Does anyone know how this did at the theaters?

Velvet Voice, I am going to watch Salesman tonight after my husband goes to bed as he is not interested in watching it. I, like your husband am fascinated by the smoking, crappy hotel rooms, the cars, everything about this movie. Especially the choice to commit to such a soul destroying way to make a living. I did ask him if he had childhood memories of salesmen and he does remember bible salesmen, insurance salesman ( the kind that sell cheap policies who come weekly to collect the 4 $ premium). Talk about a crappy job. He remembers the Fuller Brush Man as do I and of course vacuum cleaner salesmen.
He is old enough to remember if this played at theaters and does not think it did, at least not in New Orleans.
For my part, I remember selling Girl Scout cookies for 25 cents a box door to door using the buddy system. It was fun and never ran into any creeps. Now my friends call me and ask me how many boxes I want at $4 a box. Their mothers sell them at work. Same with Avon. When i was a child the Avon Lady lived next door lol. I also remember encyclopedia salesmen. My mother bought a set for my sister (9 years my senior) and another one for me. My sister still had hers. Mine are gone with the wind.
I'll close by adding that when I was 18 a vacuum cleaner salesman tried to rape me. I won't say the brand because my post may be removed. I will say I survived because I bought a vacuum cleaner from a door to salesmen mid 80's or so.
Reading these posts about this movie has made me laugh so hard I cried lol. I can't wait to see it properly introduced by Robert Osboune. I had seen it about 5 years ago by accident while channel surfing. Happy Viewing!!!!!

When Maysles brothers tried to find any distributer, none was interested in the film so they had to 'four-wall' themselves for the screening in New York. around hundred people were invited/ came to watch the film at once and it happened several times. They got funded a little bit from somewhere and it wouldn't enough so that they had to pay themselves for most theatres.

I caught this again late-night on TCM. I say 'again' because I had seen it before, although I always miss the beginning.

I am a salesperson; 17 years now. I don't sell door-to-door, but I DO sell Business-to-Business (health insurance and now commercial insurance.) As someone who does this for a living 40 hours a week, here is my take on this film:

1. All the cool '60's stuff aside (get to that in a minute) NOTHING HAS REALLY CHANGED. Not kidding here. The annual sales meeting they had (in Chicago, I think?) reminded me SO much of the sales meetings I attend for various insurance carriers. It's all puffery; big shots getting up and making predictions for how much money they're going to pledge to bring in, managers telling salespeople how important they are and what 'valuable' work they're doing, how all it takes is for you to believe you can do it, all that rah-rah-rah stuff.

2. The actual sales process: Again, nothing new under the sun. The way the guys search around and get lost looking for addresses (happens to me all the time despite on-board GPS and Google Maps on my i-phone), rude people, people who waste your time, people who cannot make a decisions, the objections, the excuses, the waffling...all the same as nowadays, in my opinion.

3. The desparation of the salesmen: OMG, it gave me chills watching Paul. As a salesperson who has 'hit the wall' hundreds of times, I could see myself in him. He started to over-think things, getting angry at people who wouldn't buy, getting caught up on in the details, telling his buddy that he was disgusted, not going to go prospecting in the afternoon: all tell-tale signs he was spiraling downward. I wasn't surprised at all that his production fell off.

4. The lies! Also nothing different here. I personally DON'T lie, but I know lots and lots of salespeople who do. "Hi Mrs. O'Connor, I'm from the CHURCH," "I know a lot of Polish people,", "Oh sure, I'm from Taunton too," "I'm the District Manager, you know." And the best one "We have a salesman who actually pays the first month for his customers, that's how much of a devout Catholic he is."

These guys didn't really have to cold call; they had prospect cards that people filled out in church that then get distributed to them. Probably a free gift of some kind (that crappy poster) and that gets them in the door to then push the Bible, plus the CPE (Catholic People's Encyclopedia.)

5. The boss: Same as the new boss. I wanted to punch that smarmy fat little jerk's face. "I don't want excuses." "Brother, are you trying to help me, because brother, please don't help me." What an obnoxious azz; pretty much like every single sales manager I've known. Loved his buttoned up wife with her beehive hair-do and girdled body.

The things that were totally DIFFERENT than selling nowadays:

1. Driving to prospects is SO MUCH better now that we have Satellite radio, CD players, Bluetooth. I can drive around for hours and listen to books on tape, the Comedy Channel, my old Led Zeppelin CD's...it makes a big difference because sales IS soul-crushing, and anything that keeps you distracted and relaxed is gold.

2. The buying process: The longer the process is drawn out, the more chances for the buyer to change their mind and back out. The way I sell now, everything is done in an instant on a laptop. Once the sale is over, you talk about anything BUT the fact that that person has just parted with their hard-earned dollars. The little coupon books, the wet signatures, the invoicing, UGH, I'm so glad it isn't done that way anymore (well, 99%.)

I loved the '60's stuff...the chain smoking (should have put that under "same stuff" because truthfully, over 1/2 of the salespeople I know smoke due to stress of the job.) The guy playing the instrumental Percy Faith version of a Beatles tune was pricless. Women in curlers, women NOT working during the day, loved it.

So that's my take on it. I agree with the reviewer that this should be compulsory viewing for all people in outside sales. It's a tough way to make a living, but for me, nothing would or could be worse than sitting in a cubicle under fluorescent lights 8 hours a day, so I'm in the right job...