African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: P

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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PANTHER.
1995. 123 minutes.
Historical Melodrama. Black Panther Party. America in the 1960s. Oakland, California, 1967. Novels Into Film. Directed by Mario Van Peebles.

This film is based on a work of fiction by filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. The historical relevancy and accuracy of the film will leave much to be desired for many. The movies revise history almost as if by default. The Van Peebles' work here is romantic revisionism of major proportions. History and cinema are a volatile mix at any time, but anyone seeking historical truth and accuracy in a film like Panther is asking for confusion. The cast includes a host young : Kadeem Hardison as Judge, Bokeem Woodbine as Tyrone, Joe Don Baker as Bremmer, Courtney B. Vance as Bobby Seale, Tyrin Turner as Cy, Marcus Chong as Huey P. Newton, Anthony Griffith as Eldredge Cleaver, Bobby Brown as Rose, Nefertiti as Alma, James Russo as Rodgers, Jenifer Lewis as Rita, Chris Rock as Tuck Mouth, Roger Gueneveur Smith as Pruitt, Michael Wincott as Tynan, Richard Dysart as J. Edgar Hoover, and M. Emmet Walsh as Dorsett. Angela Bassett reprises her role as Betty Shabazz [Malcolm X's widow] and Dick Gregory plays the Rev. Slocum. Melvin Van Peebles has a cameo role as the loud old man in an early jail scene.
Notes: Original Music by Stanley Clarke. Music supervision by Larry Robinson. Photography by Edward Pei. Produced by Mario and Melvin Van Peebles. Screenplay by Melvin Van Peebles based on his novel Panther. Box-office gross: $6,800,000.


PARIS BLUES.
1961. 98 minutes. (V645).
Romantic Drama. Jazz Musicians. Directed by Martin Ritt.

Two young American women visiting Paris together, fall in love with a couple of expatriate American musicians living and working in the city. Paul Newman is Ram Bowen, Sidney Poitier is Eddie Cook, Joanne Woodward is Lillian Corning, and Diahann Carroll is Connie Lampson young, attractive Americans who meet in Paris in the early '60s. Bowen and Cook, jazz musicians, meet the two ladies at a jazz club. Cook, who is black finds Paris a relief from the bigotry he encounters at home. Bowen, earns bread with jazz but is serious about his classical studies. The couples pair off and love and hard decisions follow. With: Louis Armstrong Wild Man Moore, Serge Reggiani as Michel Duvigne, Barbara Laage as Marie Seoul, Andre Luguet as Rene Bernard, and Maris Versinin as Nicole. Competent, unspectacular romantic melodrama. Not the best Ritt.
Notes: Score by Duke Ellington received an Oscar nomination. Black and white photography by Christian Matras. Written by Jack Sher, Irene Kamp, Walter Bernstein, Lulla Adler from a novel by Harold Flender.


PARIS IS BURNING.
1991. 76 minutes.
Gay Men. Transvestites. Cross Dressing. Homosexuals. Directed by Jennie Livingston.

Livingston's film is both a document and celebration of one segment of New York's gay underworld -- the world of transvestites and cross dressers, the world that was a source for Madonna's song Vogue. Every year a great celebratory ball is held by this particular community, a ball where the men let their stylish and stylized fantasies take complete hold of their lives. For a few hours, they are like their dreams, not unlike the celebrants of Rio's Carnivale. A fascinating film on a fascinating subject and sub-culture. With: Dorian Corey, Pepper Lebeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Octavis St. Laurnt, Willi Ninja, Anji Extravaganza, Freddie Pendavis, Junior Labuea.
Notes: Edited by Jonathan Oppenheim. Cinematography by Paul Gibson.


PATTIANN ROGERS.
1993 90 min.
Poetry Readings. African-American Authors. Directed by Dan Griggs.

