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American-Statesman Review
By Steve Uhler
It slices! It dices! It chops, blends and pur?es! It soaks up liquids and makes tough stains disappear! It also cuts through steel!
But wait! There's more!
Welcome to the world of Pitch People, an affectionate and sprightly entertaining documentary on the world's second oldest profession. Some people call them grifters. Some hucksters. You've seen them on boardwalks, in old newsreels, at county fairs and shopping malls, always on the move, eternally cultivating a crowd. Your dollars are their applause. Their beguiling spiels ("Step closer, ladies" . . . "Let the folks in the back get a good view") are both art and science. And, like carnival barkers, they are a dying breed.
Thankfully, writer-director Stanley Jacobs (a veteran of filming infomercials) has penetrated this disappearing subculture ("We're family," says perky infomercial queen Nancy Nelson) to bring us a breezy and illuminating history of pitch people, from the era of traveling snake-oil salesmen to the present.
We meet, among others, the Morris clan, including Arnold (known as "Arnold the Knife" for his legendary ability to move Miracle Knives) and his brother, Lester, one of the most successful TV pitchmen ever......
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