Film buffs are quite familiar with the fact that Robert Downey Sr. was one of the most successful directors to emerge from the underground film scene. But mainstream audiences who are more familiar with his multi-million dollar star son might not know that RDS was so prominent in the American counterculture.
With films like Putney Swope, Chaffed Elbows, and Greaser's Palace to his name, Robert Downey Sr. became a beloved icon among fans of films that resisted the Hollywood mainstream and used guerilla film tactics and incredibly low budgets, similar to those made by Brian De Palma and John Waters. There were many reasons why the late director was a beloved institution of underground filmmaking.
8 He Was An Absurdist
Absurdism became huge among American arts in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to the explosion of the counterculture movement. Absurdism was a movement in arts and literature where the subject or main character could not find any purpose or meaning in life. The character was usually too caught up in a series of meaningless events that demonstrate the futility of trying to find meaning when life is filled with so much trivial chaos. Famous examples of absurdism include the works of Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Satre, Cormac McCarthy, and the films of Robert Downey Sr.
7 His Films Were Satirical
His films were not just absurdist, they were pieces of satire that lampooned what Downey, and many in his generation, saw as the most trivial and shallow aspects of society. For example, Putney Swope, which many consider Downey's most famous film, mocks the Madison Avenue types who worked in 1960s advertising (think Mad Men meets National Lampoon). It also reflects on racism in Hollywood, corruption in business, and materialistic elitism.
6 His Films Were Low Budget
Downey stayed out of the mainstream for most of his career, preferring to cater his films to the growing demographic of those who were less than satisfied with Hollywood. In other words, he catered to hippies and beatniks. His films not only reflected the values of his audience in their stories, but in how he produced the films. Robert Downey Sr.'s films opted for low budgets and unknown actors instead of the glitz and glamour that Hollywood was dependent upon. This low-key approach endeared Downey to the underground.
5 He Gave His Son His Film Debut
This is more of a fun fact than it is anything else, but Downey did arguably get his son's highly lucrative acting career started. It is true that Downey first became mainstream when he briefly joined the cast of SNL, only to be fired after one season. However, his film debut came in 1970 when at the age of 5 his father put him in his film Pound. The film is a live-action movie where the actors do the voices of animals who are waiting to be euthanized at a shelter.
4 He Was Also An Actor
Downey slowed down his filmmaking as he got older, and as his son became a mainstream star. But both while working on underground films and later in life, Downey was acting here and there. He had several uncredited acting roles in several of his films, like Sweet Smell of Sex and Putney Swope, but would later do roles in films like Boogie Nights and Tower Heist, the latter being his last film ever. He was also in television shows like 1st and Down and Andy Griffith's Matlock.
3 His Films Pushed Boundaries
Downey took advantage of the time he was in because the 1960s was a tumultuous time in film. From the 1930s to the late 1950s, Hollywood was shackled by a series of censorship laws that limited the artistic abilities of writers and directors to the point it ruined several potentially revolutionary films. Those laws, often referred to as the Hayes Code for their author Senator Hayes, were slowly repealed throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Downey took advantage and filled his films with the types of sex, swearing, and violence that would otherwise never have been allowed before this happened.
2 He Was A Contemporary Of Several Other Filmmakers
While he was popular in the underground, the fact his movies were so heavy on satire and comedy put him closer in rank with directors like John Waters, who was also pushing the boundaries with underground films. Most other underground filmmakers were keener to make art films or films that paid homage to the French New Wave. Downey went in a different direction that put him closer with Waters and contemporaries like Brian De Palma, both who went on to become mainstream directors.
1 Why Did RDJ Take His Career In Such A Different Direction?
Now one might be wondering, if Downey Sr. was so into being rebellious and low budget, why did his son go in a completely different direction? RDJ instead became a huge Hollywood star in Marvel movies, and before that, he was considered a teen heartthrob and member of "the brat pack" of the 1980s. Why he went mainstream is unknown, but the $300 million net worth RDJ enjoys might explain a little bit. Either way, RDJ always had lots of respect for his father. "You are a saint," were the words he used to say goodbye to his father when he died from Parkinson's in 2021.
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