Top Banana (film)

Top Banana
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfred E. Green
Produced by	Albert Zugsmith
Written by	Gene Towne
Based on	Top Banana (stage musical) by Johnny Mercer and Hy S. Kraft
Starring	Phil Silvers
Music by	Johnny Mercer (music) Hy Kraft (lyrics) Bill Finnigan (add'l songs)
Cinematography	William Bradford
Edited by	Terry O. Morse
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	January 27, 1954 (US)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Top Banana is a 1954 musical film based on the musical of the same name, starring Phil Silvers, and featuring Rose Marie, Judy Lynn, Jack Albertson and Joey Faye, all of whom reprised their roles from the Broadway production of the musical.

The film was shot in 3-D but was released by United Artists "flat".

In New York City in the early 1950s, Jerry Biffle (Phil Silvers) is the star of the Blendo Soap Program. He has been invited to participate in an autograph-signing party for his new book at an important department store. Jerry meets Sally Peters (Judy Lynn), one of the department store models, and makes her part of his TV troupe. As part of his campaign to court Sally, Jerry gets Cliff Lane (Danny Scholl), the tenor of his TV company, to sing to her over the phone. When Sally and Cliff meet, they fall in love, with Biffle ignorant of the complications.

Biffle engineers a big publicity wedding between Cliff and "a girl," not knowing that Sally is the girl. To further complicate his life, Jerry learns that he is about to lose his sponsor. The publicity elopement between his girl and Cliff almost shatters his entire career and life.

When it seems that his whole world will cave in, Jerry's sponsor comes up with a new format for the Blendo program and, as far as Jerry is concerned, the day is saved.

After concluding its successful engagement on Broadway in 1952, Top Banana went on tour for a year playing in major cities across the country. Phil Silvers and the cast finished their successful run at the Biltmore Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. During that engagement, Harry Popkin negotiated with producers Albert Zugsmith (Touch of Evil, The Incredible Shrinking Man) and Ben Peskay to film the show exactly as it had been presented on stage in sold out performances across the country. The company packed up the sets and costumes and moved to the Motion Picture Center Studios in Hollywood, where a mock theater "stage" set was built.