Salesman - Criterion Collection (1968)

Arguably the best American documentary of the 1960s, Salesman was the pivotal film of the "direct cinema" movement championed by such influential filmmakers as Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker, and (in this case) the Maysles brothers and their longtime collaborator Charlotte Zwerin. It catapulted Albert and David Maysles to international fame (later intensified with Gimme Shelter), and it remains the most powerful document of working-class America in the post-Kennedy era. As compelling as any fictional drama, the film follows four salesmen (nicknamed the Badger, the Gipper, the Rabbit, and the Bull, based on their particular on-the-job attributes) from Boston to Florida as they struggle to sell lavishly illustrated Bibles to reluctant, blue-collar customers as desperate to keep their money as the salesmen are to take it.

The film focuses on the anguished plight of Paul "the Badger" Brennan, an aging Boston-Irish veteran of the salesman circuit, weary of his job and unable to hide his exhaustion from customers and colleagues alike. "I don't want to seem negative," he says in one of the film's many dreary motel rooms, but Paul is negative, and meager sales reflect his attitude. The resulting portrait serves as a two-way mirror of hard-scrabble American survival, simultaneously humorous and heartbreaking, and so honestly revealing that no performance (with the possible exception of Jack Lemmon's in Glengarry Glen Ross) could ever hope to match its level of richly nuanced humanity. Door-to-door salesmen became dinosaurs with the advent of telemarketing and Internet retail, but Salesman is a timeless masterpiece of cinematic truth. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Stark, harsh reality depicted

With grainy photography and no fancy frills, the Maysles brothers present the story of several traveling Bible salesman who target mostly those who cannot afford the $50 price tag for a new Bible. One man in particular thinks he can sell, sell, sell, if he just works hard enough. But this just isn't always true, as he discovers to his dismay and disappointment late in the film. It's too bad he believed the old adage about hard work always bringing rewards and riches. This is something that viewers would do well to remember.
September 17, 2008

