Watch rare footage of pre-fame Robert De Niro in a 1970s car commercial
When Robert De Niro rolled up in his 1970 Ambassador, he was still a relatively unknown talent. That being said, even the copyrighting team at AMC seem to have felt that the young actor was destined for greatness. Here, De Niro stars as Joey, an unashamedly hammed-up version of a supposedly typical Italian-American, who has just got out of college and already bagged a luxurious if slightly hulking car.
When this promotional advert was filmed, De Niro had landed minor film roles in Encounter, Three Rooms in Manhatten (both of which were released in 1965) and an Italian-French film called Les Jeunes Loups, released in 1968. That same year, De Niro appeared in one of his first major roles in Greetings, which saw him star as Jon Rubin, a young man doing his best to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
It would be the actor’s first collaboration with director Brian De Palma but by no means his last. Little over a year later, he appeared as a New York filmmaker in Sam’s Song. Then, in 1969, De Palma released The Wedding Party, which earned De Niro a rave review in The New York Times.
It’s hard to distinguish whether the optimism exuding from this particular televised artefact is a reflection of De Niro’s blossoming career or the state of America as a whole. By 1970, the actor was 26 years old and starting to land some of his meatiest roles to date. As well as being the face of the AMC Ambassador, he was getting regular work in film, appearing in Mama and Hi, Mom! that same year. Slowly but surely, De Niro was developing a reputation for his wonderfully unhinged style, which would come to fruition in Scorsese’s classic 1976 drama Taxi Driver.
In a few years, De Niro would be one of the most sought-after actors in America, but for the time being, he had to content himself with a mix of middling film roles and advert work. This wonderfully humble example sees De Niro’s Joey pull up to his parent’s home in a working-class district of New York.
At the time, AMC wanted to encourage everyone, including low-income families, to invest in an Ambassador. “It doesn’t take a lot of money to buy a 1970 Ambassador, it just looks like it does,” the dulcet-toned narrator begins.” Though confused as to why Joey needs “such an expensive car,” the young professional is quick to assure his ma and pa that “it doesn’t cost so much,” before yelling at young Ritchie to “get the sneakers off the seat will ya please.”
Check out the full advert below.
