From Wikipedia:
Putney Swope is a 1969 film written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. and starring Arnold Johnson as Swope. Swope is the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm, and is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman of the board. In particular, following the unexpected death of the chair, the other members of the board believed that each of them, individually, should be elected to the board. However, the bylaws of the corporation prohibit voting for oneself for the chair, so each individual member voted in a secret ballot for the person that no one else would vote for, i.e., Putney Swope.
Renaming the business "Truth and Soul, Inc.", Swope replaces all but one of the white employees and insists they no longer accept business from companies that produce alcohol, war toys, or tobacco. The success of the business draws unwanted attention from the United States Government, which considers it "a threat to the national security."
Ahead of its time? Yup.
WARNING: As qwerty points out in comments:
As someone who loves this film, I want to post a warning: it's very much a product of its time, which means that you may find some of the characterizations to be somewhat racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted -- because they are.
And if you're ok with all that, you should also check out Downey's other masterpiece, Greaser's Palace.
Ha! I've actually heard of this film, but I've never seen a clip. This looks great!
ReplyDeleteAnother great from this era is A Thousand Clowns with Jason Robards.
As someone who loves this film, I want to post a warning: it's very much a product of its time, which means that you may find some of the characterizations to be somewhat racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted -- because they are.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you're ok with all that, you should also check out Downey's other masterpiece, Greaser's Palace.
Thanks Qwerty I'm moving your comment to the piece. I was (and am) a little worried about doing an Ann Coulter with the "f-g" word in this clip.
ReplyDeleteThe guys in this scene are all about to be fired by their new black boss, unbeknownst to them. Their bigotry gets a big comeuppance by the entire film. But perhaps that does not excuse replaying the bigotry here. I'd like to hear any responses.
I love this movie.
ReplyDeleteAnn Coulter is in the movie? You're kidding! Oh - I get it. Never mind.
ReplyDeletePlease keep up the film recommendations. I just saw 'Stranger than Fiction' and loved it.
ReplyDeleteoh now i have to watch this! thanks for the chuckle this morning.
ReplyDeleteHaha! Good offbeat pick. I saw this in college. (I actually have a friend out here that grew up next door to the Downey's, so we were just talking about the flick at her birthday party. Wild.)
ReplyDeleteAs for the bigotry, well, in this clip it's satirical. Obviously much of the film is, but based on my very imperfect memory some of the material is dated, so Qwerty's warning is well-taken.
downey sr. (and my favorite of his was greaser's palace) always rode the fine edge of offensive/hilarious. often falling off to one side or the other.
ReplyDelete