Hired

"Joel: We're going to have leadership the way my old man taught me! You - put a handkerchief on your head! You - swat at imaginary elves! You - rock on the porch all night!"

Hired! is a short Instructional Film from 1940, produced by the Jam Handy organizations for Chevrolet sales managers. The basic plot concerns a sales manager named Mr. Warren, who despairs over the fact that his salesmen (particularly his newest, Jimmy) haven't sold a single car. After a somewhat strange talk with his father, Mr. Warren decides to work more closely with his salesmen, thus solving his problem.

For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes featuring this short film see here (Part1) and here (Part 2).

The film itself has fallen into the public domain, and can be watched or downloaded at the Internet Archive.


 * An Aesop: Obviously, the lessons Mr. Warren presents at the end.
 * Captain Obvious Aesop: Hiring a man with no relevant experience and then not giving him any training beyond basic info on the product will not result in an effective salesman even if he is personable and hard-working. Especially if you then leave him to his own devices and don't supervise him at all. The beginning of the second part is the senior Mr. Warren pointing out what a stupid oversight this was.
 * Technology Marches On: Remember the days when salesmen would visit potential clients door-to-door?
 * Travelling Salesman Montage
 * Won't Take Yes for An Answer: Mr. Warren rebuking one his salesmen on his technique - after he'd actually made the sale.