Top Banana

I imagine that Top Banana was a Broadway show that was difficult to adapt to the big screen. The producers decided to eschew reality and settle for a photographed stage play. Not unlike the early musicals made when the talkies arrived. Guys And Dolls did that also, but it was a much better show.

Fans who liked old time burlesque flocked to see Top Banana on Broadway which ran for 350 performances. Phil Silvers, Rose Marie, Jack Albertson and a whole bunch of the cast repeated their roles. For all the other talent Top Banana is essentially a showcase for Phil Silvers. You'd better be a big fan of his otherwise you will not enjoy this film.

Silvers was a guy who scored his biggest success on the small screen as Sergeant Ernie Bilko. For me he's fine in small doses, but I've often wondered what he was like in private life, was he always 'on' as he is here.

The plot such as it is has Silvers unwittingly playing cupid for the singer in his show Danny Scholl with Judy Lynn whom he likes. In the meantime Rose Marie likes Silvers, but he can't see her. Do I need to go any further.

Johnny Mercer one of the most talented men of music ever, mostly wrote lyrics to other's melodies, but occasionally did music as well. Here he wrote the music and lyrics for the whole score, but you'll find nothing here that especially stands out.

For fans of Phil Silvers and others curious to see what his comedy style was about this film is recommended.

Turner Classic Movies just aired it this past weekend. I was aware of the show because the cast album is (I think) in release on CD, and was pleasantly suprised to learn of this "rendering" of the property. A joyfully disappointing "non-adaptation".

There are two or three redeeming features of the film. The vaudeville-derived visual-physical comedy is vintage. The "long takes" are engrossing and reminiscent, strangely, of live TV. The polished performances of Silvers and his entourage as they command the stage are as thrilling to watch as vintage Marx Brothers. The portions of the play not ruined by cuts are a great demonstration of the way musicals were engineered for continuous flow, as first pioneered by R & H's "South Pacific" a few years earlier.

Only worth it for aficionados of Silvers, 50s Broadway, and rabid film buffs. Not recommended for general family entertainment; go rent "The Music Man" instead.

This is a dreadful movie. However, the problem with this movie is in the production, not the performances. Phil Silvers and his supporting cast were great. "Top Banana" is essentially a showcase for old-time burlesque comedy presented by Phil Silvers and company, all of whom were veteran burlesque comics. In fact, the very title of the movie, "Top Banana", is an old burlesque term for the lead comic in a burlesque show, who's was invariably supported by a "Second Banana".

"Top Banana" was a long-running hit show on Broadway. The problem with this movie is that it is basically nothing more than a filmed version of the original stage show, and a very badly-filmed version, at that. The scenes are static, which is what one would expect when the director id doing nothing any more creative than to have a single fixed camera film a show being presented upon a stage. Worse that that, however, is that the movie is poorly edited, disjointed, chaotic and often incoherent. One can only suppose that Phil Silvers and company must have been appalled when they finally saw what a mess the movie studio had made of their hit Broadway show.

In 1951, Phil Silvers starred in a Broadway musical comedy satirizing the then-champ of TV, Milton Berle -- his ego, his drive, his anything-for-a-laugh desperation. It ran a year but lost money. That didn't stop producer Albert Zugsmith from filming the show, and I mean filming the show -- at a Los Angeles theater, with audience-reaction shots and no attempt at movie production values. It was filmed in cheap color and 3-D (no 3-D prints survive) and given a limited release.

The current print has a vastly reduced running time, with several musical numbers missing. As a movie, it isn't much. But as a curio of a certain kind of stage musical at a certain time in theater history, it's invaluable. The music is loud and brassy, the staging unsubtle, the pace fast. And while Silvers disparages the movie in his autobio, it's a fine documenting of his comic style and energy. The general tackiness of the enterprise (perfunctory song cues, boilerplate romantic subplot, cheesy sets, non-PC attitudes toward women by today's standards) actually add to its period charm. It's also fun seeing a pre-Dick Van Dyke Rose Marie, playing a very similar part.

Previous users have done a great job of commenting on this "film." It's definitely B-grade - a poorly filmed Broadway production. Actually, quite a bit of early-50s television is BETTER than this Vaudeville rehash. TCM plays this every once in a while, and I happened to tape it this afternoon. Although I rarely fast-forward through a film, I couldn't resist it with this bomb. Sure, it is great to see Rose Marie as an early version of "Sally" from "The Dick Van Dyke Show," but that's about all it has going for it.....well, that, and the Johnny Mercer score. I'm really surprised at how low-tech this film appears, in production value, as well as color quality.