David Mamet's 1992 drama Glengarry Glen Ross is about the daily grind of a collection of real estate salesmen and the politics within the small office from where they make their pitches. The ensemble cast includes big screen stalwarts like Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, and Alan Arkin. With a group of actors like that and a master filmmaker like Mamet running the show, you are all but guaranteed an excellent movie. And that's exactly what Glengarry Glen Ross is.

But if you ask people what they remember most about the film, with all due respect to the aforementioned legends, most will probably reference three letters; A, B, and C. An acronym for "Always Be Closing." While the jury is out on how the scene would be received in today's workplace, the Always Be Closing tirade delivered by Alec Baldwin is one of the most epic one-take soliloquies in modern cinema history. Over the last 30 years, it has taken on a life of its own and has become a staple in sales circles and American pop-culture.

An Epic Takedown

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Image via New Line Cinema

In a scene that has become synonymous with the cutthroat, ruthless nature of real estate sales, Alec Baldwin's "Always Be Closing" motivational dress drown of the underperforming employees at the Premiere Properties office remains one of the greatest individual takes ever. Baldwin's nightmarish turn as a corporate ringer brought in to light a fire under the lackluster group likely steered thousands of young job-seekers away from the profession in the early to mid-'90s and also brought unpleasant flashbacks to any who have ever worked in a sales capacity. The in-your-face berating and unmitigated ferocity at which he harangues the veteran salesmen is a thing to behold. It's a browbeating the likes of which you might reserve for a drill sergeant and a group of young military recruits, not veteran sales professionals.

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"Put that coffee down!" Baldwin's character, known only as "Blake" barks at an astonished Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon), "Coffee is for closers only!" he explains at the beginning of a seven-minute-long one-take that is very much akin to a teacher having a bad day and taking it out on their students. But in this case, the "students" are grown, seasoned salesmen. On a "mission of mercy" from the presumed but unseen owners of the firm, "Mitch and Murray," the cameo was not in Mamet's original Tony award-winning play eight years earlier, but was added in the film at the request of New Line Cinema because, "they wanted something to get the movie going, like an explosion or something," recalled John C. McGinley, who played the role of David Moss in a 2012 Broadway revival. Baldwin's Blake certainly achieved that as the diatribe is the most memorable scene from the film and has become used in pop culture parlance ever since.

Ominous Cinematography

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In addition to Baldwin's horrifyingly alpha delivery, the scene is made even more ominous as Mamet applies a heavy dose of noir elements in the framing of the scene. Thunderclaps can be heard in the distance outside while lightning flashes through the night and between the cheap window blinds. David Moss (Ed Harris) is the only one that can muster the nerve to challenge the hired gun only to be humiliated as Blake removes the Rolex watch from his wrist, firmly places it on Moss's desk and claims it's worth more than Moss makes in a year. Shadows of trickling raindrops move down Blake's face as he continues to mercilessly mock the group. Baldwin owns the screen, making it known that first prize for most sales is a Cadillac El Dorado, second place is, "a set of steak knives" and third prize is, "You're fired!"

Blake concludes the lecture with one final and fitting taunt as he holds the new stack of Glengarry sales leads wrapped like present in a neat little bow only to hand them off to the office manager, telling the beleaguered salesmen that they don't deserve the gift. Giving them to this band of misfits would be a waste of good leads. As Blake wraps up his speech, the men sit in stunned silence like children after their parents have grounded them for breaking curfew and left the room. Rarely does an individual take from a film have the staying power that the "A.B.C." speech has had over the last 30 years. Baldwin even went on to spoof himself in the scene on an episode of Saturday Night Live, more than a dozen years later, which is a surefire sign that for seven minutes in 1992 Baldwin's performance grabbed the attention of the nation and still hasn't let go.