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| Left to right: Arnold Johnson and Buddy Butler |
Welcome to Retro Grading: a sporadic column that looks at forgotten cinema released before 2000. The main objective of this column will be to highlight films that time hasn't treated as well as the classics. But these are all classics in their own way and while all of the subjects won't be gems, they are all small flickering signs of ingenuity that in some ways rival their competitors. Retro Grading will attempt to highlight these films and hopefully fill your Netflix queue with alternative programming.
If asked for the reason that I decided to start a column on "forgotten cinema" as it were, I would have to point to this movie. While I admit that it will be impossible for me to just keep doing obscure no-names, I will try to do work that hasn't been even on the fringes of public conversation. In fact, when turning off Putney Swope after watching it, my mouth was ajar. Maybe it was the unbeknownst impact that pairing it with Midnight Cowboy would have. However, the reaction I faced was one of sheer awe. It was shocking, provoking, and rather hilarious.
If asked for the reason that I decided to start a column on "forgotten cinema" as it were, I would have to point to this movie. While I admit that it will be impossible for me to just keep doing obscure no-names, I will try to do work that hasn't been even on the fringes of public conversation. In fact, when turning off Putney Swope after watching it, my mouth was ajar. Maybe it was the unbeknownst impact that pairing it with Midnight Cowboy would have. However, the reaction I faced was one of sheer awe. It was shocking, provoking, and rather hilarious.
Putney Swope is the story of the titular character being elected the head of an advertisement agency full of white people minutes after their previous boss died. How did he do it? Everyone voted for him on the grounds that they thought nobody else would. From there, he fires everyone and turns it into anarchy by not only being a terrible boss who consistently fires everyone, but runs advertisement so profane that all it can do is sink the company, which has also ironically been renamed Truth & Soul. Wonder what kind of ads they run? Here's one for Fan-A-Way:
Nowadays, this doesn't seem all that shocking, but consider it in the realm of Putney Swope. Years before Mel Brooks tries to sink Broadway with The Producers, this film attempted to satirize how advertisements were perceived in the late 60's. It was a fascinating time, if just because of the culture and notably race relations, which seem to be at the forefront of this story. Is there a grand story underneath what I have already established? No. It is just Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson) going mad with power and insulting all of his employees while occasionally wearing a uniform reminiscent of Fidel Castro.
This isn't a story movie, but more of a gag movie in the style of Animal Crackers if it was full of cursing and questionable politics. If director Robert Downey Sr. wanted to make this movie as incorrect as he could, he went to the right place by hiring two little people to play President of the United States (Pepi Hermine) and his wife (Ruth Hermine). It is probably best that you don't know that they are siblings, as their romantic relationship goes from bizarrely funny to just plain creepy. But that is what this film has in spades. It doesn't want to hold any punches and instead is the crassest look at the advertisement agency possibly in history. I mean, there's even a man in the story who flashes people in order to get a job. In this perverse universe, it actually works.
If there is understanding to be made involving the logic behind the amateurish yet fascinating quality of this film, one must first look at Downey. He spent a lot of his years before this film working on advertisements. He had plenty of material to work with and when adding into it the idea of putting a predominantly African American cast into the mix, it only made for this radical mix of social commentary and satire that may lack artistic flare, but are instantly memorable. It could be that the greatest technique in the film is that it is shot in black and white with exception to the ads, which run in color and almost serve as act breaks. The segment involving Ethereal Cereal lists off a series of facts only to have a person say "No shit."
Being young and not an expert on the period, all I can say is that this seems like one of the greatest jokes in the film. With two words, it attempts to rip apart the cookie-cutter, clean cut programming and add a sense of "truth and soul."In a modern society where ads get away with a lot of stuff, it is hard to see most of this as shocking, but at very least, this all feels like the precursor to the modern era. The ads felt fresh because they had a sense of honesty that while maybe was a little too radical, said a lot about the people who ran it. The joke wasn't that Putney Swope was a bad person because he was black. It was because he let anything go, and the results were not pretty.
Maybe the extremity to which he took things is what makes it appealing. It is a shame that this somehow isn't more well known. It even has an ending that is equally bizarre in which the cast and crew celebrate by getting money only to realize that payment would mean failure. With that action, they decide to burn everything. It makes no sense, but then again, the morality and ethics of this film are so corrupt that it is willing to let anything go. It may make you cringe at points, but what the final product feels like is a masterpiece of anarchy that sadly felt like it began dying out after the Marx Brothers. However, unlike the Marx Brothers, Putney Swope attempts to inject commentary, though not bluntly. It simply exists to boost the humor.
It also helps that Putney Swope has one of the most enduring voices in film history:
This isn't a story movie, but more of a gag movie in the style of Animal Crackers if it was full of cursing and questionable politics. If director Robert Downey Sr. wanted to make this movie as incorrect as he could, he went to the right place by hiring two little people to play President of the United States (Pepi Hermine) and his wife (Ruth Hermine). It is probably best that you don't know that they are siblings, as their romantic relationship goes from bizarrely funny to just plain creepy. But that is what this film has in spades. It doesn't want to hold any punches and instead is the crassest look at the advertisement agency possibly in history. I mean, there's even a man in the story who flashes people in order to get a job. In this perverse universe, it actually works.
