Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

**_Madcap misadventures with Herbie in Latin America_** Jim Douglas’ nephew (Stephen W. Burns) inherits Herbie, but has to pick the car up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with his mechanic friend (Charles Martin Smith) wherein they meet a mischievous little pickpocket that Herbie takes a liking to. John Vernon and Richard Jaeckel appear as dastardly villains while Harvey Korman plays a nutty cruise ship captain with Cloris Leachman & Elyssa Davalos on hand as passengers. "Herbie Goes Bananas" (1980) is my favorite of the original four Herbie flicks. The amusing story is more compelling than the previous three and the star-studded cast is noteworthy with everyone giving it their all, especially Korman and Leachman. The cast were having a good time and it shows. A highlight is that this one shows Herbie talking, albeit cute car-language, not English. Meanwhile Elyssa Davalos is the most beautiful female to be featured in the Herbie franchise up to this point, plus there are several beauties in the periphery. The next film would be the rebooted TV movie “The Love Bug” (1997), which is my favorite of the series, followed by the excellent “Herbie Fully Loaded” (2005). I favor the 1997 one because it’s the most compelling plus features the Dark Herbie and Alexandra Wentworth. The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes and was shot in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara & Tijuana), Panama (Panama Canal & Panama City) and the Los Angeles area (Ventura and Burbank). GRADE: B