044 - Putney Swope

Synopsis: Underground 60's film satirising the advertising industry, black power, etc

Director: Robert Downey Snr

Actors: Arnold Johnson, Antonio Fargas

Date: 1969

How viewed: Bought via Amazon

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:

Maybe 'Putney's' appeal lies in the ad parodies, the fast-as-lightning (and often unintelligible) repartee, the irrepressible 'underground;' spirit, and the unforgettable punch lines .. or, depending on your sensibilities, maybe not.

I say:

The producer, writer and director of this film was Robert Downey Snr (father of Robert Downey Jnr, but perhaps you could have worked that out for yourselves..) who was a pioneer of the underground film movement in the US in the 60's. I guess you could define 'Underground films' as avant-garde, because they were (they are?) clandestine, subversive and/or out of the mainstream in terms of style, genre or financing.  Certainly Putney Swope (the name of the main character) was made on a tiny budget, with unknown actors and an improvised script. Partially as a result of all that, it is a difficult film to review, because it's not at all clear sometimes what's going on or what the message is. Nevertheless if you can relax into the mayhem, it is very enjoyable. When the elderly founder of an advertising agency suddenly dies, the board accidentally votes the music director, a black guy, in as the new chairman. He immediately sacks the board and replaces them with his black brethren, and vows to revolutionise the agency, renaming it 'Truth and Soul' and refusing to work with cigarette, alcohol or war toys  companies, and by making completely off-the-wall adverts. The ads are initially successful (interestingly the film is in black and white, but the ads are shown in colour), but slowly the old ways seep back in, and finally he takes the money and runs. It's fairly messy (even the main character's voice is dubbed, by the director, Downey), and extremely non-PC, but that's all part of the appeal, and Fargas (well before Starsky and Hutch) is worth the admission for his constant rants!