Robert John Downey Sr. (né Robert Elias Jr.) is an American filmmaker, director and writer. The father of actor Robert Downey Jr., he is best known as an underground filmmaker, serving as director and/or writer of such cult classics as Putney Swope, a satire on the New York Madison Avenue advertising world. According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, Downey's films during the 1960s were "strictly take-no-prisoners affairs, with minimal budgets and outrageous satire, effectively pushing forward the countercultural agenda of the day."
Downey was born in New York City, the son of Elizabeth (née McLauchlen), a model, and Robert Elias Sr., who worked in management of motels and restaurants. His paternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews, while his mother was of half Irish and half Hungarian Jewish ancestry. Downey was born Robert Elias; but he changed his last name to Downey for his stepfather, James Downey, when he wanted to enlist in the United States Army but was underage at the time.
A portrait of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr. (1936-2021), the visionary and fearless US filmmaker — father of actor Robert Downey Jr. — who in the sixties and seventies laid the foundations for countercultural comedy. ...
Watch Now
To pay tribute to one of his filmmaking heroes, Sean Price Willams adopts a style that's just as out there as his subject, mixing new material and never-before-seen archival footage in this portrait of the underground film titan Robert Downey (A Prince). ...
Watch Now
The feature documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff is the story of Donald Rugoff, who was the crazy genius behind Cinema 5, the mid-century theater chain and film distribution company. Rugoff was a difficult (some would say impossible) person but was also th ...
Watch Now
The life and work of Robert Frank—as a photographer and a filmmaker—are so intertwined that they're one in the same, and the vast amount of territory he's covered, from The Americans in 1958 up to the present, is intimately registered in his now-formid ...
Watch Now
Pablo blends documentary and animation elements to tell the saga of "famous unknown" Pablo Ferro, a man with a personal journey that spans from Havana, during the pre-Cuban revolution to his current home, in the garage behind his son's house. ...
Watch Now
The story of legendary New York City disc jockey Bob Fass who pioneered free expression on the airwaves with his long running FM program 'Radio Unnameable'. ...
Watch Now
A luxury condo manager leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slid ...
Watch NowFilmmaker Michael Rogosin's fascinating exploration of the production history behind his father Lionel's groundbreaking documentary, On the Bowery. ...
Watch Now
Filmmakers Joe Barber and Mary Patel examine the dysfunctional world of American politics through the prism of the 2006 United States Senate race between Democrat Bob Casey Jr. and Republican Rick Santorum. Gullible media, corporate influence and hyper-man ...
Watch Now
Rittenhouse Square is an impressionistic, music-filled documentary about a small Philadelphia park - "the spot" - where people go to meet friends, find romance, muse about life and enjoy the beauty of nature and the opposite sex. ...
Watch Now
FROM OTHER WORLDS is a sci-fi comedy about a depressed Brooklyn housewife who sleepwalks through her life until she encounters an alien force in her backyard. With the help of a fellow contactee, an African immigrant, she is determined to solve the mystery ...
Watch Now
Jack's lavish, fast-paced lifestyle changes one Christmas night when he stumbles into a grocery store holdup and disarms the gunman. The next morning he wakes up in bed lying next to Kate, his college sweetheart he left in order to pursue his career, and t ...
Watch Now
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multip ...
Watch Now
In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality. ...
Watch Now
A young half-Navajo convict dying of cancer forces a yuppie doctor to drive him to a magic healing lake. ...
Watch Now
Caesar is having a hard time dividing his time between his band and his rich girlfriend, Buffer. Buffer's dad doesn't like Ceasar, so he makes Caesar a bet. If Caesar can make a hundred thousand dollars within six months, he can stay with Buffer... but if ...
Watch Now
A youthful perspective on the 1992 presidential campaign with a witty, cautionary message to young Americans to start participating in democracy or get the kind of government they deserve. ...
Watch Now
It's recruiting time and despite being short and scrawny, Johnny Walker is America's hottest young football prospect. His dilemma: should he take one of the many offers from college talent scouts or should he attend the local state college with his girlfri ...
Watch Now
A teenage musician goes on the run from killers and the police when he returns home to find his home empty and his family gone. ...
