The cult classic Salesman follows four door-to-door Bible salesmen as they walk the line between hype and despair. Their mission is simple: to convince people to buy what one of them calls "still the best seller in the world."
Salesman was the first full-length film that the pioneer documentary filmmakers the Maysles brothers released, and it follows four Irish Catholic Bible salesmen from the Boston area as they peddle their wares to working class customers in New England and parts of Florida. The most telling ethical dilemma in the film turns out not to be the transformation of the gospel into a commodity, but the realization that success in the marketplace requires the obliteration of self-consciousness or self-criticism.
Producers/Directors: Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin
Contributing Film Editor: Ellen Giffard
"I was spellbound. I've seen Salesman three times and each time I've been more impressed. Fascinating, very funny, unforgettable."
- Vincent Camby, The New York Times
"Eloquent, and genuinely funny. No other land could have imaginably produced this picture."
- Penelope Gilliatt, The New Yorker
"Greater insight into America than all the Broadway shows I've seen this season."
- Harold Clurman, The Nation
If you would like to explore films with similar themes, please click on Christianity, Multifaith or Spirituality.