Get on the Banana Boat – Prepared with music by Peter Dizozza from a 16mm film digitized by Helge Bernhardt – multinational travelogue- 12 min

Starring: The SS Toloa, with John Anderson, George F. Bauer, Charles H. Barnes, Richard and Catherine Powers, Howard Alexander, Mike, Rambo, Minnich and Virginia. with the USS Galveston returning from Nicaragua’s West Coast.

A Commercial Steamship transports bananas and passengers through Latin America in 1928. The ship’s owner, The United Fruit Company, gave the world not just bananas but also banana republics.

Title: “Get on the Banana Boat”
A found film travelogue prepared by Peter Dizozza for Cinema VII
Music by Peter Dizozza from the CVII album, “The Ocean Floaters”
Digital transfer of original 16mm film element by Helge Bernhardt.

What we are watching is my preparation of an unmarked 400 foot reel of 16mm film that I bought from Ezra, an antique dealer in Queens New York. He stated that he knew nothing of the film and was unable to find a second reel.
So all information about the film comes from the film itself. Distantly related discoveries from it include:
a) United Fruit Company had a private navy
b) All bananas are clones.

As with my other film preparations, I applied the following rules.

1. Include all footage in its original sequence.
2. Freeze frames
3. Insert related images from other sources.
4. Provide text.

The camera follows a group of industry titans on a sea passage through the Panama canal. Upon reaching the Pacific side they reverse direction and return to the Atlantic ocean.
They visit familiar tourist spots along the way, many of which still exist today, including many in Cuba.
Having accidentally obtained this one reel I can only say that its second reel is lost.
Helge said that home movie makers sent their film along with title notes to a company that typeset, filmed, and then and spliced the titles into the film. Those splices were in the film Helge transferred.

The conclusions one can draw from the film are in addition to the general beauty of the film itself…