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If you're looking for a movie that shocked the filmgoing public with its outspoken take on race relations in corporate America circa 1969, look no further than this Robert Downey debut effort. Made on a shoestring in black and white, this film begins with a wonderful moment of racial discomfort. The board of directors at a Madison Avenue ad agency must elect a new chairman, and, in the maneuvering to make sure that enemies don't get votes, all the board members accidentally cast their ballot for the board's token black man, Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson). Swope immediately cleans house and transforms the agency into New York's hippest shop with a Black Power mentality and a willingness to tell previously unspoken truths in advertising. Though it looks dated today, it is a fascinating time capsule of the period and still contains its share of outrageous laughs. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Remember when film was interesting?
Robert Downey's greatest success. This film was originally described as a 'metaphor for everything' when it first came out. It is an irreverent, unpredictable, relentlessly hilarious, almost dadaist black and white opus dei that was inspired by the directors work in an advertising firm.

It focuses on a 'token' black man on the board of directors for a upscale advertising agency, whom ends up running the entire organiztion when his constituents vote for him thinking no one else would while electing a new leader.

The actors were all part of a very peculiar clique and appear en masse in a wide spectrum of subculture films from the era.

Anyone with an even passing interest in non-conventional cinema should watch this movie religiously. Its been a huge influence on my own tastes, and this sentiment if shared by virtually everyone Ive ever met who has seen it.

An old friend....
That NEVER shows on television!! Not even cable!

This has got to be the most outrageous comedy about blacks to come down the pike ever, until Keenan Ivory Wayan's "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" came out. The movie centers around a token black guy who sits on the board of an ad agency, and, due to the death of the chairman of the board during a meeting he is present at, gets voted chairman simply because all the voters thought nobody ELSE would vote for him!

You might think that Putney, being the token black guy on an all-white ad agency board of directors, would be a dyed-in-the-wool Uncle Tom...far from it! His redo of the agency, renamed "Truth & Soul, Inc.", turns it into the media equivalent of the Symbionese Liberation Army, with militants, "Shaft"-like bodyguards, Antontio Vargas dressed as a black muslim, complete with burnoose, and a staff FULL of major attitude. The insane, slapdash themes and staging of commercials the agency does are viewed as inconoclastic by the effete clients they take on, and their ads actually increase sales for some companies!

This is the kind of film which ITSELF is made so crudely and sincerely, that it works on that level with a heavy dose of cheeky cleverness. It's mostly in black and white, photographed WAY too dark in some spots, with some color spots for featured commercials...and you'll be surprised to see a young Shelly Plimpton singing a jingle with a VERY negroid young man named Ronny Dyson who had once been a habitué of the 60s Merv Griffin Show.

You'll also recognize "Dr. Sidney Greenbaum" from "M*A*S*H" and Laura Greene, one of those nameless character/commercial actresses that were all over TV and movies in the 70s...

The treatment of the white characters in the film is, to be polite, gruesome...they're ridiculed, pushed around, mistreated and disdained. Blacks are lampooned mercilessly too, as when a white delivery boy finally snaps after being constantly told to use the freight elevator. He breaks into the board room during a meeting, brandishing a gun, and a black bodyguard, who previously had made a point of whipping out HIS gun whenever someone wouldn't cooperate, keeps searching his pockets and waistband for the gun when it's NEEDED Stepin Fetchit-style; not to mention the "Birth of a Nation" way the black run agency is portrayed...this movie barbeques EVERYBODY....

Anarchic, smart-assed, angry, funny, crude...words to describe this late-60s specimen. It's worth every penny and if you're a boomer, funnier than (hades)!

swope
Most older movies seem tame. Not this one! "Putney Swope" doesn't pull any punches and is STILL ahead of the times as far as portraying race relations in an honest and funny way.

A word of caution: This movie is extremely low budget and extremely irreverent. Much of it seems made-up from moment to moment. But there are some hilarious, brilliant moments in this.

Insanity in every frame...
The true beauty of this film lies in the fact that Downey is able to pack so much insanity in so tight a space. Every frame of this picture is spilling over with madness worthy of the Marx Brothers at their anarchistic best. Just dig the names, man! We have Mark Focus, Mr. Victrola Cola, Mr. Ethereal Cereal...my God, it's the 1960s at its dark, psycho-delic best. Sure, it's a bit dated, but come on - it's an artifact, as telling of the times as "Magical Mystery Tour" or "Gimmie Shelter."

Incidentally, unlike most "racial comedies" of the 1960s, Downey allows his pointed satire to skewer both black and white (think Hal Ashby's "The Landlord"). All in all a perfectly insane picture; maybe not a cinematic classic, but certainly the damn funniest products of "alternate" cinema to date.

Hillarious Satire of Madison Avenue
This movie had me in stitches the first time I viewed it. Though it seems very dated, the movie still holds up. Note the dubbed voice of Arnold Johnson. That was actually Robert Downey, Sr. Also notice "Huggy Bear" from Starsky & Hutch. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Remember when film was interesting?
Robert Downey's greatest success. This film was originally described as a 'metaphor for everything' when it first came out. It is an irreverent, unpredictable, relentlessly hilarious, almost dadaist black and white opus dei that was inspired by the directors work in an advertising firm.

