Hitler?
In Bananas, my favorite moments are the speech of the victorious rebel leader announcing that, among other things, the official language of San Marcos is going to be Swedish (“he’s become mad with power…!”), and (earlier in the movie) the surreal insanity of going to a small bar to get sandwiches and coleslaw for the whole rebel army.
I haven’t seen it in decades. In fact, I haven’t seen any of those old Woody Allen movies in decades, but I completely know I would still crack up. Just reading this thread made me crack up.
“Suck out de poison!..”
Well, since a few other Allen Movies besides ‘Bananas’ were mentioned, how about IMO the only really funny (in a sophomore sense of humor) segment of ‘Everything you wanted to know about sex’, this being ‘What Happens During Ejaculation’, where our ‘protagonist’ Sydney is modeled as a somewhat wonky industrial complex complete with early skid steer loaders and WWII paratroop drops…
What Happens During Ejaculation (Sorry - 1 second sound sync delay, but you’ll live)
Sorry Gene Wilder and the sheep, sorry Italian couple who can only make it in public, sorry large wild breast, but - Brain: “I don’t know if we’re gonna make it or not. Doesn’t look good.”; Dinner Date: “I’m a Graduate of New York University”; Brain: “We’re gonna make it” definitely makes me laugh.
Gene Wilder’s silent 30-second reaction to “I am in love with a SHEEP!” is probably the funniest movie reaction ever. Google it.
I haven’t seen for a long time but I thought “Love and Death” the best of the early ones.
WOODY: I’ll take all of these. (puts magazines on counter)
CLERK: Hey Ralph! How much is a copy of Orgasm?
RALPH: What?
CLERK: Orgasm! This guy wants to buy a copy.
Still cracks me up but yeah, overall his early films are dated though I do think Sleeper can be appreciated on a certain level by younger audiences.
I agree about Love and Death.
It has always been my favorite of his earlier films and the humor still holds up today since it isn’t really topical in nature.
Can’t speak for the OP, but here are three comedies from around the same time that I rewatched recently (ish) and thought held up extremely well:
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Bedazzled (Peter Cook/Dudley Moore)
Now, I would’ve told you back in the seventies that all three of these were better than anything I’d seen of Allen’s. And as I said before, I haven’t seen any of Allen’s movies in a really long time, so for all I know Bananas does hold up, and holds up very well.
But I think it’s undeniable that a lot of movies (and books, and plays, etc.) really don’t have lasting appeal. And I wouldn’t be surprised if, upon watching Bananas again, I said, “Hmm. Wonder what I saw in that?”
Anyway, you’re right that Allen had no further obligation than to make movies for the fans he had at the time. It just doesn’t make him out to be some kind of a Great Timeless Genius, is all.
I can’t imagine Young Frankenstein ever getting old. I suppose if the movies it parodies are forgotten it might lose something, but I think it will remain funny regardless.
I’ll have to watch it again, but even when it came out I thought that Bananas was a collection of hit-or-miss jokes slung together. Not one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, but it has its moments. Actually, I’d characterize most of Allen’s movies from that period the same way, except that Sleeper and Love and Death hit more than they miss, for me at least I agree that Take the Money and Run still holds up, for the most part.* What disappoints me is that What’s up, Tiger Lily, the one where he took a Japanese James Bondian film and overdubbed it, doesn’t seem to hold up. Pepper Mill walked out when I was watching it, annoyed with the film and its attitudes. The film does have some good lines, still, but others feel flat. The comments seem lame compared to MST3K’s more savvy quips. And it doesn’t help that I found out that the original Japanese film itself was already a parody. There’s not much point in demonstrating that the film is absurd if it was supposed to be absurd.
*Allen’s film Play it Again, Sam is a special case. Even though Woody Allen starred, and it’s his screenplay, based on his stage play (in which he also starred), the film was directed by another, older Hollywood hand – Herbert Ross – and it shows. It’s a much more even, well-paced film, despite its lunatic trajectory (multiple fantasy scenes, conversation with Humphrey Bogart and “the spirit of” Allen’s divorced wife). it doesn’t go off on tangents or get lost for long periods in what seem to be out-of-place sections. Similarly, even though Allen starred in The Front, he neither wrote nor directed it.
I think that Radio Days still stands up very well.
It’s very funny, but not frenetic or forced, and if you grew up listing to the radio, as I did, it has some genuine nostalgia.
Radio days is rated 88% (critics) and 84% (audience) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 when it first came out:
I think some of the absurdities hold up. For instance, “…I can open up a can of ribs…” and “Does the code name ‘Sapphire’ mean anything to you?” and “This is a mockery of a sham…”
My favorite though is the revolutionary leader speaking to the people of San Marcos: “From this point forward, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish! All children under 16 years old are now 16 years old! All citizens will change their underwear every half hour! Further, underwear will be worn on the outside, so we can check!”
And the translator at the airport.
“We missed him. We get most of them.”
So yes, I think it holds up very well in a lot of ways.
I think Sweet and Lowdown, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Broadway Danny Rose hold up well — some laughs here and there, but well-fleshed-out (and well acted) bittersweet characters with regrets and longing. These are from the late 80s to early 90s. Manhattan had some of this, too.
I think I’m the odd one out here - I mostly prefer Woody Allen’s older films.
Sleeper is one of my favorites, largely because of the New Orleans ragtime soundtrack. But also some good satire of Kubrick’s 2001, the orgasmatron, and the scenes where the scientists are trying to get him to identify 20th century artifacts.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex: Stephe96 identified my favorite moment already. The gameshow segment was also very funny, and of course the mission control scene.
Take the Money and Run is the other great mockumentary (nothing’s better than Spinal Tap), and had some really great moments. I like the running gag of people breaking his glasses, including a judge. The list of crimes by his accomplices is great - “dancing with a mailman” always makes me laugh.
Love and Death, Annie Hall, Radio Days are all movies I can watch any time with enjoyment.
Bananas I put on the bottom of this list deliberately. Probably my least favorite of the early Allen comedies, but still some funny stuff. I always think of the parallel parking scene when I walk through cities.
As do I. I still think What’s Up, Tiger Lily is hilarious.
What comedies of 1971 do you think are better than* Bananas*? Harold and Maude? Support Your Local Gunfighter? A New Leaf? The Barefoot Executive? And Now for Something Completely Different? Taking Off? The Million Dollar Duck? Plaza Suite? Such Good Friends? Kotch? Cold Turkey? On the Buses? Something Big? How to Frame a Figg? Minnie and Moskowitz? B.S. I Love You? Little Murders? Carry On Henry?
I still do the bit where the spy hero wakes up after being knocked out, feels his head gingerly, and moans “Oh! My leg!”
Regards,
Shodan
PS - Don’t use embalming fluid. I want to be stuffed with crabmeat.
In general I prefer his 80’s dramedies like Crimes and Misdeameanours, Purple Rose of Cairo and especially the lovely Radio Days, to his 70’s comedies. The big exception is Annie Hall which I think is a comedic masterpiece. I just watched some random scenes on Youtube and they were terrific. That film had so many bold experiments and they almost all worked.
As for Bananas it was actually the first of his films that I watched and I was too young to get most of it. I will probably give it another go some time.