About Bananas (film #14 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This 1920s silent film about how great bananas are already has a lot of the standard conventions of industrial films. The first part of it shows in detail how bananas are grown and harvested in various Caribbean countries. Then it switches into housewife mode, as it tries to convince us how nutritious and delicious bananas are. It even features animated sprites to represent the various vitamins and minerals in bananas. The "mineral" sprites are grossly obese––I'd like to see them get away with those today. Not bad for a silent film.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.