Michael Behrman	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Connie Brink	....	property master (as Conrad Brink)
Merle Eckert	....	set constructor
Eugene Powell	....	scenic chargeman (as Eugene M. Powell)

Sound Department
Nathan Boxer	....	sound
Al Gramaglia	....	sound re-recordist
James Sabat	....	sound (as James J. Sabat)
John Strauss	....	effects editor

Special Effects by
Don B. Courtney	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert A. Hudecek	....	gaffer
Michael Mahony	....	key grip
Jack Stager	....	still photographer
Howard Block	....	additional camera operator (uncredited)
Walter Stewart	....	gaffer (segments) (uncredited)

Casting Department
Sylvia Fay	....	atmosphere

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Martin Gaiptman	....	wardrobe (as Martin D. Gaiptman)

Editorial Department
Susan Behr	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ralph Burns	....	orchestrations
Felix Giglio	....	music supervisor
Jerry Graff	....	vocal supervisor
John Strauss	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Richard Augustine	....	transportation captain
Harry J. Leavey	....	transportation captain (as Harry B. Leavey)

Other crew
Axel Anderson	....	production assistant
Samuel D. Berns	....	unit publicist
Antonio Encarnacion	....	production assistant
William Eustace	....	location manager
Norman Gorbaty	....	titles
Johnny Jensen	....	technician
Henry Polonsky	....	assistant to producer
Barbara Robinson	....	script
Noni Rock	....	production secretary
Howard Storm	....	assistant: Woody Allen
Barbara Sundahl	....	secretary
Manolon Villamil	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (as United Artists Pictures Inc.)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cinemobile System  locations (as Cinemobile Systems)
• Marion Dougherty Associates  casting
• Opticals East Inc.  titles & opticals

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 | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | 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:

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 "Have I Got News for You: (#33.6)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Naughty Marietta

Woody Allen's best comedy

This is one of Woody Allen's earliest films -which should rank with the all-time greatest comedies. Although it was made back when the trial of The Chicago Seven was still fresh and Tobacco was still advertised on television, Bananas is timeless and still topical: J. Edgar Hoover in drag; the CIA sending US troops to fight on both sides of a revolution because they are afraid of being on the wrong side. One can usually recall a few scenes from a good movie, but Bananas is one of those great movies which one can replay in the mind from beginning to end. (Bananas is neatly bracketed at the beginning and end by Howard Cossell playing himself in bizarre Wide World of Sports coverages.) Allen has total control as writer, director and lead actor as in his later films, but in Bananas, the humor is broader and more cinematic. He plays the nebbish Fielding Mellish with less of the existential whining that mars his later films. There is a youthful resiliance like a toy punching bag that keeps coming back up. That is what made Chaplin's little tramp both comical and endearing.