[78-L] Top Banana on TCM Mon afternoon

[Michael Biel]

David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> What's the deal? It ran only 84 minutes!
>> Should be 100' according to Maltin.   dl

From: Marvin Kaplansky <kaplanskym at gmail.com>
> The last line of Maltin's entry states "Current prints run 84m.
> with some musical numbers deleted".  Marvin Kaplansky

The blog I led the list to for the 3D trailer discusses that there are
about 16 minutes missing.  The places where the cuts are at seem pretty
obvious, so I don't think they are purposeful edits but symptoms of a
rare or only existing print.  I think the main two things missing
concern plotline dealings with the sponsor rep, possibly not songs.  We
miss seeing his arrival and when he cancels the TV show.  We also are
probably missing the book signing -- if it ever was seen -- and the end
of the flower-girl's dance, you know, the gal who tosses the rose right
at you in 3D.  By the way, looking at that 3D trailer without glasses
shows that half the scenes were not in 3D, at least in the trailer.  The
final 2 seconds switch to B&W with exaggerated 3D red/blue.  It is
possible that the 3D info was on a (possibly incomplete) B&W print and
were overlaid thru a computer program onto a color print.   

I do think the color print looks great, at least for the 84 minutes it
contains!

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com  


Michael Biel wrote:
> > Turner Classic Movies is airing Phil Silvers' "Top Banana" at 2:30-4:15
> > PM Eastern, Mon Jan 4. I have Broadway cast album on all three speeds
> > on Capitol, but this is an even rarer chance to see the movie. It's
> > about a Milton Berle/Sid Caesar-type TV star at the start of modern TV,
> > and following it TCM is airing my favorite movie about this era, My
> > Favorite Year at 4:15-6:00. That's the movie where Peter O'Toole's
> > character proclaims "I'm not an actor, I'm a Movie Star!"
> >
> > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com