#265 | Is ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ Better on the Stage or Screen?—David Mamet’s 1983 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Masterpiece on Greed, Morality, and What We Do to Each Other to Get Ahead
Quick SUMMARY:
In this slight tweak on “Novel vs Movie,” Douglas Vigliotti explores David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross”, comparing its original play, the 1992 film adaptation, and the written script. Vigliotti discusses the story’s themes of greed, morality, and self-interest, emphasizing the unique power of Mamet’s dialogue and the story’s lean nature. Spoiler alert: he argues that reading the script offers the purest experience of the work. Vigliotti also reflects on the importance of separating art from the artist’s personal views.
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction to the Episode (00:09) - Host introduces the podcast, its mission, and the focus on "Glengarry Glen Ross" as play vs. movie.
Newsletter Reminder (01:20) - Brief mention of the companion newsletter and how listeners can subscribe for episode summaries and recommendations.
David Mamet’s Influence and Artistic Separation (01:50) - Host discusses Mamet’s impact, his works, and the importance of separating art from the artist’s personal life.
Background on "Glengarry Glen Ross" (03:30) - Overview of the play’s history, its Pulitzer win, and recent Broadway adaptation that inspired this episode.
Movie Adaptation and Cast (04:11) - Details about the 1992 film adaptation, its star-studded cast, and the addition of Alec Baldwin’s character.
Plot Summary and Themes (04:50) - Summary of the story, its focus on real estate salesmen, and exploration of greed, morality, and self-interest.
Iconic Movie Scenes and Quotes (06:44) - Discussion of memorable lines from the film, especially Alec Baldwin’s speech, and their cultural impact.
Play vs. Movie: Structure and Dialogue (08:02) - Comparison of the play’s lean structure and dialogue with the movie, emphasizing the power of Mamet’s writing.
Why Reading the Script is Best (09:15) - Host argues that reading the script is the purest way to experience the story, focusing on Mamet’s words.
Favorite Quotes and Final Reflections (09:50) - Host shares favorite quotes from the script and reflects on their meaning and personal impact.
Closing Remarks and Contact Info (10:43) - Host wraps up, encourages subscribing, shares contact info, and promotes his new book and the podcast newsletter.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do so. This week I have an interesting riff on Novel vs Movie, and it's actually Play vs Movie. And of course, a play and a movie for that matter, is derived from a script, and the script is available to read in paperback. You can buy it on Amazon or wherever you can find it. The title is “Glengarry Glen Ross” and it was written by David Mamet. The original production was done in 1983 at the National Theatre in London, but it has been revived many times over the years in the States, on Broadway, and so on and so forth. And then, of course, there was the 1992 movie that was also written by David Mamet and directed by James Foley. Before I get into any more about this story, why I'm sharing it, and why I'm doing this episode. I did want to quickly remind you about the companion newsletter that goes with this podcast, and that's just a once-a-month email that rounds up all of the episodes from that month with summaries, all of the best quotes from the book, along with additional book recommendations and some helpful links. So if that sounds like something that would interest you, all you have to do is visit the website BooksforMen.org.
01:28 - All right, so now let me turn back to “Glengarry Glen Ross” by David Mamet. So I featured Mamet on the podcast before, and there's probably been no single individual aside from Aristotle who has taught me more about story than Mamet, and I just have such great respect for his work. I've read probably 6 or 7 of his plays, “American Buffalo”, “Oleanna”, “Speed the Plow”. You may have heard or seen the movie adaptations of these, and I have also read much of his non-fiction work. That's actually what I shared on the podcast. The book. True and false. Back in, I don't know. Sometime in 2024, I believe I will link that in the show notes. Now, I should just quickly mention that whatever you think of David Mamet's current politics, which you may or may not agree with, he's pretty outspoken at this point in his life. But no matter what you think of that, if you are using that as a reason why you would engage with someone's work, I'd probably suggest finding a better metric, because turning over stones for any artist will probably leave you troubled.
02:40 - And sometimes it's that very thing that you despise that actually leads to the point of view necessary to create something honest. And I think whether you agree with David Mamet, like David Mamet, this is what has lent itself to such powerful work. Of course, this is an entirely different subject for another day, but I had to throw that in there because for me, I separate the artist from the art, and I want to model that and advocate that to you as well. And when I say artists from the art, I literally mean the artist's life, their philosophical ideas, what they've done experientially, all of that informs the art. But the art itself is, in my eyes, good or bad, on its own merit. I should pull it back to this story and say that this brilliant 1983 play, “Glengarry Glen Ross”, won a Pulitzer, and I recently saw the latest Broadway adaptation with Bill Burr, Bob Odenkirk, and Kiernan Culkin. And this is what led me to want to do this slight tweak on movie versus novel and do movie verse play, which includes the script, something I alluded to at the top of this episode, along with the fact that it was turned into a movie in the 90s and written by Mamet and directed by James Foley, who notably directed movies like “Fear,” “The Chamber”, and the “50 Shades” sequels, more recently. He passed away, I think, a few years back.
