| Bananas | |
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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 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,000,000 |
| Box office | $11,833,696 |
Bananas is a 1971 comedy film written by Mickey Rose and Woody Allen, directed by Allen, and starring himself and Louise Lasser. Parts of the plot were based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell.[1] It was filmed on location in New York City, Lima (Peru), and various locations in Puerto Rico, including San Juan, Carolina and Loiza. This film is number 78 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
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Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) is a neurotic blue collar man who tries to impress social activist Nancy (Louise Lasser). Trying to get in touch with the San Marcos revolution, he visits the fictional South American country, or "banana republic," attempting 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.
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.
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. 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.
American Film Institute recognition
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