It focuses on a 'token' black man on the board of directors for a upscale advertising agency, whom ends up running the entire organiztion when his constituents vote for him thinking no one else would while electing a new leader.

The actors were all part of a very peculiar clique and appear en masse in a wide spectrum of subculture films from the era.

Anyone with an even passing interest in non-conventional cinema should watch this movie religiously. Its been a huge influence on my own tastes, and this sentiment if shared by virtually everyone Ive ever met who has seen it.

An old friend....
That NEVER shows on television!! Not even cable!

This has got to be the most outrageous comedy about blacks to come down the pike ever, until Keenan Ivory Wayan's "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" came out. The movie centers around a token black guy who sits on the board of an ad agency, and, due to the death of the chairman of the board during a meeting he is present at, gets voted chairman simply because all the voters thought nobody ELSE would vote for him!

You might think that Putney, being the token black guy on an all-white ad agency board of directors, would be a dyed-in-the-wool Uncle Tom...far from it! His redo of the agency, renamed "Truth & Soul, Inc.", turns it into the media equivalent of the Symbionese Liberation Army, with militants, "Shaft"-like bodyguards, Antontio Vargas dressed as a black muslim, complete with burnoose, and a staff FULL of major attitude. The insane, slapdash themes and staging of commercials the agency does are viewed as inconoclastic by the effete clients they take on, and their ads actually increase sales for some companies!

This is the kind of film which ITSELF is made so crudely and sincerely, that it works on that level with a heavy dose of cheeky cleverness. It's mostly in black and white, photographed WAY too dark in some spots, with some color spots for featured commercials...and you'll be surprised to see a young Shelly Plimpton singing a jingle with a VERY negroid young man named Ronny Dyson who had once been a habitué of the 60s Merv Griffin Show.

You'll also recognize "Dr. Sidney Greenbaum" from "M*A*S*H" and Laura Greene, one of those nameless character/commercial actresses that were all over TV and movies in the 70s...

The treatment of the white characters in the film is, to be polite, gruesome...they're ridiculed, pushed around, mistreated and disdained. Blacks are lampooned mercilessly too, as when a white delivery boy finally snaps after being constantly told to use the freight elevator. He breaks into the board room during a meeting, brandishing a gun, and a black bodyguard, who previously had made a point of whipping out HIS gun whenever someone wouldn't cooperate, keeps searching his pockets and waistband for the gun when it's NEEDED Stepin Fetchit-style; not to mention the "Birth of a Nation" way the black run agency is portrayed...this movie barbeques EVERYBODY....

Anarchic, smart-assed, angry, funny, crude...words to describe this late-60s specimen. It's worth every penny and if you're a boomer, funnier than (hades)!

swope
Most older movies seem tame. Not this one! "Putney Swope" doesn't pull any punches and is STILL ahead of the times as far as portraying race relations in an honest and funny way.

A word of caution: This movie is extremely low budget and extremely irreverent. Much of it seems made-up from moment to moment. But there are some hilarious, brilliant moments in this.

Insanity in every frame...
The true beauty of this film lies in the fact that Downey is able to pack so much insanity in so tight a space. Every frame of this picture is spilling over with madness worthy of the Marx Brothers at their anarchistic best. Just dig the names, man! We have Mark Focus, Mr. Victrola Cola, Mr. Ethereal Cereal...my God, it's the 1960s at its dark, psycho-delic best. Sure, it's a bit dated, but come on - it's an artifact, as telling of the times as "Magical Mystery Tour" or "Gimmie Shelter."

Incidentally, unlike most "racial comedies" of the 1960s, Downey allows his pointed satire to skewer both black and white (think Hal Ashby's "The Landlord"). All in all a perfectly insane picture; maybe not a cinematic classic, but certainly the damn funniest products of "alternate" cinema to date.

Hillarious Satire of Madison Avenue
This movie had me in stitches the first time I viewed it. Though it seems very dated, the movie still holds up. Note the dubbed voice of Arnold Johnson. That was actually Robert Downey, Sr. Also notice "Huggy Bear" from Starsky & Hutch. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This Is One Funny Movie!
Is There Sex After Death is an hilarious documentary styled spoof of the sexual revolution of the 1960's and 1970's. Starring and directed by famed hoaxer Alan Abel, and featuring some wonderful improvisational comedians like Buck Henry, Marshall Efron, and Rubin Carson, the movie rolls through a series of funny, tongue in cheek vignettes that will keep you laughing throughout. My favorite bits are Abel's tour through his Bureau of Sexological Investigation, Efron's interview as a porn filmmaker, and the classic finale: couples competing in the International Sex Bowl. This movie is one of the memorable comedies from the 70's.

Hilarious Spoof
IS THERE SEX AFTER DEATH? is perhaps the funniest motion picture spoof about the 70's "sexual revolution." A documentary styled crazy quilt of sketches and interviews, the film features hilarious bits from Buck Henry, Marshall Efron, Rubin Carson, Holly Woodlawn and others. The film's narrator and director, Alan Abel, is famous for pulling off media hoaxes including a phony organization to clothe all naked animals (he once condemned the Bronx Zoo as a moral disaster area) and a bogus school for beggars. The movie's final sequence, The International Sex Bowl, is a fall down laughing sketch complete with competing couples and a Wide World Of Sports style announcer. This one's a must! ... Read more