Der Tod eines Handlungsreisenden

I recently have discovered Fredric March and have been watching several of his movies. Though I personally prefer his early films where he was the young and romantic hero, I found this movie to be a very good example of how broad his acting talent was. He was simply amazing as Willy Loman; he impressed me as being a truly desperate man at the end of his sanity. He should have been the one to win best actor during this year; instead it went to Humphrey Bogart for "The African Queen". Why, I don't know, for Fredric March's portrayal of Willie Loman was excellent. It brought tears to my eyes at the end,and I am not one to cry during a film; it takes something special for an actor to move me to tears.

The whole film had a darkness to it, it was very melancholy, depressing, desperate, hopeless...it is an emotionally exhausting film to watch. It does not leaving you sighing happily at the end. Still, I recommend you watch it for a wonderful performance by Fredric March.

This is the version people of my generation grew up on; it played on TV in the 50's, and being black and white non-widescreen and uncensorable, what we saw was what was filmed. Frederick March hammmed it up a bit, but in retrospect the play itself is hammmy (emotion-charged). It has been said Arthur Miller disliked the film, particularly the realistic representation of Willie's reveries and imaginings. Kevin McCarthy did a fine job as Biff. I loyally refused for years to watch Dustin Hoffman's version, but when I finally gave in I enjoyed his substantially different interpretation. But if he differed from March, then it follows March differs from him. In short, a whole other way of enjoying the greatest American soap opera ever penned.

Arthur Miller justifiably received a lot of acclaim for his Broadway stage version of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and this film version starring FREDRIC MARCH as Willie Loman is a faithful transfer of that work.

March is outstanding in his portrayal of a bitterly confused man who can't fathom why his life went so wrong, and CAMERON MITCHELL and KEVIN McCARTHY do outstanding work as the sons who are disillusioned by their father's failure. But the most memorable performance, in my estimation, comes from MILDRED DUNNOCK, who would go on to play similarly bitter women in her future roles on screen. But here she is poignant in what has to be one of the best character roles she ever had.

Surprisingly, the film is little seen today, seldom revived and largely forgotten. BRIAN DENNEHY did have success in a recent Broadway version and DUSTIN Hoffman has performed the role on TV. But the Fredric March version deserves to be seen, however heavy-handed the material is.

It's an exhausting experience, a story of one man's failure in life's journey, but dramatically very effective and it still has a lot to say.

This all but lost 1951 version of Arthur Miller's American masterpiece was nominated for several prestigious Academy Awards in 1952, including Best Picture. That it has never been officially released on video is a shame, for, quite simply, Fredric March's go around as Willy Loman is a absolute treasure. The supporting cast are uniformly excellent; the mood and tone are consistently melancholy; the sets are spare, even stagy; and, most important, the pace is as brisk as this play will allow. Please search out this one out on TV-- you will not be disappointed.

Fredric March was one of the greatest film actors ever. He played some roles in his career that were meant to be "over the top" in their delivery. Among these were Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Inherit the Wind and The Iceman Cometh. In "Iceman" he was brilliant, but few people have seen this performance. I do not think the character of Willy Loman was meant to be so "over the top" as March portrays him in this film. He is overly loud and manic here IMO, and it does not entirely work. Cobb originated the role on Broadway, and I liked his performance (when it was done for TV) better than this one. But, do see this one if you are a student of the play. Mildred Dunnock is always worth watching.