Mick Cath'lic Bible-Peddling and the Gnashing of Badger Teeth

Yessir folks, a fine show, rush out and get your dickbeaters on this'n. For four easy payments of $8.99 this dvd can be added to your collection, via the Amazon credit card. I am seriously considering dropping the loot for it tho, I readily admit. The thing sells itself you know.
I was thoroughly amused by the plight of these four hapless gents, peddlin' Bibles looked like it had to have been the bombiggity back then!
The joyful glee these beasts portray as they play their desperate, scheming games, is poetic beauty in its' stark contrast to the ideals admonished within the pages of their merchandise.
There's "The Gipper" who's slicker'n snot on a doorknob. "The Bull" is ruthless, and you can probably guess about Jimmy "The Rabbit" Baker. Although, they mighta named him "The Rat", or "The Weasel", just as well, given his features, mannerisms, and slight speech impediment.
Then there's our hero, Paul "The Badger" Brennan, the most desperate, a clearly stressed beast, gone stark raving mad. Cracking under the enormous spiritual torture predicated by life as a salesman. His frail, twisted psyche is complete with a vocal disdain for the "guineas" and "micks" he solicits. The demons rattling in his soul are given voice through various self-addressed diatribes, countless piss'n'moan sessions with his fellow salesmen, and the absent-minded humming of an old Irish hymn or the "I wish I was a rich man" refrain from "The Fiddler on the Roof". The Badger pursues the daily grind of his profession with the same tortured despair of an old scabby heroin-addict peddling his flesh for one last fix, in the red-light district.
We are witness to a few priceless pep talks during team meetings and business award ceremonies, the salesmen are no doubt required to attend, meant to bolster up their spirits and fire up their zeal for the job.
The Head Honcho is a savage and driven beast, thick of neck and skull, a cro-magnon with a penchant for poker and gin rummy, who is consumed with the desire to meet out heavy-handed discipline on the malcontents among them.
"I want to go on record, and I want to tell you all, the next man who get's off base with me, I'm gonna tag him out. The ball game's over." he tells the boys, who cheer him wildly, in dedicated fear.
One speaker tells them with righteous conviction, "There are many people who know the Bible. There are many people who can quote from the Bible. But you are different. You know the business." He goes on to equate "Bible-peddling" to "The Father's Business".
Lost souls selling the message FOR lost souls.
There was the standard reserved jubilation in personal success and the failures of others which you are apt to see in the competitive sales game.
"How'd you like the sales meeting, yes men?" asks the Head Honcho of his subserviants. "Tahmarrow Fluriduh boys."
Too-ah-loo-ah-loo-ah-loo it's off to do some sightseeing with the Badger. A salesman with a hard-on for the job, a beautiful beast indeed. Getting lost in Little Iraq. Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves, Aesop's Fables and other deranged analogies.
"Boy, you eat like you're successful." I laughed 'til I sh** at the scene where the Head Honcho breaks the Bull's brass balls the next morning at breakfast. Just as the Bull is ramming a whopping bite of breaky down his throat, the Honch whallops him on the back, thee ol' "Atta boy!" manuever, which in this context meant, "Who's the bit** now?" Apparently no love lost there.
"99% perspiration..." Working poor folks over with coniving desperation. Make that about 110% it appears, Badger. 58 alternative rhetorics to combat the grim excuses caused by poverty. The "Don't have a pot ta poo in, or a winda' ta throw it through, how's I'm gonna buy yer fancy Cath'lic bible, mister?" type of cop-outs.
Smelling blood in the water, the Badger romances a homeland girl, flirtacious handshakes prickling the ire of her husband. "He g'wonna wear that hand out..." hhhahhuhha A thinly veiled threat to any man who would cross the line with his Betty. A sale made and something about how the Bible's been blessed, "...'cuz if it's not blessed you won't be gettin' the full benefits out of it." the Badger lays the Cath'lic smack down on his way out.
The Badger; chuckling goon, purveyor of doom, litterer of flat tires, homesick, ruthless talking monkey.
Probably the most disturbing scene is the one where the Badger hustles a poor, nit-witted housewife for her last few shekels. A true-blue whoring shill, a poster-beast for the genre.
The soul-wrenching agony of a ruptured sale. "Much easier sellin' to mick Cath'lics."
A driven salesman will talk over his marks, cut them off mid-sentence, humiliate them in their own homes. Perhaps more subtle in approach, the cycle continues today. The poor are still targeted and victimized through their own ignorance and the greedy designs of evil beasts.
The Badger's roadside rant to the Rabbit, "I might as well be shootin' myself in the sun." Amen.
Kept on the dangle. Pressure pulling both ways.
A skinny man in open rebellion against his "hooked-on-religion" wife, puts on a phonograph record containing a freakish, classical rendition of the Beatles "Yesterday", turning up the volume in an effort to drown out the unholy desacration happening on his couch. The Bull is closing the deal on this poor bastard's wife. "F*** the bit**!" screams the thin man, on the inside, grinning deviously over a smoldering cigarette.
Returning to their lair that night, clearly rattled, one can sense that the Bull wants Paul to shut his whimpering hole, he is dragging him down.
Paul needs a spark.
The Gipper takes him along on the next mission. "Sometimes it isn't a spark you need, it's an explosion." more desperate chuckling.
"That's Life."
"Join tha Fahss an gitta pinchion." Paul saws on the collective's last thread of unity and sanity.
Big ups to Albert and David Maysles, who give us this rich glimpse of Americana, long forgotten, but the spirit of which, still drives the Beast and its' Machine. October 17, 2007

Rare look into a world most of us would rather not see

Redemption isn't cheap. In this documentary it costs $49.95. In the 1960s, that was a lot of money for most people. This particular redemption, in the form of ornate Catholic Bibles, was being peddled to a bunch of mostly lower-middle-class Americans in the South and Midwest, the rust belt and the Bible belt. A group of dogged salesmen, with names like "The Rabbit," "The Gipper" and "The Badger," go around trying to sell their cases of The Holy Writ door to door. They are met mostly with rejection and we see as the film goes on how this wears on most of them, one in particular who seems to be in a slump: he can't find the addresses of the leads he's given. And when he does find them, the people aren't home. Or they don't even give him a chance to launch into his spiel before slamming the door or, in one hilarious moment, closing the glass ventilation blinds on the front of one house.