Watch Now
When his longtime partner on the force is killed, reckless U.S. Secret Service agent Richard Chance vows revenge, setting out to nab dangerous counterfeit artist Eric Masters. ...
Watch NowFilmed in Wendover, Nevada, in early 1981, Energy and How to Get It combines documentary and fictional ideas. What began as a documentary film about Robert Golka, an engineer who was experimenting with ball lightning and the development of fusion as an ene ...
Watch Now
Driving through New York City in his Sexmobile, Dr. Harrison Rogers of the Bureau of Sexological Investigation, searches out luminary figures in the world of sex. ...
Watch Now
This oddball counterculture comedy/drama follows Zalman King through a series of kooky misadventures while he searches for his life's purpose in New York City. ...
Watch Now
Swope—the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm—is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman. ...
Watch Now
A doctor and nurse sneak away for a kinky encounter, only to be interrupted by a cop... with a secret of his own. ...
Watch Now
During a Civil War battle, a soldier is transported through time, landing in New York City's Central Park in the year 1961. He then explores Manhattan and goes to Yankee Stadium in an attempt to locate other Civil War soldiers. ...
Watch Now
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. ...
Watch NowRittenhouse Square is an impressionistic, music-filled documentary about a small Philadelphia park - "the spot" - where people go to meet friends, find romance, muse about life and enjoy the beauty of nature and the opposite sex. ...
Watch Now
In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America's schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unort ...
Watch Now
STRUT! spotlights the world of the Philadelphia Mummers and their annual parade. Each New Year's Day, electricians, longshoremen, plumbers, cops and other working class wizards transform the City of Brotherly Love into the world capital of Surrealism. Thei ...
Watch Now
Hugo Pool is a quirky tale of a Los Angeles pool cleaner who falls in love with a young man dying of Lou Gerhig's Disease. ...
Watch Now
A multimillionaire, whose son is gay and daughter a lesbian, leaves a will with one clause: His children will inherit his money only if at least one of them produces him a grandchild within a year of his death. ...
Watch Now
A documentary filmmaker, who has spent the last 15 years making films like "Aluminum: Our Shiny Friend," is finally given the chance to make the documentary on Indian farming he has always wanted to. The catch? He must simultaneously direct a porn film. Bu ...
Watch Now
The zany crew of a New York cable TV station accidentally bounce a signal off the moon, bringing them worldwide attention. ...
Watch Now
Four boys are sent, for different reasons, to a Military Academy. The life of discipline asks a lot of the four geeks. Of course these boys know how to make a party out of the hard times. Will they be "real men" after one year. ...
Watch Now
A week in the life of "The Gong Show" host and creator Chuck Barris. ...
Watch Now
A film without a beginning or an end, Moment to Moment is a rush of curious sketches, scenes, and shots that takes on a rhythmic life of its own. ...
Watch Now
A young man returns home from Vietnam blind. He is very bitter about the war and alienates his family and friends. This movie deals with the aftermath of war and how people react to it both veterans and their families. ...
Watch Now
A parable based on the life of Christ. This ain't your father's Bible story, full of references about the destruction of the world through massive constipation and a New Mexican setting. ...
Watch Now
Swope—the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm—is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman. ...
Watch Now
A day in the life of a young Manhattanite who is in love with his mother, gives birth to $1890 from his hip, and kills indiscriminately. ...
Watch Now
An experimental film featuring students of Westchester County, NY performing and interpreting various pieces of Shakespeare's plays, as well as engaging in other Cullum-led activities. Depicts examples of Cullum's mixing of poetry, drama, and play to foste ...
Watch Now
A visual montage accompanied by an audio recording of Cullum teaching a class of first grade students geography. Provides an example of Cullum's method for fostering student participation through creative activities. ...
Watch Now
A young woman arrives in New York to visit a friend and lands in one hot spot after another as she fends off the perverted advances from every man she meets. ...
Watch Now
The president of the United Status, who, when he isn't at the White House— a dilapidated Victorian— conducts his top-secret affairs on a deserted beach. ...
Watch NowDuring a Civil War battle, a soldier is transported through time, landing in New York City's Central Park in the year 1961. He then explores Manhattan and goes to Yankee Stadium in an attempt to locate other Civil War soldiers. ...
Watch Now© 2026 Imperial Flixano Broadcasting
