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    A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film)
    A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film)
    A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film)
    Ebook45 pages33 minutes

    A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film)

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for James Foley "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film), excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateMay 15, 2018
    ISBN9781410393371
    A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film)

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      A Study Guide for James Foley's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (lit-to-film) - Gale

      17

      Glengarry Glen Ross

      James Foley

      1992

      Introduction

      Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 film combining elements of drama, realism, crime caper, and dark comedy, directed by James Foley and adapted for the screen by David Mamet from his 1983 stage play of the same name. The film was a commercial failure whose earnings at the box office fell short of its budget. Nevertheless, this tale of four desperate, temperamental real estate salesmen struggling to survive in a company devoid of morals won praise from many critics for its dialogue, mood, tone, and ensemble cast.

      The play on which the film is based opened in 1983 in London; its US premiere the following year in Chicago, followed by a production on Broadway, earned Mamet a Pulitzer Prize, among others. His previous work for the stage had been produced off Broadway and, while receiving positive attention from critics, did not approach the success of Glengarry Glen Ross, which, along with many subsequent stage plays and screenplays, has won Mamet a reputation as a master of American drama.

      Over the course of two days the story's four salesmen use every trick at their disposal (fraud, conspiracy, burglary, etc.) to maintain their unstable positions in the merciless company that employs them. They themselves are an unstable mix of pride and bravado, fear, envy, ruthlessness, and often uncontrolled rage. The tale is bleak and the settings claustrophobic, but it transcends its base material with dark humor and an ear for ultrarealistic dialogue. Readers should be aware that both the play and the film are notorious for their copious profanity and controversial for two passages involving racism toward Indian Americans. Mamet dropped these two passages for the play's 2005 revival.

      Plot Summary

      The Film Opens In A Phone Booth, Glowing Red In A Darkened Hallway, At A Chinese Restaurant As Shelley Levene, An Older, Careworn Real Estate Agent, Talks Reassuringly To His Daughter, Who Is In A Hospital With A Serious But Unnamed Condition. A Younger Fellow Agent, Dave Moss, Takes Over The Booth Next To Levene'S And Makes A Phone Call To A Prospective Buyer, Becoming Briefly Belligerent As The Camera Tracks Back And Forth Between The Two Men.

      (This scene and the remaining scenes in the restaurant are a significant rewrite by Mamet of the original scene in his play, which opened with Levene and the office manager, John Williamson, arguing about leads. The opening moments, in which Levene talks to his daughter, emphasize her position in his life; they raise the stakes for his success, since her care depends on his ability to pay for it and make him a much more sympathetic character.)

      In the restroom, Moss confronts

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