Although today, the techniques used in 1968's Salesman are seen in everything from so-called reality TV to Michael Moore movies, it was new stuff back in the 1960s. (How they got such relatively good quality sound and picture with the primitive portable equipment is amazing.) For about 90 minutes, we follow these lower-middle-class hucksters who have dreams of making it big. Some boast how they're going to earn "$35,000, $50,000 this year," an astonishingly optimistic goal to set when they're selling $50 Bibles from the trunks of their cars and are lucky to make a few sales a week. But on they trudge, through snow and sleet and sun and heat, using tactics foul and fair to pressure their marks, while they themselves are pressured by the home office to work harder, constantly being told if they fail, it is their fault and their fault alone. The product is a proven winner, "The best seller of all time." Throughout the film I got the feeling that salesmen get no respect, whether they're selling vacuum cleaners or the Scriptures. It made me wonder, "Why do they do it?" Surely there were other ways they could earn as much money. This is the one question I wish the film would have raised.

It sure isn't devotion to The Word of God. These men are, in their off-hours, anything but devout. They smoke, drink, cuss and play poker. By today's standards it's nothing too shocking, but it must have been eye-opening at the time to see the contrast between their day job and their nightly behavior. We also witness the loneliness of the road, as they call home and assure their wives that things are going well and they're "living like kings." We know the truth. The wives don't. It's a poignant moment that can make even the hardest soul sympathetic towards salesmen and their plight.

No, these men, like so many salesmen (and there are even a few women here, though we don't get profiles of them) would sell anything for the commission. When we go to a Chicago sales meeting and get introduced to the company's top selling salesman, he turns out to be Jewish! It's another of the film's funner moments that is delightfully underplayed.

Salesman really doesn't have an ending. We basically watch one salesman as he spirals down further and further, his depression showing in his sales calls. I would like to know what happened to him--by the last scenes he seems ready to quit the business. No matter. Theirs is a dated profession, and we're watching a long-gone age. (They even wipe their feet upon entering a person's home, something I haven't seen someone do in twenty years!) The business was destined to end soon, as direct mail, telemarketing and the Internet all but obliterated their profession. And that in a way was what Salesman ended up documenting as well, even though it probably wasn't the filmmakers' intention when they started on the piece.

Speaking of the filmmakers, there's a terrific and informative commentary track by the two men behind the project, Albert and David Maysles. There's also a delightfully cynical trailer and a recent NPR interview with one of the salesmen that unfortunately I didn't have time to listen to.

This is both one of Criterion's best and most unique releases. Thank goodness there's one video company preserving material like this. Criterion is the main reason I own a DVD player anymore. You should watch this even if you're not sure it will interest you, because by the time you reach the end of this pathos-filled time capsule of a film, it will. You'll almost find yourself wishing for a sequel.
September 18, 2007

The most accurate look at the sales grind. Also the Criterion dvd special features listed below

