Death of a Salesman (1966)

"Attention must be paid" to this abbreviated but superb 1966 television adaptation by Arthur Miller of his Pulitzer Prize-winning modern tragedy, starring the incomparable Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock recreating their original Broadway roles as the Lomans. In a career-defining performance, Cobb portrays the suffering Willy Loman--the middle-aged man at the end of his emotional rope--with Dunnock equally impressive as his patient wife, Linda. George Segal and James Farentino play their disillusioned sons, Biff and Happy. Shattering and unforgettable, this landmark television production has been digitally remastered and will endure for all generations to come. "In a word, superb." --New York Times. With Gene Wilder as Bernard.

Amazing Masterpiece

Having assembled the vast majority of Broadway Archives and even classic movies, modern and B&W alike.......this along with Jason Robards in "The Iceman Cometh" simply stand alone.

After watching Lee J. Cobb in 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront, certainly you can understand why he was one of the great character actors of his day. But this performance stands alone from anything I have ever seen and heard. It is as powerful, as resonate, as skilled a performance as one can expect. It is said that when an actor can make you feel his pain, his suffereing, think his thoughts beyond the words...that is what happens here, it transcends the work itself almost.

I have seen many and heard many versions of this play (George C. Scott, Dustin Hoffman, Brian Dennehy, Frederich March, even Paul Douglas on cassette), but this creation of Willy Loman belongs only to Mr. Cobb.

The supporting cast is stellar, but they do revolve around this tragic truly American character, akin perhaps even to King Lear in a sense. No one can heap to much praise for this production, you might as well start at the top if you're going to watch the American Stage on DVD in your home. I don't know that we can expect to see something this powerful again. It is that good. March 19, 2008

NOT WILLIE'S TIME

Arthur Miller had a good ear for the foibles and traumas of the ordinary people of the old middle class put up against the wall in a world that was dramatically changing after World War II. The time of the man in the gray flannel suit and the victory of corporate culture that destroyed the old independent professions was not Willie Loman's time. In this play, seemingly only about the trials and tribulations of Everyman Willie Loman a used up salesman at the end of his career, the underlying tension is that he cannot keep up with those changes and therefore has to be discarded. This has a fallout effect on his personal life as well. He does not understand what has happened to destroy the integrity of his dysfunctional nuclear family. The old standards that had guided him do not stand up in the new suburban-dominated world where he must try to survive. Obviously there is some dramatic tension between him and his sons who have in their own way nothing but contempt for the old man, his old ways, his illusions and his duplicity. But also, as is always the case with rebellious children, love, at least their conception of it, as well. That this is not good enough to save him in the end is one of the lessons to be learned from the play. Read the play and see the Lee J. Cobb version of the movie. Cobb is Willie Loman.

June 7, 2007

Mr. Cobb absolutely riveting.

Seeing Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman in this David Susskind produced version is as close as possible to seeing the original play on Broadway, and a far sight better than just about any live production one could find nowadays.

Mr. Cobb's performance is so absorbing, so powerful and so disturbing, that we, (the audience) feel genuinely dazed at its conclusion. It's as though, by the time of the final scene, that we too, are attending Willy's funeral, and all stumble away drained and awed.

The supporting cast are each and all superb, with Mildred Dunnock probably topping anything else in which she has appeared. Set design is also inventive in its combination of abstract and realistic interiors and exteriors.

As to the character of Willy, it is to Mr. Cobb's credit, that for all of his past moral compromises and shabby aspirations, the most honest of us, will admit that we recognize something of ourselves in him.

Theater and television at its best! Thank you Mr. Susskind. (Also interesting to note Karen Steele relegated to a bit role while still such a young woman--what a step down from "Marty.")

June 28, 2006

A Masterful Work and Presentation by Cobb

An insightful play about the realities of life. Cobb gives a standup performance in this classic play equal to none. Actors of his caliber are few and far between. Simply the best performance of this play to date. Lee becomes Willy in a somewhat scary portrayal. It is hard to tell the difference between Lee and Willy. Highly Recommend this version to serious theatre affcianados. June 29, 2004

VINTAGE THEATRE TELEVISION

Startling and ambitious vintage network TV production from 1966 is a heart-breaking and unrelentlessly tragic drama with Lee J. Cobb in such a supoerb performance, you want to reach out and console the troubled sympathetic character. So downbeat as to be almost dismal, the play succeeds in it's grip on the realities of grief and doom and the undying hope of a better tomorrow. The rest of the cast is equally superb and I loved the fake realism of the CBS cameras taping a obviously theatrical set. October 5, 2003

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