PUTNEY SWOPE
Robert Downey, Sr., USA, 1969, All Channel Films, Arthouse“Funny, sophomoric, brilliant, obscene, disjointed, marvelous, unintelligible and relevant. If anybody tries to improve it, they should be sentenced.” -- Vincent Canby, New York Times
"I just think [Downey’s] one of our great American directors." -- Paul Thomas Anderson
New 50th Anniversary restoration! An unforgettable masterpiece of late-’60s counterculture, Robert Downey Sr.’s PUTNEY SWOPE remains a vital provocation on race, pop culture and America.
Putney Swope, the only African-American exec at his firm, is unexpectedly elected its president and turns the industry on its ear through a series of outrageous, taboo-busting TV commercials (strewn throughout the film like comedic landmines.) As Swope becomes the Generalissimo of Madison Avenue, Downey takes no prisoners and skewers the entire political spectrum. Essential viewing.
*** OFFICIAL ART HOUSE THEATER DAY 2019 SELECTION! Restoration by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation ***
