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In Glengarry Glen Ross (1992 Film adaptation) Levine follows Williamson out to his car as he's leaving the office. Levine begs for new leads and Williamson refuses him. Next scene is Moss and Aaronow discussing Graff and the leads and they end up at the restaurant, the same restaurant Roma is at and where he makes his sale. If Roma didn't make the sale until after Williamson left the office, how could Williamson have filed the contract?

Reading the play, it appears Williamson and Levine's interaction happens in a booth at a restaurant - so perhaps Williamson being on his way out was a change made for the adaptation? Dramatically and tone wise, it was great, but it doesn't fit with the timeline.

Did I miss something?

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2 Answers 2

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This is a massive spoiler:

Williamson did not send the contract, he lied. This is revealed by Levine's slip of tongue when he says Williamson he knows Lingk's contract has not been sent.

So, chronologically:

  1. Levine and Williamson are in the car. Williamson leaves.
  2. Roma closes the deal, goes to the office and lets the contract at the office.
  3. The joint gets ripped off, and the burglar steals some of the contracts.
  4. In the morning, Williamson lies to Roma saying that some contracts have been stolen but not Lingk's and Lingk's contract has been send downtown.
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    so Roma had keys to the office? I assumed the sales people didn't have keys to the office.
    – Jesse Adam
    Apr 7, 2017 at 18:17
  • @JesseAdam good question I will check this. Apr 7, 2017 at 18:22
  • @JesseAdam, it is not said if the guys have the keys, but Williamson says "I'm closing the office" implying Levene has to leave. I suppose the guys have a way to let the contracts made during overtime work. Apr 8, 2017 at 6:08
  • that's why I said it probably has to do with the adaptation. In the play Levine and Williamson have the conversation at the restaurant which makes Levine have no excuse for knowing Roma had dropped off a contract and that Williamson did not file it. Because they leave the office together, Levine's knowledge or guess that the contract wasn't filed is legitimate!
    – Jesse Adam
    Apr 8, 2017 at 20:37
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You asked:

If Roma didn't make the sale until after Williamson left the office, how could Williamson have filed the contract?

At 24m when closing the office Williamson says, "I got to go home, grab one hour with my kids, come back here, see if any of you closed a contract, take the contract to the bank..." Much later, at around 1h27m, he also says, "Usually I take the contracts to the bank. Last night I didn't. Last night I stayed home with my kids. ... I left a contract on my desk."

As you can see from the film, a lot of salesmen go door to door in the evening when most people are home from work. As a manager of a sales office, Williamson has to come in later at night to process any completed contracts after the salesmen have finished their rounds.

So how do the salesmen leave completed contracts when the office is locked and they don't have the keys? Probably through a deposit slot like those at banks and libraries. This is not detailed in the movie but it is a common enough practice regarding finance, so it is not necessary to show in the movie.

It does not matter that Levene and Williamson left the office together. The problem you describe is equally present if they leave the restaurant instead.

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