May 4, 1993, Pattiann Rogers, an American poet who attended her first poetry workshop at 39, reads from her poems and is interviewed by Michael Silverblatt. Poems include "The Pieces of Heaven," "Being Accomplished," "Justification of the Horned Lizard," "Rolling Naked in the Morning Dew," "The Power of Toads," "The Possible Salvation of Continuous Motion," "The Hummingbird: A Seduction," "Geocentric," "Discovering Your Subject," "Parlor Game on a Snowy Winter Night," "For the Wren Trapped in a Cathedral," "The Dead Never Fight Against Anything," "Trinity," "God Damn Theology," "Inside God's Eye," "In Addition to Faith, Hope, and Charity," "The Family Is All There Is," and "Suppose Your Father Was a Redbird." She discusses her writing process and her involvement with science, and tells the origin of the poem "Suppose Your Father Was a Redbird."
Notes: This could have been a 60 minute rather than a 90 minute program were it not for Rogers' long asides and slow speaking manner. The viewer accustomed to the terseness of much of the rest of the Lannan series will require extra patience.


PAUL ROBESON: TALLEST TREE IN OUR FOREST.
1977. 90 minutes.
Biographical Study. Paul Robeson 1898-1976. Documentary. (16 mm only). Produced by Gil Noble.

A look at the life of the gifted and controversial black actor, activist, singer, athlete and singer Paul Robeson. Photographs, film clips, interviews, sound recordings and newspaper clippings document the man's life.


PERMISSIBLE DREAMS.
1983. 30 minutes.
Documentary. Women in Egypt. Women in the Developing World. Directed by Atteyat El-Abnoudi.

This film is about Azeza, a woman of 45 at the time of the film, who has worked since the age of four. At the age of 14 she was married to the son of one of her uncles. Mother of 14, she began to practice birth control after the last child. Daily life, work and routine are depicted in the film about peasant farmers in rural Egypt. The title is derived from Azeza's desire for better lives for her children, especially her daughters. She wants them to be happy and sees education as a tool to insure that happiness.
Notes: Camera by Emad Farid. Edited by El-Abnoudi.


THE PIANO LESSON.
1994. 99 minutes.
Drama. African-American Playwrights. August Wilson. Directed by Lloyd Richards.

The story of a family whose past seems to be personified in the presence of a piano, hand carved by ancestors who had been slaves. Charles S. Dutton is Boy Willie a Mississippi farm hand consumed by the desire to buy a couple of hundred acres of land to farm. He goes to Pittsburgh for a visit with his sister and uncle. Boy Willie's passion for the land is as strong as his sister's Berniece's desire to keep that remembrance of the family's past be retained. The script, by dramatist August Wilson has some glorious passages and set pieces for his marvelous cast of actors, but there is no real clarity as to why the characters take such passionate stances. It is not always clear whether the energy of the "ghosts" in the piano and in their minds are fully believed. If one assumes that Wilson is depicting intelligent working class African-Americans who are pulling themselves from the part of their heritage that pulls away from spirits and magic while retaining memories of that same heritage, it appears a little unresolved in the drama's denouement. Otherwise a fine work, well directed and especially well acted all. With: Alfre Woodard as Berniece, Carl Gordon as Doaker, Tommy Hollis as Avery , Lou Myers as Winning Boy, and Courtney B. Vance as Lymon.
Notes: Teleplay by August Wilson from his own play. Music by Stephen James Taylor. Photography by Paul Elliott. Edited by Jim Oliver. Produced by August Wilson.


A PIECE OF THE ACTION.
1977. 135 minutes.
Comedy. Sidney Poitier. Directed by Sidney Poitier.

This final film in the Poitier/Cosby black family comedy cycle has the heroes playing successful con-men who are tricked by a wily old ex-cop into taking over self-help class taught at the community center run by his daughter. The two men resist at first -- but the cop holds a trump card -- he knows that the gangsters the two con artists robbed are anxious to be avenged. Mildly entertaining film, though not as spirited as its predecessors [Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again]. With: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, James Earl Jones, Denise Nicholas, Hope Clarke, Tracy Reed, Titos Vandis, Frances Foster, Jason Eves, Marc Lawrence Ja'net Dubois, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Edward Love, Ernest Thomas, Tamu, and Karole Selmon.
Notes: Music and Lyrics written and composed by Curtis Mayfield. Photography by Don Morgan. Screenplay by Charles Blackwell from a story by Timothy March. Songs performed by Mavis Staples.


PINKY.
1949. 102 minutes.
Drama. Bigotry. Race Relations. Directed by Elia Kazan.

