Banana da Terra

Banana da Terra (English: Banana of the Land) is a 1939 Brazilian musical film directed by Ruy Costa and written by Braguinha and Mário Lago. The film stars Carmen Miranda, Dircinha Batista and Aloysio de Oliveira. It was Miranda's last film in Brazil, before she moved to Hollywood. Plot In Banana da Terra, the actor Oscarito plays a man in charge of a publicity campaign for bananas who decides to kidnap the queen of Bananolândia, played by Dircinha Batista. She is taken to Rio and promptly falls in love with a character played by Aloísio de Oliveira, a member of Carmen Miranda's backing group, the Bando da Lua. The action unfolds in the glamorous realm of Rio's radio station and casinos, thus providing the perfect pretext for inclusion of a variety of musical numbers. Production In 1939, Sonofilmes released the musical comedy Banana da Terra, which, like many of its musical predecessors, belonged to the tradition of carnival films that included hit songs and were released just before the annual celebrations. According to the Jornal do Brasil newspaper, Banana da Terra was to premiere on 10 February at the MGM-owned cinemas in Rio and São Paulo, the Pedro II cinema in Petrópolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the Guarani cinema in Salvador, Bahia, as well as in Recife, Porto Alegre and Ribeirão Preto. Negotiations were also underway to show the film in the state capitals of Curitiba and Belo Horizonte. Thanks to the links between Alberto Byington Jr, Wallace Downey's associate, and Hollywood, this Sonofilmes production was distributed by MGM in Brazil, and consequently premiered in the luxurious Metro Passeio in Rio. Banana da Terra proved to be a great commercial success and to markedly influence the chanchada tradition, not least by combining self-deprecating humour with a tongue-in-cheek critique of Hollywood clichés.