Trivia / Glengarry Glen Ross

• All-Star Cast: The Movie. Every actor with more than two lines is a veteran or star.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: 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 on the film that reportedly cast members came in on their days off just to watch the shoot.
• Billing Displacement: Al Pacino was insistent on being top-billed in the film, although his role is noticeably smaller and less important than Jack Lemmon's. It is worth noting that, when Oscar nominations were subsequently announced, Pacino, despite his billing, was nominated as "Best Supporting Actor". As a point of comparison, Pacino had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather while Marlon Brando had been nominated for (and won) Best Actor, despite the fact that Pacino had significantly more screen time than Brando and was functionally the movie's protagonist (and this angered Pacino at the time).
• Cast the Runner-Up: When it seemed as though negotiations with Al 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.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Jack Lemmon said the cast was the greatest acting ensemble he had ever been part of. This is also both director James Foley's and Alec Baldwin's favorite film of their own.
• Executive Meddling: 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.
• Expy: Jack Lemmon'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 The Simpsons.
• Playing Against Type: 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. It ended up becoming one of his most acclaimed performances of his fifty-year career, and one of the roles for which he is best-remembered.
• Production Nickname: During the production, the actors referred to this film as Death of a Fuckin' Salesman.
• Saved from Development Hell: Originally, director Irvin Kershner wanted to turn the play into a film in 1985, and he persuaded his friend, producer Jerry Tokofsky, to read it. Tokofsky loved it, and contacted his associate Stanley R. Zupnik with a view to making a movie of the play with Kershner directing and Tokofsky and Zupnik producing. Kershner ultimately left the project in 1989 after becoming disillusioned with the lack of progress, but Tokofsky and Zupnik remained on-board.
• Self-Adaptation: David Mamet adapted his own play for the big screen.
• Technology Marches On:
  • 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.
• What Could Have Been: Beau Bridges, John Cusack, Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, Joe Mantegna (who played Roma in the original stage play), Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis all made inquiries about being in the film. Tom Berenger talked to director James Foley about the possibility of playing the role of David Moss, but Foley wanted Ed Harris.
• Word of Saint Paul: Alan Arkin 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.
• Write What You Know: David Mamet based his original play on his own experience working in a real estate office in the 1970s, when he was a struggling playwright. He was the office manager who gave out sales leads and handled the paperwork.

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