Tin Men

Tin Men is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, and Barbara Hershey.

It is the second of Levinson's four "Baltimore Films" set in his hometown during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s: Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990), and Liberty Heights (1999).

Synopsis

It is 1963. Ernest Tilley (Danny DeVito) and Bill "BB" Babowsky (Richard Dreyfuss) are door-to-door aluminum siding salesmen in Baltimore, Maryland. Working for different companies, the "tin men" are prepared to do almost anything—legal or illegal—to close a sale.

Their first meeting is when BB buys a new Cadillac and almost immediately crashes into another Cadillac driven by Tilley. The accident is caused by BB, as he reverses into the street from the dealer's forecourt. Tilley, though distracted, clearly has the right of way. Each vows to get even.

After they smash glass on each other's cars, BB takes it a step further. He sets out to seduce Tilley's wife Nora (Barbara Hershey) as an act of revenge. When he calls Tilley immediately after having sex with her, Tilley tells BB to keep Nora; he wants to be rid of her.