Salesman
dir. David Maysles · 1969
Plot
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.
Why watch
A group of door-to-door salesmen, each with their own quirks and struggles, traverse the quiet streets of small-town America, desperately trying to sell gold-leaf Bibles to uninterested housewives and elderly couples. Watching this film feels like stepping into a world where dreams of success clash with the harsh realities of economic hardship, revealing the fragility of human ambition and connection.