Putney Swope

When Robert Downey Sr. Passed away recently, I realized that I had only seen bits and pieces of this, his signature film. Even today, one can see how this Underground meets mainstream (by way of the counter-culture) satire struck a chord at the time.

A Madison Avenue advertising firm whose Executive Board "accidentally" votes to elect the sole black man, Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson), as their new chairmen - because they all thought the others would be too racist to vote for him. Swope cans most of the execs and installs people of color to most of the important positions of power. Swope has a white maid and makes a low level white man ride the freight elevator etc. Etc..

The basic kernel of an idea is a good one, and there are moments here. Unfortunately, the tone is dry. So dry as to be arid most of the time. The idea of turning the tables has some punch, but, most of them land pretty softly. The Un-PC tone has only gotten more so over the years.

The highlights are the TV commercials the firm, now dubbed Truth And Soul, Inc., produces - including a standout pimple commercial for 'Face-Off' cream with an interracial couple singing idyllically in the park. These sequences are the only scenes shot in color. They add some life, but, the fim doesn't really have any momentum. There are bits and pieces everywhere but they don't really add up. Swope hires and fires at every whim, but we rarely see anything get actually accomplished, yet the firm is supposedly swimming in cash and has advertisers literally begging to get a piece of Swope's wisdom. Even in a farce, there has to be some verisimilitude.

The mostly little known cast is dotted with performers like Allen Garfield, Antonio Fargas and Allan Arbus (Mel Brooks has a blink and you miss it role). The most amusing casting is dwarf actor Pepi Hermine as the German accented President of the United States. Director Downey dubs his voice in for Arnold Johnson, and his gravely delivery dominates the movie. Watching PUTNEY one can't help but notice how Robert Downey Jr.'s voice as the "black man" in TROPIC THUNDER has an uncanny resemblance to his father's here.

PUTNEY SWOPE delivers some jabs, but, in the end, it's one of those films which is more famous for its impact than it is actually successful.

This movie shows that the free enterprise system and the quest for the almighty buck transcends all racial and ethnic barriers. Ultimately the market place determines the message that is sent to the public. This movie dramatizes that point. A conservative white-collar advertising company is taken over by a group of street-wise African Americans chaired by a no-nonsense black man who wants to make a buck and believes he can sell products by telling the the truth. But the movie shows that no matter how hard he tries to do something different, the market place and the political system demands that he conform, rendering him no different than his predecessors. Interesting, off-beat movie.

Mad-magazine style put down of various late 60s US institutions, companies, groups and the advertising business in particular. It starts well in a board room meeting where the new chairman is chosen - a black guy with the title for a name. But the whole black jive stuff that follows is less sharp, and much of the humour was over or under my head. I liked certain Catch 22 moments, like the black boss telling the white guy he can't get a raise to equal his black colleagues' pay because then they will want a raise too. 'I didn't think of that', says the white guy. 'That's why we don't pay you as much. You don't think'. The repetition of certain lines and the repeated appearances of certain characters works on occasion too - like a photographer called Mark Focus who keeps failing to get work, or a pervert who abuses a 13 year old. 'At least he isn't superstitious'. But overall, despite some funny bits and some interesting b/w photography, my attention frequently wavered - aside from the actual ads, filmed in color, which kept you watching and we're mostly memorable. I'm sure at the time this was offensive to the establishment, but now it seems kind of muted.

Robert Downey Sr's PUTNEY SWOPE is an outrageous stab in the back of the advertising world. Apparently, Downey had a nose-diving career in the advertising industry, and this film are all his "I hate this job" daydreams while trying to endure it. The opening Boardroom scene is some of the most bizarre, wacky and brilliant satire ever committed to film. It's the story of the accidental voting-in of the Board's token black man as President of the agency (he's their Music Director). From there, Downey's daydreams turn the struggling white-led advertising company upside down and into the successful black-run "Truth And Soul" advertising agency (Complete with what you might call a corporate Intranet: "The Drum" -- see the movie, you'll understand). The movie is refreshingly un-P.C., with dialogue like, "I'm a happy Chink!" and the proposed advertising campaign that has Colombus meeting Indians with "cleft heads." Oh yes, and a pot-smoking midget President of the U.S.A. There's one thing that is really annoying (to me, anyway; others don't seem to mind): that the lead character's voice appears dubbed. WHY did they do that?? Was the actor unintelligible or something? In fact, looking at the credits for this flick, I see that Downey himself provided the voice for Swope. I sure wish he'd email me with the reason why... Also in the cast is actor Alan Arbus, himself a one-time Ad-man. If you like bizarre outrageous humor, this is a definite for you!

Putney Swope along with a number of other films: Uptight, Zabrieski Point, The Spook who sat by the Door, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy depicted the times of the big change of America like no other. No matter how much conservative America may want to pull the country back to the pre-60's these films show that the change became irreversible. Putney Swope has its problems(editing and much of the acting is amateurish)yet holds up well for being over forty years old. The topics still ring quite true. While viewing this one can't help but wonder if the folks that make the AMC show MADMEN are influenced by this film. The ending, though funny, has a politically horrific feel to it. A foreshadow of 9/11? The irony that Robert Downey is the father of one of America's best and most popular movie stars adds to the entertainment and poignancy.