Pennies From Heaven (1981 film) on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
''Pennies from Heaven'' is a 1981 American
musical romantic drama
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film directed by
Herbert Ross
Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
He is known for directing ...
, based on the 1978
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television drama of the same name.
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
adapted his screenplay from the BBC series for American audiences, changing its setting from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and the
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...
to
Depression-era Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and rural
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
.
The film stars
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
,
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...
,
Christopher Walken and
Jessica Harper
Jessica Harper (born October 10, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's ''Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), ''My Favorite Year'' (1982), as well as a role in '' Inser ...
. Choreographed by
Danny Daniels
Danny Daniels, (October 25, 1924 – July 9, 2017), born Daniel Giagni, Jr., was an American choreographer, tap dancer, and a dance teacher.
Daniels was a featured dancer in several 1940s Broadway musicals, including '' Billion Dollar Baby'', ' ...
,
[McCarthy, Todd (December 9, 1981). "Film Reviews: Pennies From Heaven". '']Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''. 20. the film includes musical numbers consisting of actors
lip-syncing
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
and dancing to popular songs of the 1920s–30s, such as "
Let's Misbehave", "
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries", "
Let's Face the Music and Dance
"Let's Face the Music and Dance" is a song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film ''Follow the Fleet'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The jazz song has als ...
" and
the title song.
While positively received by critics, it was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing just a fraction of its budget. Potter received a nomination for the 1981
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...
, but lost to ''
On Golden Pond''.
Plot
In 1934, Chicago sheet-music salesman Arthur Parker (
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
) is having a hard time, both in his business and at home with his wife Joan. His business and marriage are failing, and Joan (
Jessica Harper
Jessica Harper (born October 10, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's ''Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), ''My Favorite Year'' (1982), as well as a role in '' Inser ...
) refuses to give him the money she inherited from her father to start his own business.
Arthur's dream is to live in a world that is like the songs he tries to sell. He is refused a bank loan, although he fantasizes that he gets it. In his travels, Arthur meets schoolteacher Eileen (
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...
) and falls in love with her instantly. They embark on a short affair, but Arthur leaves her and returns to Joan, who is desperate to keep him and agrees to give him the money he wanted. Arthur denies having an affair, though Joan is sure he is lying.
Eileen gets pregnant by Arthur and is fired. With nowhere to go, she takes up with stylish pimp Tom (
Christopher Walken). Eileen is attracted to Tom's "badness", and he arranges for her to have an abortion.
When Arthur meets Eileen again, she is now a
prostitute calling herself "Lulu". They resume their romance, and Eileen leaves Tom and her sordid life. Impulsively, Arthur convinces her to run away with him. Having failed to sell his business, Arthur and Eileen break into the store one night and trash it, smashing its phonograph records (except for "Pennies from Heaven"). To supplement their income, Eileen keeps prostituting in spite of Arthur's objections.
A blind girl whom Arthur knew superficially is raped and murdered by an accordion-playing hobo to whom Arthur had given a ride earlier in the film. The police's suspicions are confirmed by Joan, who reveals to them Arthur's sexual predilections to get back at him for cheating on her. The police find Arthur trying to leave town with Eileen, and arrest him for murder; he is soon convicted and sentenced to death. At the gallows, he recites the lyrics from the song "
Pennies from Heaven". In one final fantasy, Arthur and Eileen are reunited, with Arthur saying, "We couldn't have gone through all that without a happy ending. Songs ain't like that, are they?"
Cast
*
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
as Arthur Parker
*
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...
as Eileen ("Lulu")
*
Jessica Harper
Jessica Harper (born October 10, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's ''Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), ''My Favorite Year'' (1982), as well as a role in '' Inser ...
as Joan Parker
*
Vernel Bagneris
Vernel Martin Bagneris (born July 31, 1949) is an American playwright, actor, director, singer, and dancer.
Early life
Bagneris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
He is the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris, Sr. ...
as Accordion man
*
John McMartin
John Francis McMartin (August 21, 1929 – July 6, 2016) was an American actor of stage, film and television.
Life and career
McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana, on August 21, 1929, and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. After graduating fro ...
as Mr. Warner
*
John Karlen as Detective
*
Jay Garner
Jay Montgomery Garner (born April 15, 1938) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who in 2003 was appointed as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, makin ...
as Banker
* Robert Fitch as Al
*
Tommy Rall as Ed
* Eliska Krupka as blind girl
*
Christopher Walken as Tom
* Raleigh Bond as Mr. Barrett
*
Nancy Parsons as The Old Whore
*
Duke Stroud as Counterman
*
Will Hare
Will T Hare (March 30, 1916 – August 31, 1997) was an American actor who appeared on television and films, often playing old crusty figures and father/grandpa roles. Hare was born in Elkins, West Virginia, the son of Frances Laetitia ( née S ...
as Father Everson
Production
''Pennies from Heaven'' was Martin's first dramatic role in a film. He had watched the original miniseries and considered it "the greatest thing
e'dever seen."
He trained for six months learning to
tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...
, while Christopher Walken, who had trained as a dancer as a young man, was able to use his dancing skills in the film.
According to a 1990 article in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'',
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
had Potter rewrite the script 13 times and required him to buy back his copyright from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, for which he paid the BBC "something over $100,000". In addition, MGM prohibited broadcast of the BBC's original production for 10 years. Around 1989, at the prompting of