Death of a Salesman

Synopsis: An over-the-hill salesman faces a personal turning point when he loses his job and attempts to make peace with his family.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Laslo Benedek
Production: Columbia Pictures
  Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Year:
1951
115 min
10,204 Views


Willy?

Is that you?

It's all right, Linda...

I came back.

I just couldn't make it Linda.

I got as far as a little above Yonkers.

Suddenly I couldn't drive any more.

I'll get you an aspirin...

It'll soothe you.

The car kept going off the road,

you know.

Maybe it's the steering again.

I don't think that new mechanic

knows a thing.

No...

...it's me.

I can't seem to keep my mind on it.

I came back ten miles an hour.

Took me nearly four hours

to get back to Brooklyn.

Willy, you've just got to take a rest.

You can't continue this way.

I've had my vacation this year.

But you didn't rest your mind.

Your mind is overactive...

Your mind is what counts, dear.

So beautiful up there, Linda.

I was even observing the scenery.

Imagine me... on the road

every week of my life.

The trees were so thick...

The sun was so warm

I opened the windshield just to let

the warm air bathe over me.

And all of a sudden I'm goin' off the road!

I'm tellin' ya, I absolutely forgot

I was driving.

Another few seconds...

Such thoughts!

Most extreme thoughts.

Willy, talk to them again.

There's no reason why you

shouldn't work in New York.

No... They don't need me

in New York...

I'm the New England man...

I'm vital in New England.

But you're sixty years old, dear...

They can't expect you to

keep travelling every week.

If old man Wagner was alive, I'd've been

in charge of New York by now.

That man was a prince.

But that son of his, that Howard...

He don't appreciate.

When I went north the first time

the Wagner Company didn't know

where New England was!

Why don't you go down

to the place tomorrow

and tell Howard you've simply

got to work in New York.

You're too accommodating, dear.

God, I will!

I definitely will!

Is that the boys?

Yes...

Happy took Biff on a date tonight.

Yeah?

He's staying over since it's Biff's

first night home.

It was so nice to see them

shaving together...

...one behind the other,

in the bathroom.

And going out together.

You don't say!

Like old times.

You notice? The whole house

smells of shaving lotion.

Willy...

Be careful when you talk to Biff...

You mustn't lose your temper

with him.

Have a big evening?

Yeah... gave Biff a real

homecoming celebration.

Pop... we had 2 of the most beautiful...

Two very fine types, of course.

Hey... what are you doin' back?

Oh... I had to come back...

They gave me the wrong samples.

Hi Biff...

You got a line on a job yet?

Pop... I just got off

the train this morning.

Give me a little time, will you.

So... have ya made up yer mind

to stay... this time?

I don't know.

- Alright... go back then... be a cowboy.

- Willy... please!

I'm tryin'...

Leave me alone, will ya.

Dear bronco-buster!

Enjoy yourself.

That all ya ever wanna be?

Farm hand?

Stop worryin' about 'im, Pop...

He's gonna be terrific!

Get a good night's rest, huh?

G'night, mom.

You shouldn't've criticised him, dear.

Criticised him?...

I just asked him a question.

Is that a criticism?

Theres such an undercurrent in him.

He became a moody man.

I think if he finds himself,

then you'll both be happier

and not fight any more.

Not finding yourself at the age of 34

is a disgrace!

In the beginning, when he was young

I thought, well... a young man...

its good for him to tramp around...

...take a lot of odd jobs.

But its more than ten years now...

and he's yet to make $35 a week!

The trouble is hes lazy!

Willy... please!

Why'd he come home again?

I'd like to know what brought him home.

I think hes still lost.

I think hes very lost.

Biff Loman is lost!

In the greatest country in the world

a young man with such

personal attractiveness

gets lost.

Remember how they used to

follow him around in high school?

When he smiled at one of them

their faces lit up.

When he walked down the street...

Willy!

Why don't you open a window in here?

They're all open, dear.

The way they boxed us in here.

Bricks and windows...

...windows and bricks.

They shouldve had a law

against apartment houses.

Theres not a breath of fresh air

in the neighborhood.

The grass dont grow any more...

you cant raise a carrot in the back yard.

Remember those two beautiful

red oaks out there?

When I and Biff hung a swing

between them?

More and more I think

of those days, Linda.

This time of year it was lilac

and wisteria.

What fragrance in this room!

They shouldve arrested the builder

for cutting down those trees.

They should...

Go down and get something to eat, dear.

Youre my foundation

and my support, Linda.

Just try to relax, dear.

You make mountains

out of mole-hills.

I wont fight with him any more.

Hell find his way.

Certain men just dont get started

till later in life.

Like Thomas Edison...

I think.

Or B. F. Goodrich.

I know one of them was deaf.

I'll have a nice talk with him

in the morning.

I'll get him a job selling.

He can be big in no time.

Willy... if it's warm on Sunday,

we'll drive out in the country.

And open the windshield,

and take lunch.

The windshields dont open

on the new cars.

Why, you opened it today.

Me?... I didnt.

Now isnt that peculiar!

Isnt that a remarkable thing...

That is the most remarkable thing.

What, darling?

I was thinking of that old sedan... 1928

when we had that green sedan.

Funny...

You coulda sworn I was

driving that car today.

Something mustve reminded you.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Arthur Miller

Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and figure in twentieth-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955, revised 1956). He also wrote several screenplays and was most noted for his work on The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman has been numbered on the short list of finest American plays in the 20th century alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee; and was married to Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, Miller received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Prince of Asturias Award and the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2002 and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award. more…

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