History Trivia / GlengarryGlenRoss

* Expy: Creator/JackLemmon's portrayal of the down on his luck, sad sack, salesman Shelly Levene went on to inspire the down on his luck, sad sack, salesman Ol' Gil Gunderson on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

* ReferencedBy: Music/FallOutBoy titled their song "(Coffee's for Closers)" after Baldwin's famous speech from this film.

* NamesTheSame: The salesmen are selling land in "Rio Rancho" that is implied to be rather worthless. It's unclear whether this is supposed to be the real Rio Rancho in New Mexico or if it's just a fictional, generic location. At the time the play was written, Rio Rancho, NM, was basically just parcels in the desert, but by the mid-90s it had become a thriving suburb of Albuquerque. In other words, buying land there would have been one hell of a good investment!

* WordOfDante: Creator/AlanArkin turned down the film twice because he thought Aaronow was a stupid, inherently unlikable character. Upon reconsideration, Arkin created a backstory for Aaronow; he hadn't been a salesman very long, he was a teacher by trade, but the school in which he worked was shut down, and he needed to support his family. Arkin says that he played Aaronow as an innocent, rather that his usual stage depiction as a weak-willed bumbler.

* Music/FallOutBoy titled their song "(Coffee's for Closers)" after Baldwin's famous speech from this film.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
** Everyone uses payphones instead of cellphones. This could also apply to the leads being typed on index cards instead of just emailed or otherwise electronically conveyed to the sales staff.
** The idea of breaking into the office to steal the leads would, today, require computer hacking since there's no way the main copy (or probably any copy) of the leads would be on paper. While one could re-write the play to have them on a flash drive, it's far more likely they'd be kept in a folder on the company's server, accessible only by those with permission.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/JoeMantegna (who played Roma in the original stage play), Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/BruceWillis all made inquiries about being in the film. Creator/TomBerenger talked to director James Foley about the possibility of playing the role of David Moss, but Foley wanted Creator/EdHarris.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/JoeMantenga, Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/BruceWillis all made inquiries about being in the film. Creator/TomBerenger talked to director James Foley about the possibility of playing the role of David Moss, but Foley wanted Creator/EdHarris.

* BillingDisplacement: Creator/AlPacino was insistent on being top-billed in the film, although his role is noticeably smaller and less important than Creator/JackLemmon's. It is worth noting that, when Oscar nominations were subsequently announced, Lemmon got a nomination as "Best Actor", but Pacino, despite his billing, was nominated as "Best Supporting Actor".

* Creator/FallOutBoy titled their song "(Coffee's for Closers)" after Baldwin's famous speech from this film.

* CastTheRunnerUp: When it seemed as though negotiations with Pacino's management had stalled, Creator/AlecBaldwin (who had already been cast as Blake) asked to be considered for the part of Ricky Roma should Pacino ultimately prove unavailable.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/BruceWillis all made inquiries about being in the film.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Everyone uses payphones instead of cellphones. This could also apply to the leads being typed on index cards instead of just emailed or otherwise electronically conveyed to the sales staff.

* ExecutiveMeddling: [[TropesAreNotBad A positive example]] - the executives felt the film needed more exposition than the play did. The result was Blake's scene. Additionally, the film improves the pacing by interweaving all the first act subplots (they happen one after another in the play), and emphasizes how badly Levene is struggling by showing his failed sits and calls, which didn't happen on stage.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/BruceWillis all made inquiries about being in the film.

* CastTheRunnerUp: When it seemed as though negotiations with Pacino's management had stalled, Alec Baldwin (who had already been cast as Blake) asked to be considered for the part of Ricky Roma should Pacino ultimately prove unavailable.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/RichardGere and Creator/BruceWillis all made inquiries about being in the film.

** When it seemed as though negotiations with Pacino's management had stalled, Alec Baldwin (who had already been cast as Blake) asked to be considered for the part of Ricky Roma should Pacino ultimately prove unavailable.

** When it seemed as though negotiations with Pacino's management had stalled, Alec Baldwin (who had already been cast as Blake), asked to be considered for the part of Ricky Roma should Pacino ultimately prove unavailable.

* PlayingAgainstType: Shelly Levene was such a departure for Creator/JackLemmon that he initially was going to decline, feeling like he wouldn't be able to get to the abrasive depths needed for Levene.

** When it seemed as though negotiations with Pacino's management had stalled, Alex Baldwin (who had already been cast as Blake), asked to be considered for the part of Ricky Roma should Pacino ultimately prove unavailable.

* PlayingAgainstType: Shelly Levene was such a departure for Jack Lemmon that he initially was going to decline, feeling like he wouldn't be able to get to the abrasive depths needed for Levene.

* NamesTheSame: The salesmen are selling land in "Rio Rancho" that is implied to be rather worthless. It's unclear whether this is supposed to be the real Rio Rancho in New Mexico or if it's just a fictional, generic location.
** If it is the real Rio Rancho in New Mexico then it's a hilarious in hindsight as at the time the play was written Rio Rancho was basically just parcels in the desert. By the mid-90's it had become a thriving suburb of Albuquerque and home to a very profitable Intel plant. So in other words investing in it would have been one hell of a good investment!

** If it is the real Rio Rancho in New Mexico then it's a hilarious in hindsight as at the time the play was written Rio Rancho was basically just parcels in the desert. By the mid-90's it had become a thriving suburb of Albuquerque and home to a very profitable Intel plant (Which was built by Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson's construction firm). So in other words investing in it would have been one hell of a good investment!

* AwesomeDearBoy: Most of the name actors took pay cuts to be a part of the production and everyone was so enthusiastic about each other's work that reportedly cast members came in on their days off just to watch the shoot.