Jeanne Crain plays Pinky a black woman who had successfully passed for white while being educated as a nurse. When she becomes overcome with doubts about her life passing as white, she returned to her roots in Mississippi, and to the grandmother who had sacrificed much to send her to school. On returning home, she comes face to face with the bigotry she had all but forgotten. This film was one of the daring social dramas that made its way out of Hollywood films that dealt with anti-Semitism (Gentleman's Agreement), Southern Politics (All The King's Men), racism (in addition to this film one must include Home of the Brave and Intruder in the Dust). Darryl Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox was especially proud of the films like Pinky that 20th produced. Pinky is well done -- the acting and direction are very fine and the story and presentation are daring even almost 50 years later. Worth seeing. With: Ethel Barrymore Ethel Waters, William Lundigan, Basil Ruysdael, Kenny Washington, Nina Mae McKinney, Griff Barnett, Frederick O'Neal, Evelyn Varden, Raymond Greenlead and Dan Riss.
Notes: Screenplay by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols from a novel by Cid Ricketts Sumner. Photographed by Joe MacDonald. Music by Alfred Newman. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Academy Award nominations for best actress (Crain), supporting actress (Barrymore and Waters),


PIZZA PIZZA DADDY O.
1968. 30 minutes. (V3364).
Instructional. African American Children. Folk Games. Play, African Americans.

Singing games developed over the last several hundred years, games played by children from England before the emergence of the United States have been transmitted down the years among black children. Once a bridge between white children and slave children, the rhyming chants and parallel lines are as they were 300 years ago. Children teach one another the games.
Notes: Directed by Bess Lomax Hawes and Bob Eberlein. Narrated by Don Freed. A film in the Black Americana Series of the University of California. Produced by the Anthropology Department of San Fernando Valley State College [Northridge, California].


A PLACE OF RAGE.
1991. 52 minutes.
Documentary. Women and the Civil Rights Movement. Women of Color. Directed by Pratibha Parmar.

June Jordan (Poet/Professor), Angela Davis (Educator, Writer), Alice Walker, Trinh T Mihh-ha (Writer/film-maker) discuss their impressions, memories, and feelings about the Civil Rights movement. Fanny Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and other women, whose roles in the movement have been somewhat under-rated are celebrated. There is a strong sense of quiet rage expressed in the readings and expressions of the women interviewed in this film which is dominated by the presence of Angela Davis and June Jordan.
Notes: Music Sign 'O' the Times by Prince, Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson, Sister Rosa by the Staple Singers. Edited by Anna Liebschner. Lighting and Camera by Nancy Shiesari. Produced and directed by Pratiba Parmar.


POETIC JUSTICE.
1994. 109 minutes.
Romantic Melodrama. Black Women. African American Directors. Directed by John Singleton.

Janet Jackson is Justice a beautiful girl working in a beauty salon in LA. Tupac Shakur is Lucky a mailman, with a love for his young daughter by a junkie and, for music. Lucky's negative and hostile feelings toward women is tested by the independent-minded Justice, who writes poetry about love and survival in the emotionally charged and violent world she and Lucky live. This is the talented director John Singleton's second film, one that is not as narratively sure or fresh as his remarkable debut film Boyz in the Hood. The film is a story about finding love amidst distrust and chaos. It's hard to explain why it is not fully successful. The cast is fine -- Jackson and Shakur are startlingly attractive screen presences. But the script seems second hand, like something we've seen in other guises and countless other films. Soap with soul. With: Tyra Ferrell as Jessie, Joe Torry as Chicago, Regina King as Iesha, Roger Gueneveur Smith as Heywood, Billy Zane as Brand, Khandi Alexander as Simone, Maya Angelou as Aunt June, Lori Petty as Penelope.
Notes: Poetry by Maya Angelou. Screenplay by John Singleton. Photography by Peter Lyons Collister. Music by Stanley Clarke.


THE POLITICS OF LOVE: IN BLACK AND WHITE.
1993. 33 minutes.
Documentary. Racial Politics. Inter-racial relations. Dartmouth College. Race at Dartmouth. Directed by Ed Burley and Chris Weck.

