Putney Swope

Putney Swope, a 1969 film written and directed by Robert Downey, Sr. and starring Arnold Johnson as Swope, is a comedy satirizing the advertising world, the portrayal of race in Hollywood films, the white power structure, and nature of corporate corruption.

Plot

Putney Swope, the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm, is accidentally put in charge after the unexpected death of the chairman of the board: each board member actually believed that he, himself, should be elected Chairman, but the bylaws of the corporation prohibit voting for oneself, so each individual member voted his secret ballot for the person that no one else would vote for: 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."

Production

In an interview on the DVD version of the film, Downey states that Arnold Johnson had great difficulty memorizing and saying his lines during the film shoot. Downey says he didn't worry about it because he had developed a plan to dub in his own voice to replace Johnson's line readings.

Though the movie is in black and white, the commercials shown in the movie from Truth and Soul are in color.

Legacy

Comedian Louis C.K. cites the film as being particuarly significant in inspiring his own short films and other works, saying it completely changed his perception of movie-making.

The character Buck Swope (Don Cheadle) from Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights was named as an homage to this film. Robert Downey, Sr. also made a small cameo as the owner of a recording studio.

External links

• Putney Swope at the Internet Movie Database