Chafed Elbows

Okay. Chafed Elbows is without a doubt one of the most unique flicks I've ever seen.

Made in 1966 by Robert Downey Sr. (no clue Pops was a film-maker), Chafed Elbows is a satire that completely dissects and makes fun of almost every single aspect of society. From racism and the police, to incest and music.

Filmed in a very peculiar but successful way, you're shown stills from a scene with very well-done dubbing. It's remarkably effective, especially in the laughs department.

The flick follows around Walter Dinsmore, who basically goes around town interacting with whomever he crosses paths with. From a dude who wants to sell him as a painting because the weirdo painted his initial on his jacket, to his brother who wants to build a racist amusement park so he can help black people.

God this flick was weird. But, it was also good, and intelligent, and funny. Check this out if you're in the mood for good old-time satire.

Able to watch this online after renting/reviewing "Putney Swope."

This predates "Putney" and apparently Downey Sr. Could not even afford enough film, so much of the movie is still after still photo collage. I think one has to go in to this film valuing not just the non-commercial world, but the anti-commercial one at that.

So it's over the top, with elements of vaudeville and a drive to play tag with various taboos. Or is it the video version of Fluxus, I do think something may connect "experimental" larks like this with horror and I don't know but maybe the realm of Roger Corman/Lloyd Kaufman. The idea that for some film is so clearly fake and not real life, that it necessarily must rollick in the ridiculous.

AnyWays, I did enjoy the AW painted on our anti-hero, and was guessing that was for Andy Warhol, but I could be wrong. Pop/rock music digs as well, I'm tempted to play the "Black Leather Negligee" on KFJC next chance I get. The movie is likely brimming with inside jokes, and maybe they are not all that funny. Or are/were hilarious. C'mon "Pictures of Bertram Russell in a steambath" - "Mumbling in flamenco" And was that directory called Neil Realism?

It reminds me of Fracture Fairytales or Firesign Theater a little now while listening and typing this up. Robert Downey Jr's Mom - Elsie as every woman in this, including Mae West.

Woops, it was was this movie that had the one-"liner" - "You got to draw the line somewhere." Need to fix my Putney review.

At times, I wonder if existence is as absurd as these films...

George Morgan has affairs with several women, including his mother, all played by Elsie Downey, while he goes through his annual mental breakdown.

I have a big problem writing about Robert Downey Sr.'s mixture of silent and sound film with voice-overs and still-shot sequences on a site devoted to movies. It is absurd. This is not a movie in any sense that we understand it. Oh, you might call it 'experimental cinema', but what then? The general rule seems to be that such experiments are always successful, whether you're looking at the Empire State Building for 24 hours or reinventing basic Georges Melies camera tricks fifty years later. I reject such a standard as being no standard whatsoever. So where are we?

This.... well, this thing looks amateurish, although I do do enjoy the bursts of Groucho-style voice-overs. Over to other opinions.

First off, where did those preposterous ratings come from? Have any of those nincompoops actually seen the movie?

It's certainly understandable if they hadn't, as it is EXTREMELY rare. More's the pity. This movie is a whoopee, stops-out, take-no-prisoners satire of absolutely everything: independent film-making, pop music, American mores, psychology, politics, family, education -- whatever popped into Downey's head. It's completely plot less and totally absurd, and it feels very much like a "Monty Python" episode made by New Yorkers in the '60's.

It's absolutely hilarious and I could go on for days about the performances too (why didn't Elsie Downey and Lawrence Wolf have huge careers beyond their films with Downey?), but let's just leave it at this: if you ever get the chance, SEE IT.

"I'm just like an art film. I never fade, and I got a lot of special effects."

An experimental film that tells you in five minutes more about the counterculture in the 1960's than an entire Hollywood production written by someone more conventional. It's not always pretty (that gag about the amusement park attractions comes to mind), but it was endlessly interesting because it was so offbeat. The frequent use of stills worked for me too. There are lots of zingers here amidst unfiltered satire, and the whole thing plays like jazz, one riff coming after another. Great stuff from Robert Downey Sr.