I've been in outside sales for 9 years and this is without doubt as accurate as you can get to the pain of sales as we follow these door to door bible salesman. Movies like Boiler Room and Wall Street glorify it at times and there both good movies but this shows a normal grind it out door to door sales job that is every bit accurate today as it was in the 60s. There is no doubt you can go on huge highs in sales but this is a look at the typical day to day week to week numbers game.
Jeff Shannon does a good job in the Amazon review, I would agree with his point on Jack Lemmon's role in Glengarry Glen Ross is about as close as you can get to touching this documentary. However he points out door to door salesman are now extinct dinosaurs, well I'm 29 and it's still there very much so. Whoever has worked sales for a period of time knows guys like "the badger", "the bull", "the rabbit, and "the gipper.
I also find it interesting how natural directors Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin made this look, it's as if the cameras are not there at all, the first time i viewed this several years ago I didn't realize it was a documentary at first but a movie.
This is one of the best documentary's I've ever seen. Also they best film on sales I have ever seen, Glengarry Glen Ross is also a favorite. This is a must for anyone in sales and film lovers in general.
As usual Criterion does a great job and I've listed the special features below.

Special Features (from the back cover)
-New high-definition digital transfer, with restored picture and sound
-Audio commentary by filmmakes Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin.
-1968 Jack Kroll television interivew with David and Albert Maysles
-The Rabbit on NPR's weekend edition (2000)
-Behind the scenes photographs
-Filmographies
-English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
-Optimal image quality: RSDL dual layer edition.
August 1, 2007

A timeless film about the dual enemies of aging and failure

This film is about the trials and tribulations of four door-to-door Bible salesmen in 1968, on the eve of when their occupation was about to become extinct. Of course, the filmmakers could not know that at the time, but this fact is what adds to the sadness of this film today. The salesmen are four New Englanders named Paul "The Badger" Brennan, James "The Rabbit" Baker, "The Bull" and "The Gipper", their nicknames being derived from their individual sales tactics. Despite the holiness of their products, this really is a cutthroat business, as is made evident in some of the sales meetings that are shown. The main character, "The Badger", reminds me of Jack Lemmon's character in Glengarry Glen Ross. Life - and his profession - have beaten him down, and none of his sales pitches are working as he talks to one indifferent potential customer after another. These guys are always looking for a new angle to make the sale, but usually just about everything they come up with is not successful. Remember, this was in the days when people were unafraid to open their doors to strangers, and equally unafraid to be rude to them. The film not only makes you feel what these unsuccessful salesmen are feeling, it a time capsule for the end of the '60s, and a portrait of an occupation that doesn't really exist anymore due to telemarketing, Internet sales, two-income families meaning nobody is home during the day, and finally the fact that adult strangers on your doorstep are assumed to be potential criminals.

Paul Brennan really seems to have the saddest story of the four. His sales are dwindling, and he is really too old to start over in another occupation. Paul's sales become so poor that at one point that he is partnered with a more aggressive salesman so Paul can observe his technique in the hope that something will rub off on Paul. This younger, sharper salesman, who obviously has not yet developed a tolerance for human frailty, is constantly snapping at Paul for his poor technique and unenthusiastic delivery. If you're an older person who has ever worked for a younger one, you know what I'm talking about. As sorry as you may feel for him though, when we see Paul using the possibly superstitious beliefs of his customers to get them to buy products they may not be able to afford, you have mixed feelings about the man. Is Paul purely being manipulative, or is he resorting to desperate means to survive? Probably a little bit of both is true. Paul realizes that his time as a salesman is coming to a close, and it's not like he has a big bank account to fall back on. Such career struggles are expected when you are in your 20's, but by the time you are Paul's age you are expecting something more...more job stability, more respect, more financial security.

The film does add some humor throughout the film to keep the viewing experience from being too much like a funeral for both Paul's career and the profession of door-to-door salesman itself. Sometimes the salesmen lighten up and even have some comradery in their conversations. Sometimes there is a funny remark from the "no sale" Boston housewives the salesmen encounter, and sometimes there are even funnier remarks from the salesmen as they leave a house where they've been refused. There's also an episode in a hotel pool in the middle of the night that is rather humorous.

I'd say that even though the film has a very dated look to it, you should watch it because what it has to say about the human spirit, aging ungracefully, choosing the wrong career, and then failing at that career is timeless. December 15, 2006

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