Putney Swope film title
Date
1969
Credits
- Chermayeff & Geismar Associates
- Robert Downey Sr. 2 Film Director
- Gerald Cotts Cinematographer
Format
- Film Titles 12
Type of Work
- Finished work 5482
Related Items
Links
These Swiss Design titles groove on Helvetica with the small exception of the title as signature. It represent the hand-written vote for Putney Swope as ad agency chair succeeding the one whose just dropped dead. The titles appear as B-Roll over the exquisitely graphic-forward black & white cinematography by Gerald Cotts. "Putney Swope, the 1969 indie film by satiric playwright, screenwriter and movie director Robert Downey Sr. (yes, the father of film star Robert Downey Jr.), is a clash of social commentary and unbridled comedy. In 2016 it was selected by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress citing that it is 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. What an understatement! Swope is a scathing, taboo-busting, hysterical farce about the foibles of the American advertising industry particularly referring to the racial prejudices of the times (and since). The plot turns on the concept that a predominantly white-shoe (emphasis on white) Madison Avenue ad agency's chairman suddenly drops dead and is splayed out on the boardroom table and Putney Swope, the company's token Black ad exec (played by Arnold Johnson, who was later featured on "Sanford & Son," "Family Matters" and the movie Shaft), is unintentionally elected as the new chairman. A cultural revolution ensues." —Steve Heller, Print, July 12, 2020 https://www.printmag.com/post/the-daily-heller-putney-swope-revolutionary-mad-man