Directed by:
Robert Downey Sr.Screenplay:
Robert Downey Sr.Cinematography:
Gerald CottsComposer:
Charley CuvaCast:
Stan Gottlieb, Allen Garfield, Elzbieta Czyzewska, Peter Benson, Allan Arbus, Antonio Fargas, Arnold Johnson, Robert Downey Sr., Marlene Clark, Pepi Hermine (more)Plots(1)
Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson) is the only Black executive at a stuffy Madison Avenue advertising agency. When the chairman dies unexpectedly, Putney is elected the new boss – because those voting never thought anyone else would to do the same. Putney proceeds to kick out the white majority, replacing them with young, revolutionary types, and renames the agency Truth and Soul. A bracing satire, taking well-aimed pot-shots at capitalism, power and racism in America, Robert Downey’s Putney Swope is a key entry in counterculture cinema, and a landmark of independent filmmaking, and after more than a half a century is still very, very funny." (Powerhouse Films)
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Reviews (1)
During the first third of this movie, I was absolutely taken aback by the sheer exhilaration of the rapid-fire attack of preposterous jokes that almost brought me to my knees. The second third of this movie is filled with outrageous irreverent humor, although this is interspersed with moments where it gets a bit sloppy. In the last third of the movie, it all falls apart under the weight of the sheer anarchy with the screenwriting and ends up kind of going nowhere. Putney Swope is a movie that had me laughing much more than at other screenings in recent months, however, I still kind of felt like it did not really work as a coherent and complete movie, as it was just throwing one sketch after another at the audience. Anyway, I have nothing against this movie at all, it was really very entertaining and I am happily going to watch it again, perhaps in a different frame of mind. [KVIFF 2021]
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