Death of a Salesman (1951)

Director:

Laslo Benedek

Writers:

Arthur Miller (play)
Stanley Roberts (writer)

Release Date:

9 May 1952 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Past | Lost | Lifestyle | Unemployment | Wife

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Fredric March	...	Willy Loman
Mildred Dunnock	...	Linda Loman
Kevin McCarthy	...	Biff Loman
Cameron Mitchell	...	Happy Loman
Howard Smith	...	Charley
Royal Beal	...	Ben
Don Keefer	...	Bernard
Jesse White	...	Stanley
Claire Carleton	...	Miss Francis
David Alpert	...	Howard Wagner

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Company:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Trivia:

In his autobiography "Timebends", Arthur Miller speculates that his unconscious mind picked the name "Loman" for Willy Loman, the protagonist of "Death of a Salesman", based on his conscious experience of being thrilled by from _Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Das (1933)_, which featured a character named "Inspector Lohmann".

Quotes:

Linda Loman: Attention must finally be paid to such a man. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Samson vs. the Vampire Women (#7.24)" (1995)

A Greek tragedy is pretty heavy-going stuff from Arthur Miller...

Arthur Miller justifiably received a lot of acclaim for his Broadway stage version of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and this film version starring FREDRIC MARCH as Willie Loman is a faithful transfer of that work.

March is outstanding in his portrayal of a bitterly confused man who can't fathom why his life went so wrong, and CAMERON MITCHELL and KEVIN McCARTHY do outstanding work as the sons who are disillusioned by their father's failure. But the most memorable performance, in my estimation, comes from MILDRED DUNNOCK, who would go on to play similarly bitter women in her future roles on screen. But here she is poignant in what has to be one of the best character roles she ever had.

Surprisingly, the film is little seen today, seldom revived and largely forgotten. BRIAN DENNEHY did have success in a recent Broadway version and DUSTIN Hoffman has performed the role on TV. But the Fredric March version deserves to be seen, however heavy-handed the material is.

It's an exhausting experience, a story of one man's failure in life's journey, but dramatically very effective and it still has a lot to say.