Salesman Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Mitchell Zwerin Cast: Paul Brennan
DVD - Black & White / Mono / Dolby 5.1 Learn more
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- DVD Release Date: 09/04/2001
- Original Release: 1969
- Rating:
- Sales Rank: 5,226
Scenes
Features
Brilliant new transfer from a restored image, with optimal dual-layer RSDL quality; audio commentary by directors Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin; 1968 Jack Kroll TV interview with directors Albert and David Maysles; a radio interview from 2000 with "The Rabbit" on NPR's Weekend Edition; behind-the-scenes photographs; original theatrical trailer; filmographies
Full Product DetailsScene Index
Side #1 --
0. Chapters
1. "The best seller in the world" [:16]
2. Sales meeting [4:51]
3. Leads and sales [1:59]
4. Humor sells [7:23]
5. A day's end [3:32]
6. Chicago [9:07]
7. Florida [5:09]
8. Role playing [5:44]
9. Lost in Opa Locka [5:46]
10. Pep talk [5:18]
11. The Rabbit [1:17]
12. The Bull [2:43]
13. The Gipper [1:00]
14. The Badger [3:50]
15. Questionable tactics [4:17]
16. Homesick [1:24]
17. Paul strikes out [2:31]
18. Frustration [9:02]
19. Success and failure [2:21]
20. The Gipper assists [7:40]
21. Going home [3:00]
22. Color bars [2:42]
0. Commentary Index
1. Selling and religion
2. Looking for the story
3. Personal connections
4. Gaining Access
5. Influences
6. Setting Paul Apart
7. Camera and sound
8. Direct Cinema
9. Working-class customer
10. Black and white film
11. Nicknames
12. In contrast with Paul
13. Tampering with the customer
14. "It's all about Paul"
15. Taking advantage of decency
16. A naturalc actor
17. The film's cast
18. The power of silence
19. Albert meets his wife
20. An accumulation of frustration
21. Paul sums himself up
22. Color bars
0. Interview chapters
1. Direct Cinema
2. The Subjects
3. Borderline moral territory
4. ''Every con man is a poet"|}|
5. The Maysles approach
6. Triumph and tragedy
7. The effect of the cinema
8. The art of Salesman
Editorial Reviews
Whether peddling vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias, the door-to-door salesman is a uniquely American archetype, and one that comes under fascinating scrutiny in David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin's landmark 1969 documentary, Salesman. This exquisitely crafted film follows four Bible salesmen -- nicknamed "The Badger," "The Gipper," "The Rabbit," and "The Bull" -- as each makes his way to a national sales meeting in Chicago. The Maysles vividly capture their motel-room life on the road and their attempts to inveigle their way into living rooms to promote "the best seller in the world." Perhaps the most moving of the four hawkers is The Badger, who seems caught in the downward spiral of negative thinking that spells doom for a salesman's success. Splendidly photographed in black-and-white, Salesman epitomizes the cinema verité documentary style (also known as "direct cinema") that emerged in the 1960s. Scenes unfold as if the camera weren't present, making the subjects seem unnervingly candid and authentic. With no narrator, no musical score, no talking-head interviews, and no contrived plotline, Salesman feels remarkably intimate. Together with their legendary Rolling Stones documentary, Gimme Shelter, which followed the next year, Salesman solidified the Maysles' position among the great documentary filmmakers, such as D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock. Gregory Baird, Barnes & Noble
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