Ronald Reagan flees the law and falls for a banana queen. Yes, really.
A fugitive from the police helps a beautiful farmer run her struggling banana plantation.
Cinematography
Glossy studio jungle sets that look nothing like actual tropics.
Costume
Rhonda Fleming's impossibly clean white outfits in 'humid' plantation life.
Acting
Reagan's pre-politics charisma carrying genuinely terrible dialogue.
Director
Lewis R. Foster
Ronald Reagan
Dan McCloud
Rhonda Fleming
Flanders White
Estelita Rodriguez
Elena
Noah Beery Jr.
Tapachula Sam
Grant Withers
Bert Nelson
John Wengraf
Lukats
Argentina Brunetti
Tia Feliciana
Maurice Jara
Macario
Bess Flowers
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Charles Stevens
Macario's Grandfather (uncredited)
Loretta Russell
Observer on Street (uncredited)
Martín Garralaga
Croupier (uncredited)
Nacho Galindo
Christopher (uncredited)
Pilar Del Rey
Victoriana (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Reagan's final film as a contracted actor before his television career and political pivot.
The 'banana republic' setting reflects 1950s American anxiety about Latin American instability, filtered through Hollywood's tropical fantasy lens.
US
