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Salesman

Play trailer Poster for Salesman G,  1969,  1h 30m,  Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 100% 26 Reviews Tomatometer 89% 1,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
This documentary from Albert and David Maysles follows the bitter rivalry of four door-to-door salesmen working for the Mid-American Bible Company: Paul "The Badger" Brennan, Charles "The Gipper" McDevitt, James "The Rabbit" Baker and Raymond "The Bull" Martos. Times are tough for this hard-living quartet, who spend their days traveling through small-town America, trying their best to peddle gold-leaf Bibles to an apathetic crowd of lower-middle-class housewives and elderly couples.

Critics Reviews

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Joe Morgenstern Newsweek Jul 6, 2022
It is a slippery item to define and delimit. Among many other things -- fact, fiction, quasi-fact, quasi-fiction -- Salesman is a reasonably satisfying story about one of the salesmen, Paul Brennan. Go to Full Review
Peter Keough Boston Globe Apr 20, 2020
"Salesman" presents an archetype of America, epitomized by Brennan's face - shot in candid close-up, blank with desperation, wizened with sardonic glee, or twisted with terror and rage, it is as close to reality as cinema can get. Go to Full Review
Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice Jan 24, 2018
Salesman's milieu of motels and pork-pie hats may have passed, but its broader diagnosis has lost none of its truth. Go to Full Review
Pat Padua Washington City Paper Sep 18, 2026
Boldly depicts a long gone America, Brennan’s weathered features expressing a weariness and despair even as he perfectly imitates the lilting brogue of an Irish grandmother declining to purchase his wares. Go to Full Review
Jacob Brackman Esquire Magazine Aug 12, 2020
Salesman is an important kind of film experience; it is also, you've gathered by now, a profoundly depressing one. Go to Full Review
Nathanael Hood The Retro Set Jun 23, 2020
9/10
It's so detached from the outside world that it might as well be from a different planet. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Poe P Apr 9, 2019 The ideal partner for this fly-on-the-wall documentary would be Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. The same desperation and exploitation of vulnerable people (customers and salesmen both), the boredom and slog of chasing impossible targets while feigning cheerfulness in shared third rate motels. Sad, bleakly funny, and a wonderful microcosmic snapshot of the emptiness of the American Dream. See more
Poe P Oct 19, 2017 Absolutely fantastic!
Luke L Mar 12, 2017 Deeply strange, heartbreaking, beautiful. a masterpiece of a kind.
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Salesman

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Albert Maysles

Director

David Maysles

Director

Charlotte Zwerin

Director

Jamie Baker

Self

Paul Brennan

Self

Melbourne I. Feltman

Actor

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Salesman

Salesman (1969) Salesman (1969) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis This documentary from Albert and David Maysles follows the bitter rivalry of four door-to-door salesmen working for the Mid-American Bible Company: Paul "The Badger" Brennan, Charles "The Gipper" McDevitt, James "The Rabbit" Baker and Raymond "The Bull" Martos. Times are tough for this hard-living quartet, who spend their days traveling through small-town America, trying their best to peddle gold-leaf Bibles to an apathetic crowd of lower-middle-class housewives and elderly couples.
Director
Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
Producer
Albert Maysles, David Maysles
Distributor
Maysles Films
Production Co
Maysles Films
Rating
G
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 17, 1969, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm
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