I’ll tell you about a film that was destined to be an epic fail, yet somehow succeeded thanks to its actors.
Of course, I’m talking about the cult movie Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
The film follows two days in the lives of some salesmen at a real estate office as they are told that some of them might be fired.
Fall asleep yet?
The film was being produced by B movie producers Jerry Tokofsky and Stanley Zupnik. Now, unless you personally know these guys, you’ve probably never heard of them.
The story was based on a Broadway play, and legendary director Irvin Kershner (Empire Strikes Back) took an interest in the project in the mid-80s after having seen the play. Unfortunately, no film studio wanted to finance the film, and Kershner dropped out. That seemed to be the end of it.
Having put up $1 million for the rights to the play, Tokofsky and Zupnik didn’t want to give up so easily. By desperately pitching the script to everyone they could think of, they were slowly able to scrape together some funding. In the end, the movie was financed by a hodgepodge of cable and video companies, a German television station, an Australian movie theater chain, some banks and New Line Cinema.
The director was James Foley, whose only claim to fame was having directed a few music videos for Madonna. Foley was sceptical of the entire project, and didn’t think the movie would work unless they could get some really good actors to join.
Tokofsky contacted rising star Alec Baldwin, begging him to star in the film.
The producers didn’t have enough money to pay Baldwin, but somehow convinced him to read the script. After reading it, he was sold.
I’ve read 25 scripts and nothing is as good as this. OK. If you make it, I’ll do it.
Baldwin agreed to star in the film for only $250,000, much less than his usual fee.
However, they needed more actors. The Broadway story was centered around an ensemble cast. Together, they met up with none other than the legend that is Jack Lemmon.
Lemmon was also forced to take a significant pay cut, receiving $1 million for his role. Yet, he was convinced by Baldwin’s sales pitch and after briefly reading the script.
Now, the film had some real star power, and the three of them – Tokofsky, Baldwin and Lemmon – were able to set up meetings with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
They were able to get Al Pacino to sign up for only $1.5 million, even though he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time.
Rumors started going around, and suddenly everyone wanted to star in this B movie.
They signed Kevin Spacey…
…and Alan Arkin…
…and Ed Harris.
So here’s our final ensemble:
Spacey, Pacino, Lemmon, Baldwin, Arkin, Harris.
Are you kidding me?!
That’s like a who’s who of some of the finest actors in Hollywood. Between them, they have been nominated for 27 Oscars and won 6.
So did Glengarry Glen Ross turn out to be a good movie? Of course it did. It’s basically a bunch of guys sitting around an office, talking. But with actors of this caliber, you can make anything seem interesting. Every performance by the lead roles is magnificent. Some of the scenes are simply electric.
Unfortunately, the movie ended up losing money. Because, like I said, it just doesn’t sound very interesting on paper. But those who found their way to the cinema weren’t disappointed.
Finally, I should add that the script by David Mamet was really good, too. That’s what convinced all these actors to star in the movie in the first place. Mamet actually won a Pulitzer prize for it.