Salesman (1969) on Netflix
G19691h 25mDocumentaryDrama
Four salesmen for the Mid-American Bible Company work door to door in low-income neighborhoods, selling large, ornate Bibles. Paul Brennan, called The Badger, struggles to keep up his sales.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.6/106,257 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker and Raymond Martos sell Bibles for the Mid-American Bible Company, traveling through New England and southeast Florida. Known as The Badger, The Gipper, The Rabbit and The Bull, they call at churches first and then visit congregation members at home. Their customers are mostly working class and often cannot afford the large, ornate, illustrated Bibles the men carry. Long stretches on the road keep them away from their families, so they treat one another as family. A company salesmen's meeting carries veiled threats about the possibility of being let go, and constant rejection wears on the men. Brennan, from Jamaica Plain, Boston, has trouble keeping his sales up.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Salesman (1969)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Maysles brothers set out to make the first nonfiction feature film after learning that Truman Capote had claimed his newly released book In Cold Blood was a nonfiction novel.
- In late 1970 Pauline Kael of The New Yorker alleged the production was "set up" and accused the Maysles of recruiting Paul Brennan, who she said was in the roofing and siding business, to play a Bible salesman; the brothers threatened to sue the magazine for libel.
- Salesman was parodied in 2016 as "Globesman", the fourth episode of the second season of the mockumentary series Documentary Now!.
