1971 Woody Allen comedy about populist revolutions in Latin America
Bananas is a 1971 American comedy film directed by Woody Allen and starring Allen, Louise Lasser and Carlos Montalban. Written by Allen and Mickey Rose, the film is about a bumbling New Yorker who, after being dumped by his activist girlfriend, travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion. Parts of the plot are based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell.
Web Pages
Video Products
Bananas (1971), 5 Jul 2000
Memorable Scenes
Ceremony after General Vargas assumes office
Diaz: And now, as is our annual custom, each citizen of San Marcos will come up here and present his Excellency with his weight in horse manure.
General Emilio M. Vargas: Horse manure? I thought they were diamonds.
Diaz: We are an agrarian country.
Vargas: Yes, but horse ...
Diaz: You will fertilize your personal crops. Sometimes food is more valuable than gold.
General Emilio M. Vargas: Horse manure? I thought they were diamonds.
Diaz: We are an agrarian country.
Vargas: Yes, but horse ...
Diaz: You will fertilize your personal crops. Sometimes food is more valuable than gold.
A witness at Fielding Mellish's trial
Prosecutor: Tell the court why you think he is a traitor to this country.
Sharon: I think Mr. Mellish is a traitor to this country because his views are different from the views of the President and others of his kind. Differences of opinion should be tolerated, but not when they're too different. Then he becomes a subversive mother.
Sharon: I think Mr. Mellish is a traitor to this country because his views are different from the views of the President and others of his kind. Differences of opinion should be tolerated, but not when they're too different. Then he becomes a subversive mother.
Reviews
Bananas (1971), by Stephen W. Carson
As Fielding Mellish (Allen) gets caught up in a left-wing revolution in a small Latin American country, he learns that the U.S. is supporting the brutal military dictatorship. But when the revolutionaries take over, Mellish's naive trust in the left-wing leader is betrayed, 'Soon we'll hold free elections and let the people choose their own leaders. You can voluntarily step down...' The rebel leader responds, 'These people are peasants. They are too ignorant to vote... I am the ruler of this country. There will be no elections until I decree it.'
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bananas (film)" as of 21 Aug 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.