Though I do not remember exact details, I know enough to compare the movie with the written play. The story line was interesting and really made one this about what is going on between the father and his sons, especially Biff. We read the play last semester and I remember enjoying it. One of the best of the many filmed versions of Miller's seminal work, Death of a Salesman (1985) won several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Hoffman. This past week we watched Death of a Salesman in class.
As he reflects on his life and the failed promise of his sons Biff ( John Malkovich) and Happy ( Stephen Lang), Willy finally confronts some unpleasant truths about both sons, particularly Biff, a one-time athlete who has become a kleptomaniac. Now living on handouts provided by his friend Charley ( Charles Durning), Willy's lifelong delusions of success and greatness awaiting just around the corner for he and his family have been shattered, and he's considering suicide. During the post-war boom period of the late 40s, Willy Loman is an aging, traveling salesman, who despairs that his life his been lived in vain. Hoffman stars as Willy Loman, an aging salesman who has lost his job because of encroaching senility. Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman follows the story of Willy Loman, an aging and mediocre salesman who once cheated on his wife and lives in denial of the affair. The film follows the script of the 1949 play almost exactly. It stars Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang and Charles Durning. A year later, Hoffman and most of his fellow cast members starred in this made-for-TV production, the first English-language film by German director Volker Schlondorff. Get free homework help on Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman: play summary, summary and analysis, quotes, essays, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. Death of a Salesman (German: Tod eines Handlungsreisenden) is a 1985 CBS made for television film directed by Volker Schlöndorff, based on the 1949 play of the same name by Arthur Miller. In 1984, actor Dustin Hoffman starred in a critically-acclaimed Broadway revival of playwright Arthur Miller's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Death of a Salesman.