"Few sights spark smoldering racial tensions like a black and white couple strolling arm-in-arm. This film is the first documentary to confront forthrightly the issue of interracial romance on America's campuses. In this film, mixed couples testify to the joys and strengths of their relationships, but also their pain and anxieties. They talk candidly of pressures from both races - including family, friends and 'frat brothers' - to stay with their own. Black and white students opposed to interracial dating argue about its political implications for race relations today. The two directors - one black, one white - eschew pat answers in favor of revealing America's continuing ambivalence about its racial diversity. The film provides a 'safe space' for students and viewers to discuss submerged racial attitudes while respecting conflicting and sometimes conflicted opinions."
Notes: Produced by Ed Burley. Interviewer/Narration, Ed Burley. Camera/Lighting/Audio by Chris Weck.


PORTRAIT OF JASON.
1967. 90 minutes.
Documentary. Directed by Shirley Clarke.

Clarke takes her cinema-verite camera for a soul searching visit with a homosexual part-time entertainer named Jason Holliday. Holliday bares all to the camera and though it is interesting and sometimes intriguing, but mostly it is depressing and sad. His is a lonely, shallow kind of life -- he is always performing, always on and that, in the end, is not especially moving cinema.


PORTRAITS IN BLACK.
198-. 60 minutes.
Documentary. African-Americans. African-Americans in the Arts. Paul Laurence Dunbar--1872- 1906. African-American Political Leaders. Directed by Carlton Moss.

"Three award-winning short films designed to help increased the awareness of how black writers, artist, and freedom fighters contributed to our American cultural tradition."
Notes: The first film focuses on the life and works of Paul Laurence Dunbar. The son of slaves, he wrote of his early years as an elevator operator who wrote of his first publications. Readings from his short works by Will Gear are included. The second film produced under the auspices of David Driskell, Fisk University is about early black artists included Joshua Johnston (active 1796-1824); Robert S. Duncanson 1817-1872; [African-American/Scots heritage] who studied abroad; Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828-18) who defied a New York newspaper story about the ability as artists and co-founded the Providence Art Club which preceded the Rhode Island School of Design; Edronia Lewis 1845-189?. [Indian/Black] sculptress; Henry O. Tanner [1859-1937] born free in Pittsburgh was formally trained by Eakins and studied in Europe for over 40 years; Aaron Douglass was influenced by Tanner's work. Others interviewed: Selma Burke, Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas, John Rhoden, Jacob Lawrence.
Notes: Written by Carlton Moss. Music by Robert Holmes. The program concludes with a dramatic tribute of the slave rebellion led by Denmark Vecsey, the efforts of Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad and the life and works of Frederick Douglas set to music by Robert Holmes. Produced and directed by William Hurtz and Carlton Moss.


POSSE.
1993. 113 minutes.
Western. African-American Directors. African Americans in the West. Directed by Mario Van Peebles.

Van Peebles' film is a revisionist historical romance about the settling of the American west by African Americans in the wake of the Civil War. The story is of how a band of young bandits led by Van Peebles comes to the rescue of a black township sitting on land that is on a railroad right-of-way. The unique thing about the film is its depiction of blacks in the west, real and significant. As film and as history, it is more Hollywood myth making, where the west is being remade in the eye of the beholder. The cast is young, talented and attractive however with: Adam Baldwin as Little J., Paul Bartel as Mayor Bigwood, James Bigwood as Walker, Stephen J. Cannell as Jimmy Love, Laurence Cook, Richard Edson as Deputy Tom, Richard Gant as Doubletree, Pam Grier as Phoebe, Isaac Hayes as Cayle, Robert Hooks as King David, Reginald Hudlin as Reporter #1, Warren Hudlin as Reporter #2, Richard Jordan as Sheriff Bates, Big Daddy Kane as Father Time, Sandra Ellis Lafferty as Big Kate, Charles Lane as Weezle, Tiny Lister as Obobo, Tone Loc as Angel, Aaron Neville as the Railroad Singer, Salli Richardson as Lana, Nipsey Russell as Snopes, Woody Strode as the Old Man, Blair Underwood as Carver, Mario Van Peebles as Jessie, Melvin Van Peebles as papa Joe, Reginald Vel Johnson as Preston Van Steele, and Billy Zane as Colonel Graham.
Notes: Music Supervision by Karyn Rachtman. Music by Michel Colombier. Photography by Peter Menzies, Jr. Written by Sy Richardson and Dario Scardapane.


PRESS COVERAGE OF JESSE JACKSON.
1984. 60 minutes. (V3033).
Documentary -- Political Commentary -- Blacks in Politics -- Jackson, Reverend Jesse. Produced by Susan Edelson for PBS as a segment of the series Inside Story. Presented and narrated by Hodding Carter.

