Directed by Robert Downey (a prince)
Starring Arnold Johnson, Alan Garfield
Almost forgotten today, Putney Swope was a sensation when he left. Directed by Robert Downey
(before you needed to put a "Father" of his name) was a brazen and bizarre black comedy loosely
consumerism and race relations in the 60s.
Setup is simple. The head of a New York agency struggling ad drops dead during a meeting of
executives. They must choose his replacement and scribble on the ballot until they said they can
not vote for themselves, at which time the ballots are discarded. To vote again. The winner is
Putney Swope, black man from the agency so that everyone voted because they thought nobody
else would. Swope (Arnold Johnson) is ahead of the meeting room and says it plan to make many
changes.
Cut to a couple of weeks later. All white faces have left the agency, and his name is now "Truth and
Soul, Inc."
There is little argument. On the whole organism makes announcements -- hilarious send levels of
consumerism. For example, Ethereal Cereal:
Commercial Narrator: Jim Keranga in Watts, California, is eating a bowl of cereal Ethereal, heavenly
breakfast. Jim, did you know that Ethereal has 25% more riboflavin than any other cereal on the
market? Ethereal also contains the additional blow of 002 units of pectin pesetas!
Jim Keranga (smiling): No kidding.
Swope is a society's indignation, and his slogan is "Rockin' the boat is a hindrance. You have to sink the ship!" The film is a nasty attack by superior fun at all. There are running gags, biting satire about the concerns of the day, and plenty of oddities. The film is in black and white, but the ads are in color.
It was a great movie Downey (even folded all the lines of Johnson; Swope / voice Downey' remains memorable after 40 years -- a roar of gravel) Oh, its sequels were failures, and has struggled along, now only known as the father of her child actor. The film is not for everyone, and certainly not as revolutionary as it was in 1969, but worth it.
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