GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS’S
most famous scene isn’t in
Glengarry Glen Ross. Which
must have baffled anyone who,
having seen James Foley’s
adaptation of David Mamet’s
Pulitzer-winning piece, ever
picked up the original play,
about a group of embattled real
estate salesmen, and turned to
the opening scene. The one
where a ball-busting executive
called Blake shows up to deliver
an ultimatum that sets the plot,
involving the theft of prime leads,
in motion: step up or ship out.
They’d be baffled because
they wouldn’t find that scene.
It was written specifically for
the movie by Mamet because,
as Baldwin recalls, “There
wasn’t enough of an incentive
for these guys to commit a
crime.” It’s a good thing Mamet
did, because it’s one of the most
iconic speeches in modern
American cinema, filled with
lines that have been quoted and
parodied (including, on a
Saturday Night Liveepisode
about Santa’s elves, by Baldwin
himself ) ad infinitum. “My
name? Fuck you, that’s my
name.” “Coffee is for closers.”
“Third prize is you’re fired.”
“A B C — always be closing.” It’s
a glorious study and takedown
of toxic masculinity, before
that even had a name.
It all hinges on Baldwin,
who came in for two days
towards the end of the shoot
and knocked it out of the park.
As Blake, he is electrifyingand
terrifying as he delivers an
almighty bollocking to some of
America’s finest actors (Jack
Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris).
A dynamic that, apparently, was
echoed off-camera. “Everybody
was very friendly except the
week that Alec Baldwin was
there,” says Foley. “They
isolated him and treated him
like he didn’t exist. They were
responding to him as if he was
Blake, this alpha male who had
arrived on their set.” Baldwin
himself admits that “those guys
certainly didn’t want to hang
out with me at the coffee truck”.
Baldwin had, at one point,
been in contention to play Ricky
Roma, if Al Pacino passed.
Instead, “at the 11th hour”,
Blakecame his way. It wasREVIEW
clearly a peach of a part, but he
felt daunted. “I felt that people
might say, ‘What the hell is this
scene doing in this play that
people love?’” he says. “Later on,
people felt it did work, but going
into it I was kind of concerned.”
Given confidence by Foley
to treat the speech like “you are
Patton, and you’re going to go in
and slap these snivelling cowards
who don’t know how to get the
job done”, Baldwin’s delivery
means the scene is now perhaps
more famous than its parent
film. One unexpected side effect,
though, has been the speech’s
adoption by people wilfully
misreading the character and
text and, as with Gordon Gekko,
saluting the achievements of
a massive prick. “I remember
seeing it had five million hits
on YouTube,” says Foley. “It’s
almost as if they’re seeing it
from the point of view of Blake,
beating these guys down. But
that’s okay. Interestingly
enough, the French title was
‘The Americans’. That put it
into context.” It’s this embrace
of Blake’s ideals, or lack thereof,
that could point to a wider
malaise; one that led, ultimately,
to Trump becoming President.
Still, at least that’s kept Alec
Baldwin in work.CHRIS HEWITTINSTANT
TRIVIA
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1
The title refers to the tracts
of land being peddled by the
salesmen: Glengarry
Highlands and Glen
Ross Farms.2
The play was first performed
in London in 1983, at
the National Theatre.
Jack Shepherd — Wycliffe
himself — played
Ricky Roma, for which he
won the Society Of West
End Theatre award.3
Pacino was the only
member of the cast to
be nominated for an Oscar,
for Best Supporting Actor.
In the event he lost out to
Gene Hackman, who won
forUnforgiven.4
The F-word is said 138
motherfucking times.Glengarry Glen Ross
Alec Baldwin as
Blake, making
no friends but
definitely
influencing
people.How iconic
images came
to lifeAlamy