The short comes off like a parody—you probably best know that old timey accent and narration from government propaganda films. It also kind of has a point. Of all possible lives you could have in 1951, being an American salesman was surely one of the more promising ones. Some salesmen do succeed. If someone’s talking about Death of Salesman to a class of 1950s college students studying sales (that’s what happens in the short), it might make sense to give a speech just like the one Columbia filmed.
But Columbia didn’t film this for sales students. They wanted to air the short before every single screening of Death of a Salesman. They wanted to air a short that would explicitly undermine the film (even if the speaker ends by saying “I hope you will see this film, Death of a Salesman“). Arthur Miller was furious, of course. “Why the hell did you make the picture if you’re so ashamed of it?” he demanded.
He threatened to sue, not just on the vague grounds of artistic integrity but because he owned a share of the film, so if they were sabotaging it, that would hurt him directly. In the end, Columbia agreed to scrap the short. Despite this, or because of it, the film bombed. Anti-communists successfully protested Death of a Salesman, and so the smash play totally failed on the big screen.
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'Death Of A Salesman' Came With A Short Film To Warn You Not To Take The Story Seriously
Source: Pinoy Daily News
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