Putney Swope (1969) on Netflix
Putney Swope is the only black man on an advertising agency's executive board. When the chairman dies, a secret ballot by members barred from voting for themselves leaves him in charge.
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- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.7/104,827 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
Putney Swope is the lone black executive on an advertising agency's board, and company rules forbid the members to vote for themselves. When the chairman dies, every ballot in the secret vote carries Swope's name, on the assumption that no one else will choose him. He takes over and renames the firm Truth and Soul, Inc., keeping one white employee and hiring black staff for the rest. He refuses accounts from alcohol, tobacco and toy gun manufacturers. The agency's commercials for cereal, air conditioners, skin cream and airliners turn surreal, often obscene or nude. Swope runs the place erratically, taking an employee's idea and then firing the employee.
Cast
- Archie Russellas Joker
- Ramon Gordonas Bissinger
- Bert Lawrenceas Hawker
- Ruth Hermineas First Lady
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Putney Swope (1969)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Arnold Johnson, who played the title role of Putney Swope, had so much trouble memorizing and delivering his lines during filming that director Robert Downey Sr. dubbed his own voice over Johnson's.
- The release poster for Putney Swope showed a raised hand with a girl's image where the middle finger should be; the Los Angeles Times declined to print it, and Chicago's Tribune, Today, Sun-Times and Daily News all refused or pulled it.
- Fishbone named their 1988 album Truth and Soul after the advertising agency in Putney Swope; bassist Norwood Fisher said they couldn't completely lose their humor and decided to name the album after the movie.
- Don Cheadle's Boogie Nights character Buck Swope was named as a homage to Putney Swope, and Robert Downey Sr. himself cameoed in Boogie Nights as the owner of a recording studio.
- The Beastie Boys mentioned a "Putney Swope sequel" in their 1989 song "Shadrach," and dialogue from the film was sampled by De La Soul on "The Magic Number" in 1989 and by The Avalanches on their 2016 album Wildflower.
- The "quick and photocopy looking" cover of Sloan's 1999 album Between the Bridges was inspired by a black-and-white photo of the Putney Swope poster that band member Jay Ferguson saw in a book.
