Putney Swope (1969)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert Downey Sr.

Writer:

Robert Downey Sr. (writer)

Release Date:

10 July 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The Truth and Soul Movie

Plot:

Dark satire in which the token black man on the executive board of an advertising firm is accidentally put in charge...

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Satire | Parody | Cult Favorite | Absurd Humor

Cast

Stan Gottlieb	...	Nathan (as Stanley Gottlieb)
Allen Garfield	...	Elias, Jr.
Archie Russell	...	Joker
Ramon Gordon	...	Bissinger
Bert Lawrence	...	Hawker
Joe Madden	...	Mr. Syllables (as Joe Engler)
Arnold Johnson	...	Putney Swope
David Kirk	...	Elias Sr.
Don George	...	Mr. Cards
Buddy Butler	...	Putney's Bodyguard
Vincent Hamill	...	Man in White Suit
Tom Odachi	...	Wing Soney
Ching Yeh	...	Wing Soney Jr.
Spunky-Funk Johnson	...	Mr. Major
Joe Fields	...	Pittsburgh Willie

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Herald

Trivia:

In the scene where Putney and his wife are watching TV in the living room, they are watching one of Downey's previous films, Chafed Elbows (1966).

Quotes:

Mr. Victrola Cola: I got this great window cleaner. Cleans good and doesn't streak. Smells bad, though. Cleans good, but smells bad.
Putney Swope: As a window cleaner, forget it. Put soybeans in it and market it as a soft drink in the ghetto. We'll put a picture of a rhythm and blues singer on the front and call it Victrola Cola.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Take that, whitey!

Made at the height of the Black Power movement, this movie portrays African-American Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson) getting made CEO of a corporation after the white CEO dies (the white executives all hate each other and can't decide who should succeed the previous CEO). Once in power, he decides to turn it into a militant organization.

I don't know how Robert Downey Sr did it, but he did it! "Putney Swope" is the ultimate jab at America's power structure. It's the sort of thing that seems like it would have come out of Richard Pryor's mind. This is a comedy classic in every sense of the word. A real masterpiece. Hilarious.