If there is understanding to be made involving the logic behind the amateurish yet fascinating quality of this film, one must first look at Downey. He spent a lot of his years before this film working on advertisements. He had plenty of material to work with and when adding into it the idea of putting a predominantly African American cast into the mix, it only made for this radical mix of social commentary and satire that may lack artistic flare, but are instantly memorable. It could be that the greatest technique in the film is that it is shot in black and white with exception to the ads, which run in color and almost serve as act breaks. The segment involving Ethereal Cereal lists off a series of facts only to have a person say "No shit."
Being young and not an expert on the period, all I can say is that this seems like one of the greatest jokes in the film. With two words, it attempts to rip apart the cookie-cutter, clean cut programming and add a sense of "truth and soul."In a modern society where ads get away with a lot of stuff, it is hard to see most of this as shocking, but at very least, this all feels like the precursor to the modern era. The ads felt fresh because they had a sense of honesty that while maybe was a little too radical, said a lot about the people who ran it. The joke wasn't that Putney Swope was a bad person because he was black. It was because he let anything go, and the results were not pretty.
Maybe the extremity to which he took things is what makes it appealing. It is a shame that this somehow isn't more well known. It even has an ending that is equally bizarre in which the cast and crew celebrate by getting money only to realize that payment would mean failure. With that action, they decide to burn everything. It makes no sense, but then again, the morality and ethics of this film are so corrupt that it is willing to let anything go. It may make you cringe at points, but what the final product feels like is a masterpiece of anarchy that sadly felt like it began dying out after the Marx Brothers. However, unlike the Marx Brothers, Putney Swope attempts to inject commentary, though not bluntly. It simply exists to boost the humor.
It also helps that Putney Swope has one of the most enduring voices in film history:
The brilliant part about this is that this is not actor Arnold Johnson's voice at all. According to Downey, he dubbed lines after the actor kept mumbling inaudible dialogue. This may seem like a call towards disaster, but all it does is turn the blunt insults into deadpan genius.
While this film has very little of a following, it is no wonder that a few particular names are in the club. Comedian Louis C.K. is one of the more notable performers. The gritty style can be noticed in the way that his show is shot as well as in his occasionally crass yet honest looks at society. There are points where with some moderation, Putney Swope's dialogue could be translated to a C.K. routine. The other notable name, and the one who helped bring the film to my attention, is Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed The Master and Boogie Nights, which co-stars Downey in a small role. He also makes consistent references to Putney Swope in character names and is also great friends with Downey. Here's an interview from the Criterion Collection:
Still, when people think of Robert Downey, they immediately think of his son. Of course, there is a huge difference between the two, largely because Sr. was one of those who helped to promote the D.I.Y. ethic and make gritty cinema that may feel dated at points and maybe a little too unprofessional, but they were full of life. Even if his work barely has recognition, his films carry weight that few more popular films of the era could hold. It was aggressive and in your face. It had ads that manages to say a lot with a simple use of profanity or nudity. It could satirize work ethics just by showing a Nun (Marie Claire) introducing a foul mouthed kid who refuses to join establishments. It may all seem sloppier than a South Park episode, but it is far funnier.
The thing that makes Putney Swope great is that even though it was released in 1969, it still feels shocking and honest today. Films like Network and The Truman Show may be more widely accepted as looks at our media, but few could hold a candle comically. While this story may come across as proto-The Hudsucker Proxy, it is only a testament to how this forgotten piece of amateurish cinema became a masterpiece of shock and commentary mixed with anarchy in a way that officially died out in the 70's. Films may he hectic nowadays, but thanks largely to the marketing model, there is no way that Putney Swope could have been made today, if just because of the more politically correct climate we live in. Still, it is a mix of nostalgia and humor that has seeped into our culture, even if you weren't aware. To close us out, here is the film's take on beer, which is something that seems ironic when looking at modern ads:
The thing that makes Putney Swope great is that even though it was released in 1969, it still feels shocking and honest today. Films like Network and The Truman Show may be more widely accepted as looks at our media, but few could hold a candle comically. While this story may come across as proto-The Hudsucker Proxy, it is only a testament to how this forgotten piece of amateurish cinema became a masterpiece of shock and commentary mixed with anarchy in a way that officially died out in the 70's. Films may he hectic nowadays, but thanks largely to the marketing model, there is no way that Putney Swope could have been made today, if just because of the more politically correct climate we live in. Still, it is a mix of nostalgia and humor that has seeped into our culture, even if you weren't aware. To close us out, here is the film's take on beer, which is something that seems ironic when looking at modern ads:
Did we pay for that? We sure did. Even if most of these people barely worked afterwards, it is a testament to the power of anarchy story telling that something so scatterbrained could come together and create something so marvelous.
I hope to have another column up sooner than later. If you have suggestions, please feel free to contact me. I love watching forgotten films.
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