This segment of the series deals with the way Jesse Jackson was treated by the press core assigned to him by major news gathering organizations and newspapers. Questions arose that suggested that coverage was generally too favorable -- a question which questioned the objectivity of the corp, a large portion of which were black reporters on their first major campaign. Incidents such as the "Hymie town" statement are focused on, his association with Louis Farrakhan, as well as the newness of a black presidential candidate. The reporters on the beat included: George Curry of the Chicago Tribune, Jack White of Time, Nancy Skelton of the Los Angeles Times, Juan Williams of the Washington Post, and Marvin Kalb, who had a confrontational interview with Jackson.
Notes: Executive producer Chris Koch. Edited by Geraldine Wurzburg. Camera by Tod Goodwin.


PRESSURE POINT.
1962. 88 minutes.
Psychological Melodrama. Mental Breakdowns. Directed by Hubert Cornfield.

A vengeful young prisoner becomes the case study for a promising young black psychiatrist. The doctor has been given the case to show his skill at dealing with a difficult, unfriendly patient. Sidney Poitier, Bobby Darin, Peter Falk, Carl Benton Reid, Mary Munday, Barry Gordon, Richard Bakalyan, and Lynn Loring star in this competently acted social melodrama from the early '60s.
Notes: Photography by Ernest Haller. Music by Ernest Gold. Screenplay by Cornfield and S. Lee Pogostin based on a story by Robert Lindner. Produced by Stanley Kramer. Photography by Ernest Haller.


PRINCESS TAM TAM.
1935. In French with English subtitles.
Romantic Melodrama. Josephine Baker. [V2425]. Directed by Edmond Greville.

A famous, cafe set novelist, is having difficulties with his marriage and with his creativity. After a big argument with his wife his publisher convinces that a change of scenery would help him tremendously, especially his writing. They travel together to Algeria where the meet a beautiful street gamin. The idea comes to the author of making the girl a Galatea to his Pygmalion -- he decides to transform her into a princess both to make his wife jealous and win a wager. Josephine Baker was the rage of Paris, and of France in the late 1920s and mid-'30s. At the height of her popularity in pre-war France she made several films the most popular of which were this film and Zou Zou. The story is simple, silly, preposterous, ridiculous and a little racist. But it is entertaining and La Baker's energetic jazz-age dancing and singing are magnetic. You understand what the French liked quite easily. With: Albert Prejean, Germaine Aussey, and Robert Arnous.
Notes: Songs include 'Neath the Tropical Skies and Dream Ship. The music is by Elixo Grenet and Jacques Dallin.


A PROCESS RUN AMOK: THOMAS/HILL HEARINGS.
1991. 90 minutes.
Documentary. Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings. Anita Hill. Sexual Harassment. ABC News Town Meeting.

"Has the confirmation in this country run amok? This special discusses the political and media issues surrounding the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court and the subsequent allegations of sexual harassment by Anita hill. Ted Koppel is joined by Senators Alan Simpson, Arlen Specter, Paul Simon, and Bill Bradley with an audience featuring Ralph Nader, Nina Totenberg, and other Washington politicians, bureaucrats and reporters who take part in a lively discussion of these issues."
Notes: Hosted by Ted Koppel. Panel includes Senators Paul Simon, Alan Simpson, Arlen Specter, Bill Bradley. Analysis by Jeff Greenfield. Questioners and participants in the audience include Clifford Alexander, Gary Bauer, Ralph Nader, Ben Wattenberg, Susan Dellar Ross, Nina Totenberg, L. Brent Bozell, Ralph Neas, William Baker, Ed Rollins, Harriet Woods, and Eleanor Holmes Norton. The discussions were held in the U.S. Senate's Hart Caucus Room.


PROMISED LAND: MONTGOMERY TWO DECADES AFTER MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
19--. 50 minutes.
Documentary. Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King.

