This week on On Story we’re taking a look back at the 1972 cult classic, Greaser’s Palace with Legendary filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson & Jonathan Demme.

 

In 1972, following a succession of truly unruly underground films, including 1968’s Putney Swope, Robert Downey Sr. gave the world a new take on the holy story of Jesus Christ in the form of the acid-western Greaser’s Palace. Featuring a brilliant mix of offbeat character actors and willing amateurs, Downey weaves a New Testament allegory against the backdrop of an absurdist Western parody.  

 

Paul Thomas Anderson, director of 2021’s Licorice Pizza and the Silence of the Lambs joined director Jonathan Demme to pay tribute to Robert Downey Sr. 's cult classic after a retrospective screening at the Austin Film Festival. 

Clips of Greaser’s Palace courtesy of Greaser’s Palace Company