Sales on Screen: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
It’s hard to believe that Alec Baldwin’s turn as Blake in this 1992 classic wasn’t in the original script. Everyone in this stuffed-to-the-gills-with-star-power film is firing at full capacity, but it’s Baldwin’s roughly seven and a half minutes on screen (he emerge’s from the office of John Williamson — played by the disgraced Kevin Spacey — at 8:17 and returns to the office at 15:48 in the version I watched) that captivates like few other sequences in the film.
With iconic lines used on sales floors ever since, like “coffee’s for closers only,” (often misremembered as “coffee is for closers”), “A-B-C. A—Always. B—Be. C—Closing,” (also often misremembered as the simpler “Always be closing”), and “First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired,” it is a scene packed with intensity and staying power. It’s like the corporate version of the car chase from Bullitt (1968).
Though that sequence burns so brightly, it’s not like the rest of the film is dull — not by a long shot. How could it be with such a star-studded cast? There’s Al Pacino at his intense and shouty best, Jack Lemmon in all his late-career sympathetic grandeur, and Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Pryce all delivering at the top of their games as well (Jack Lemmon was recognized at the Venice Film Festival for his performance and Al Pacino was nominated as best supporting actor at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes).
The film wasn’t a commercial success upon release. Watching it, it’s not a surprise. The movie is very “play like,” very much a stage production filmed — which it was. David Mamet, the screenwriter, adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 play for the screen. There are limited sets and you really have to pay attention to the dialogue to understand the plot, conflicts, and beats of the story. It’s not a “popcorn movie” and one that, if you watch it at home, you’ll want to put your cellphone in the other room before watching to avoid getting distracted and thus lost.
The title of the film also probably didn’t help with commercial success. If people have even heard of the movie, they remember the title as “Glen-something…” or “Glengarry…” at best (the title is a combination of the names of the two real estate developments the sales people are trying to sell: Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms). According to Harris, the cast would refer to the movie as “Death of a Fuckin’ Salesman” — more memorable for sure.
As far as plotting, the plot largely exists to hang the big performances on. Underperforming real estate sales reps at a satellite office of Premier Properties are given an ultimatum: sell or get fired. Desperation leads to underhanded sales tactics, the theft of promising leads, and plenty of interpersonal conflict.
Should you watch this movie? Yes, even if it’s just to understand where the references you keep hearing come from. Expect big performances, quotable lines, and to keep saying to yourself “wow, is everyone in this film?”
