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Top Banana

Play trailer Poster for Top Banana 1954 1h 40m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Tyrannical TV star Jerry Biffle (Phil Silvers) wants to boost the sagging ratings for his comedy series. What better way to do that than by casting a couple of hot young bodies -- Sally Peters (Judy Lynn) and Cliff Lane (Danny Scholl) -- as eye candy for the viewing public? The plan gets complicated when Jerry falls for Sally, who really loves Cliff. Adapted from the hit Broadway musical, "Top Banana" is notable for filming the actual stage production on the original sets.

Critics Reviews

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Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine Some of the oldest jokes in show-biz and a few new ones as well, most of them hilariously projected by burlesque comic Phil Silvers in a filming of the N'Yawk stage hit. Dec 16, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Silvers' role is loosely modeled after his good friend Milton Berle. Rated: C Sep 28, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Bernard K Bad, really bad. Worst movie I've seen in decades. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 04/23/22 Full Review Audience Member kinda of a bio-pic Silvers' role is loosely modeled after his good friend Milton Berle. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I am a fan of mid-Century content, especially related to New York, so this was interesting to me for its boatload of dated references to everybody and everything from the Essex House to the Jersey tubes to Toot Shors. After that, however, it ran pretty dry for me. I wouldn't recommend going too far out of one's way to see it. Still it's an excellent showcase of Phil Silvers delivering a bunch of classic Vaudevillian shtick and one-liners. Available on VHS only, pulled from the sole surviving 16mm positive, no resto. The film was based on an earlier Broadway play and this was subsequently shot on an L.A. sound stage one day with the original cast members, no editing, one take, just as it would have been seen by an audience member sitting in the Winter Garden where it ran. There's a bit more background available over at Wikipedia. Never DVD released. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Top Banana

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Cast & Crew

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Alfred E. Green

Director

Phil Silvers

Jerry Biffle

Rose Marie

Betty Dillon

Danny Scholl

Cliff Lane

Judy Lynn

Sally Peters

Jack Albertson

Vic Davis
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Top Banana

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Movie Info

Synopsis Tyrannical TV star Jerry Biffle (Phil Silvers) wants to boost the sagging ratings for his comedy series. What better way to do that than by casting a couple of hot young bodies -- Sally Peters (Judy Lynn) and Cliff Lane (Danny Scholl) -- as eye candy for the viewing public? The plan gets complicated when Jerry falls for Sally, who really loves Cliff. Adapted from the hit Broadway musical, "Top Banana" is notable for filming the actual stage production on the original sets.
Director
Alfred E. Green
Producer
Albert Zugsmith, Ben Peskay
Production Co
Roadshow Productions
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 22, 2016
Runtime
1h 40m