"This program sets out to portray the current tensions and frustrations, hopes and fears, of this divided city that was at the center of the civil rights struggle in the '50's and '60's. Here is where it all started in 1955 with the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Ten years later, Montgomery was the symbolic goal of the march from Selma to protest the restrictions on black voters when many marchers were beaten by police. Images of those years are interwoven in this exploration of the experiences of Montgomery's black citizens today."
Notes: The film deals primarily with the development of the black community in Montgomery since the 1960's. It shows the surprising economic and social changes and the unexpected side affects of those changes on elements of the black community. 70% of black businesses existing at the time of the boycott did not survive. Economic power is still strongly in the hands of the white power structure. Narrated by Sarah Dunant. Camera by Martin Singleton. Edited by Peter Harris. Produced by John Edginton. Directed by Caroline Pick. Produced for BBC TV.


PUDD'N HEAD WILSON.
1983. 87 minutes. (V605).
Slavery, Melodrama. American Literature. Samuel Clemens [Mark Twain]. Miscegenation. Directed by Alan Bridges.

Ken Howard stars as Pudd'nhead Wilson, a lawyer whose humor and sense of justice puzzles many of his friends and associates. When a mulatto slave girl named Roxy [Lise Hilbodlt] switches her white looking child for her master's son, the two children grow up differently -- the mulatto grows into a willful, cruel, monster under the tutelage of his "father" and the white child, is generous in nature and spirit growing up among the slaves. Puddn'head finds himself defending the rights of the wronged true heir when it becomes known that the switch has been made. An excellent production of Twain's story about the relationships between mother and son and the cruelty of fate and peculiarities in justice slavery brought to America. The story evokes the pain and horror of a system that would force a mother to such action. The enslaved youth grows to be an honorable and decent man, while the other child becomes a ruthless, sullen spend thrift. Lise Hilboldt gives a touching performance as the sad Roxy. With: Ken Howard.
Notes: Photographed by Walter Lassally. Teleplay by Philip Reisman.


PURLIE.
1981. 142 minutes. (V119).
Musical. Directed by Rudi Goldman.

Musical production of Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious the story of a country minister and a doting young girl. Lutiebell is a young girl who has made up her mind to net her preacher, Purlie Victorious Judson. The reverend involves innocent Lutiebelle in a scheme to hoodwink O' Cain Cotchipee of $500. His efforts are almost upset by the obsequious overseer Gitlow. With: Robert Guillaume, Melba Moore, and Sherman Hemsley.
Notes: book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose and Peter Udell. Choreographed by Al Perryman.


PURPLE RAIN.
1984. 113 minutes. (V606).
Rock drama. Directed by Albert Magnoli.

Semi-autobiographical rock musical with extended video style imagery. The story of The Kid, a hot Minneapolis rock club musician has trouble with his music, his band, and the club owner about where his music is going. He has conflicts with the leader of an opposing band who tells The Kid that his music is too self indulgent. The Kid must also deal with the disintegrating love between his parents. The story of this film is much less important than the presence of the enfant terrible of rock and roll Prince. The singer, composer and now actor is charismatic as hell. He sings and struts and dances with a devilishly androgynous sexiness. The film revels in this electric and gifted performer's eccentric style and breathtaking music. With: Appolonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos and Clarence Williams III.
Notes: The extremely popular music score includes the songs "Let's Get Crazy," "I Would Die 4 You," "When Doves Cry," and the anthem to this whole purple exercise "Purple Rain." There is a dynamite sequence with Morris Day and Jerome Benton performing with the band The Time. Benton's presence in the film provides the film with some of its class and humor. He's an elegant second banana. Notes: Screenplay by Magnoli and William Blinn.


PUTNEY SWOPE.
1969. 84 minutes. (V120).
Comedy. Madison Avenue Satire. Advertising Business. Directed by Robert Downey.

Robert Downey's wild satire of Madison Avenue advertising agencies. A black man is accidentally voted to chair a big ad firm when all the sitting members of the board vote for him to prevent any other person from getting a majority. The result is huge profits and havoc from his "unusual" ad campaigns. This film can be defined by words like obstreperously funny, radical, dumb, and the ad company's new motto Truth and soul. There are moments of such incredible scatological and ethnically cool humor that many viewers may miss what's going on. The overall effect of the film is really very '60s-ish. It is an amazing concoction made by a lot of unusually talented people. The spoofs on television advertising have to be seen to be believed, and Antonio Fargas (the out-of-date pimp in Wayans' I'm Gonna Get You Sucka!) is wonderful here. With: Arnold Johnson, Laura Greene, Pepi Hermine, Ruth Hermine, Allen Garfield, and Mel Brooks.