Movie Review

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Movie Review | The Journal of American History, 86.3 | The History Cooperative

Sam Walton: Bargain Billionaire. Prod. by Molly Thompson, 1997. 50 mins. (A&E Home Video, P. O. Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407)

Part of A&E's popular Biography Series, this documentary offers a sympathetic portrait of America's greatest merchant of the second half of the twentieth century. On-camera interviews with John Huey, coauthor of Sam Walton's autobiography, and Richard Tedlow, an academic authority on mass retailing, emphasize that Walton's success stemmed from his personality and good timing, genius, and luck. Like published biographies, the film presents Walton as a self-made billionaire within the mold of the American dream. Childhood circumstances encouraged Hustler Sam to work hard, adapt to new situations, and get along with others and yet also to display fierce competitiveness, initiative, and leadership. 1

Although Walton started his business career as an organization man, he did not want to work for others. After management training at J. C. Penney and service as an army captain during World War II, in 1945 he opened his first variety store in a small town in Arkansas. Five years later he moved his business to Bentonville, a town of three thousand that later became his corporate headquarters. From there he built a chain of stores in a neglected niche: small towns in the Ozark region. Learning from others in the retail business, he experimented with self-service and then discount operations. In 1962, the same year that Kresge opened its first K-Mart in a suburb of Detroit, he opened his first Wal-Mart. . . .

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