Glengarry Glen Ross

David Mamet asked $500,000 for the rights to his play and $500,000 more for the screenplay; the producers paid it. No major studio would fund it, so the money came together over four years from cable and video companies, a German television station, an Australian cinema chain, banks and New Line Cinema. The cast cut their fees. Al Pacino came down from $6 million a picture to $1.5 million, Jack Lemmon took $1 million, Alec Baldwin $250,000. After three weeks of rehearsal, James Foley shot the film in 39 days from August 1991. Baldwin’s Blake is not in the play; he was written for this actor and this film. The city is never named: the dialogue lists Chicago streets while the images show the New York subway, NYPD cars and New York plates. Lemmon took the Volpi Cup for best actor at the Venice premiere and the National Board of Review prize in the same category. Pacino was nominated for supporting actor at the Oscars, where he won lead actor for Scent of a Woman. A good fit if you want to see where a stage play grows on the way to film, starting with the Blake scene written for the screen. Not for anyone who needs the city named, or wants more than four desks and a bar.