49.95 U.S. Dollars (which is what the Bibles sold by the salesmen cost in 1965-66, when the film was shot) is the equivalent of $407.15 in 2019.
Albert Maysles and David Maysles had themselves worked as door-to-door salesmen, selling brushes and encyclopedias.
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992.
In 1970, Pauline Kael, the influential film critic for "The New Yorker", accused the Maysles brothers of staging the scenes and having the subjects act their parts as salesmen. Kael also claimed that the Maysles recruited Paul Brennan to portray a Bible salesman, even though he was really in the roofing and siding business. The Maysles threatened Kael and the magazine with a lawsuit, and wrote a letter to the editor refuting Kael's accusations, pointing out that Kael could have confirmed Brennan's employment by calling The American Bible Company. The letter didn't surface until the 1990s, since "The New Yorker" doesn't publish letters to the editor.
The audio commentary that Paul Brennan thought of himself as an actor after the film and him telling her so contributed to Kael's misunderstanding. He was offered a role in a film shooting in Spain after he was seen in Salesman, but turned it down because the part wasn't big enough.
The audio commentary that Paul Brennan thought of himself as an actor after the film and him telling her so contributed to Kael's misunderstanding. He was offered a role in a film shooting in Spain after he was seen in Salesman, but turned it down because the part wasn't big enough.
The boxing match that is playing in the motel room is the middleweight heavy weight championship between Nino Benvenuti and Emile Griffith.