CHAFED ELBOWS
by Robert Downey Sr.
1966, 57 minutes, 35mm.
Hmm…where to start? Hapless Walter Dinsmore undergoes his annual November breakdown at the 1954 World’s Fair, has a love affair with his mother, recollects his hysterectomy operation, impersonates a cop, is sold as a piece of living art, goes to heaven and becomes the singer in a rock band. But not necessarily in that order. A manic comedy made for a whopping $25,000, CHAFED ELBOWS was a commercial success that raised the flag of the underground film scene and elevated the good cause of bad taste. Downey actually raised part of the money with an ad in the Village Voice that read: “Walk softly and carry a blank check”. Produced over a couple of years, Downey photographed most of the movie with a still 35mm camera and had the film processed at Walgreens. These pictures were animated alongside a few live-action scenes and almost all the dialogue was dubbed to rather hilarious effect. One scene was even shot in Anthology’s upstairs theater back in the days when our building was still a defunct downtown courthouse. An ingenious comedy with a rare visual sensibility, comic-book playfulness and cheeky bad attitude, CHAFED ELBOWS is the best of all possible worlds.
There are no future showings scheduled.