ld of films that would be his main vehicle.
As the co-writer, director and star of Bananas, Allen had complete control over the project. This was the second of many films to come in which this would be the case. Allen's demand for creative control is almost unparalleled in the business. To achieve this power, however, meant striking it rich on an earlier writing assignment, and that he did.
His stand-up act caught the eye of producer Charles Feldman who hired him to write the script for what was to become the extremely successful What's New, Pussycat? (1965). Allen has spoken disparagingly of the movie, claiming that, "If they had let me make it, I could have made it twice as funny and half as successful (Sinyard 10). However, the film was so popular at the box office, that it gave its writer the power necessary to write his own ticket. It was Allen's attitude that, after struggling on the script to please the difficult Feldman, if anyone wanted a Woody Allen script in the future, it would be on his terms (Zolotow 97).
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