04:17 - But the movie version of “Glengarry Glen Ross” featured a star-studded cast Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Alec Baldwin, whose character only appears in the movie. And this is to raise the stakes and make it more cinematic. And the addition of this character provided many memorable quotes. But this is why I raise the question: what is better, the movie or the play? Before I answer that, I did want to tell you a little bit about what the story is. In case you're unfamiliar. So essentially, it's a small-stakes story about four Chicago real estate salesmen who are competing with each other in a cutthroat competition for a Cadillac, and to achieve success, really and ultimately not get fired, leading to many questionable business practices and tactics that challenge the morals of not just the characters, but of the audience. And I think that's the true power in this story and of all stories, is it holds up a mirror to the viewer, asking them to reflect on their own lives.
05:22 - What are they willing to do, or what are you willing to do for money to get ahead? Who are you willing to sell out? At? What lengths are you willing to go to achieve the things that you want? And how blurry do the lines get when it comes to morality and friendship, and lying? And no matter the stakes of a story, all great art does this. It holds that mirror up to the consumer. And “Glengarry Glen Ross” is no different. It's really a sharp analysis on greed, but not of the Gordon Gekko variety. More like small-time greed. You and me stuff. It's about the fragile nature of loyalty inside a capitalistic culture. And maybe most importantly, it's about the true meaning of self-interest combined with desperation. And the movie stays true to the plot and the dialogue for the most part. As you might expect, since Mamet adapted the screenplay himself. But there was that addition of Alec Baldwin's character, Blake, who provided what is now an iconic opening scene, which many know as the “always be closing” scene.
06:44 - I mean, if you walk onto any sales floor today, you'll probably hear lines from this speech still being thrown around, things like: “First prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.” Or when he says the iconic line “Coffees is for closers only”, and he tells the person to “put the coffee down”, or the famous “A.B.C. Always be closing,” and he goes, “Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you. Go home, play with your kids. You want to work here? Close!” It's really just to show the brutal nature of what we do to get ahead and the pressure that we're under psychologically, perhaps metaphorically, literally, to achieve in the capitalistic culture that we have created for ourselves. So while that is probably the biggest differentiator of the movie, I'd say the strength and power of the play is that it's very lean. It only has two sets, the restaurant and the office. So even in what most would consider to be a tight movie, the play is even tighter.
08:02 - Both are dialogue-heavy, vulgar, but it's extremely necessary, in my opinion, to depict and show what Mamet is trying to show in an honest way. Neither mince words. Even the throwaway lines could probably be the best lines in other movies. It sort of goes without saying, but the acting in most cases, in both the theatrical version that I saw in the cinematic version is phenomenal. But for me, the words and their rhythm are what make this story really come alive. And without them, it's sort of nothing. And in both versions, this pitter-patter can be lost at times. And it's why I think that neither the film nor the play is the best way to engage with this story, even with that iconic edition of the character Blake? For me, the best is to simply read the 100-page script, which is available in paperback. Reading it removes all the externalities, which could be said for any movie or play, really, but it allows you to focus on the words and what makes this story truly great.
09:15 - It's such a great example of less being more and still being extremely powerful, and I didn't really grasp that until I read the script in isolation, having seen both the movie and the play, of course. And I'll close this episode by sharing just two of my favorite quotes. The first one is from Richard Roma, who in the movie is played by Al Pacino, and he says: “What is our life? It's looking forward or it's looking back. And that's our life. That's it. Where's the moment?” So powerful and so poignant. In another quote that I love, which is pretty iconic, is when he says, “You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is.” I think when you zoom out and place this lens on your own life, sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut until you know the angle you're coming at something from. Okay, so that's all I've got. I hope you enjoyed this slight tweak on movie versus novel, movie versus play. And of course, I encouraged you to read the script because I think that it's the best way to really get the essence of what this story is and strip away all of the spectacle and externalities and allow the meaning of the work to truly land.
10:43 - Having said that, I want to remind you that if you are a regular listener of this podcast, please click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. It is the best way for new listeners to find the show and in return, inspire more men to read. If you want to reach out to me, there are two ways that you can do so: on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have or via my website DouglasVigliotti.com. I do have a new book out that is titled “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. And if you are interested in learning more about that, you could visit the website AristotleforNovelists.com. All of these links will be in the show notes. Last but not least, I wanted to thank you so much for listening. And if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for the newsletter that I mentioned at the top of this episode, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.
