Director Mike Davis knows there’s a treasure trove of public domain footage just waiting to be recycled.
“I wanted to make a film, but I didn’t have any money,” the director told the audience at this year’s Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival in Sewickley, Pa.
So he tapped that supply of forgotten video for the cultural satire “Dead, White & Blue.” The comedy offers a steady stream of big, unexpected laughs along with plenty of social commentary, nearly all from the Left side of the political aisle.
Funny is funny, and you don’t need to share Davis’ worldview to laugh, and laugh a lot, at this thoroughly original film.
The story, although using that term defies the project’s stream-of-consciousness spirit, follows an Atlanta mayor’s abduction. Meanwhile, a black man has been shot by a racist white cop, and both the U.S. Military and the KKK are trying to retrieve the bullet that took him down for disparate reasons.
How? It involves a bizarre shrinking experiment that’s so patently silly it fits with the film’s absurdist tone.
From there, Davis concocts a comedy with nearly as many jokes as “Airplane!” Most land as intended, from sly innuendos to running gags that never wear out their welcome.
The stock and public domain footage in play likely hail from the 1950s through the early 1990s. It’s been stitched together by Davis and his creative team, at times creating a surprisingly smooth sequence of events.
The footage alone is sometimes howl-worthy. What were they thinking?
The film’s dubbed dialogue, often with flat line readings that make the punch lines funnier, sells the material. Even when the narrative appears to fly in a dozen new directions.
The KKK plays a sizable role in the story, leading to endless puns and some sly sight gags.
The film’s retro look matches its societal X-ray. It’s 2025 and race relations aren’t like the societal landmines depicted here. Not even close.
That takes the sting from some of the gags, particularly jokes tied to police brutality. The film’s wry dialogue and pop culture awareness mean all audiences can appreciate the humor, if not the cultural perspective.
A few jokes are still groaners, like a quip about Israeli forces bombing hospitals and a quick banned books aside.
“Dead, White & Blue” is pure gimmick, but the script makes sure it can sustain its feature-length running time. It’s easy to imagine this approach being replicated for a limited-run series on any number of choice topics.
The sky’s the limit when an indie filmmaker sets his or her mind to it. That’s precisely why Davis’ “Dead, White & Blue” feels like a minor revelation. And a hilarious one at that.
“Dead, White & Blue” screened at the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival on Oct. 4.
HiT or Miss: “Dead, White & Blue” is a fiercely original comedy culled from forgotten videos that is sure to make audiences howl.