Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)
Encyclopedia
Pennies from Heaven is a 1981 musical film. The film was based on a 1978 BBC television drama. In 1981, Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...

 adapted his own screenplay for a film of the same name for American audiences, with its setting changed to Depression era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...

, but lost to On Golden Pond
On Golden Pond (1981 film)
On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his...

. The film starred Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

, Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...

, and Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

. The director was Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross was an American film director, producer, choreographer and actor.-Early life and career:Born Herbert David Ross in Brooklyn, New York, he made his stage debut as Third Witch with a touring company of Macbeth in 1942...

 and the choreographer was Danny Daniels
Danny Daniels
Danny Daniels is an American choreographer, tap dancer, and teacher.Daniels was a featured dancer in several 1940s Broadway musicals, including Billion Dollar Baby, Street Scene, and Kiss Me, Kate; although he continued performing during the 1950s and after, including a tour with the Agnes de Mille...

.

Production

This was Steve Martin's first dramatic role in a film. Martin had watched the original miniseries and considered it "the greatest thing [he'd] ever seen". He trained for six months learning to tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...

. Christopher Walken trained as a dancer as a young man and he was able to use his dancing skills in the film.

According to a 1990 article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, MGM had Dennis Potter rewrite the script 13 times and required him to buy back his copyright from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, for which he paid BBC "something over $100,000". In addition, MGM prohibited broadcast of the BBC's original production for ten years. Around 1989, at the prompting of Alan Yentob, the controller of BBC2, producer Kenith Trodd
Kenith Trodd
Kenith Trodd is a British television producer particularly noted for a long association with television playwright Dennis Potter.The son of a crane driver, Trodd was raised in the Christian fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren...

 was able to buy back the rights from MGM for "a very inconsiderable sum." In February 1990, the BBC rebroadcast the original Pennies from Heaven serial for the first time since 1978.

In the same Times article, Trodd stated that Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...

 and Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell is an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early years:Cheryl Campbell was educated at Francis Bacon Grammar School, St Albans; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art...

, the stars of the original series, "were terribly upset that they weren't considered for the film. I think they still blame Dennis and me in some way, but there was no way to argue the point with MGM."

Four paintings are recreated as Tableaux vivants in the film: Hudson Bay Fur Company and 20 Cent Movie by Reginald Marsh
Reginald Marsh (artist)
Reginald Marsh was an American painter, born in Paris, most notable for his depictions of life in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Crowded Coney Island beach scenes, popular entertainments such as vaudeville and burlesque, women, and jobless men on the Bowery are subjects that reappear...

, and New York Movie and Nighthawks
Nighthawks
Nighthawks is a 1942 painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is considered Hopper's most famous painting, as well as one of the most recognizable in American art...

by Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...

. Three of the four were painted after 1934, when the movie takes place, and all depict scenes in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 rather than the Chicago setting of the movie.

Plot

In 1934, Chicago sheet-music salesman Arthur Parker (Martin) is having a hard time, both in his business and at home with his wife Joan (Harper). His business is failing and Joan is not amorous enough for Arthur and 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 to a song and dance routine of "Yes! Yes!!". In his travels, Arthur meets a shy, beautiful but plain school teacher, Eileen (Peters). Arthur expresses his instant attraction by lip-synching to the song "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?
"Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" is a popular song, introduced by Art Jarrett in the movie Sitting Pretty .The music was written by Harry Revel, the lyrics by Mack Gordon...

", as Eileen, converted to a brighter version of herself, dances. He convinces her that he loves her and they embark on a short affair, but Arthur leaves her and returns to Joan, who, desperate to keep him, agrees to give him the money he wanted. Arthur denies his affair, though Joan is sure he's lying, singing "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie
It's a Sin to Tell a Lie
"It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" is a 1936 popular song by Billy Mayhew. Originally introduced by Fats Waller on the 78 rpm record Victor 20-1595, it was revived in 1955 by Somethin' Smith and the Redheads, reaching #7 on the Billboard charts in that year. John Denver tells a story about the song and...

".

Eileen is optimistic about her affair with Arthur, imagining leading her class in "Love Is Good for Anything That Ails You", but she becomes pregnant and is fired. With nowhere to go - Arthur gave her a fake address - she is then taken in by a stylish pimp, Tom (Walken). Eileen is attracted to Tom's "badness" (the same way she was attracted to Arthur), and fantasizes him singing "Let's Misbehave
Let's Misbehave
"Let's Misbehave" is a famous song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, Paris...

" to her. The attraction ends there, however, as it is quite clear that Tom means business, and arranges for her to have an abortion.

When Arthur meets Eileen again—as "Lulu"--she is now a prostitute and has adopted an aggressive manner. They resume their romance, and Eileen leaves Tom and her sordid life. Impulsively, Arthur convinces her to run away together. 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 is raped and killed by an accordion-playing hobo (Bagneris) that Arthur gave a ride to earlier in the film, and innocent Arthur (who crossed paths with the girl prior to the murder) is captured and convicted of the crime. At the gallows, he recites the lyrics from the song "Pennies from Heaven
Pennies from Heaven (song)
"Pennies from Heaven" is a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and words by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film of the same name...

", as if trying to tell the audience not to take life for granted as he had. In one final fantasy, Arthur and Eileen wind up in a dream-happy ending set to "The Glory of Love
The Glory of Love (song)
"The Glory Of Love" is a song written by Billy Hill, recorded by Benny Goodman in 1936, whose version was a number one pop hit. In 1951, R&B vocal group, The Five Keys, had their biggest R&B hit with their version of the song, hitting number one on the R&B chart for four non-consecutive weeks."The...

", with Arthur saying, "We've worked too hard not to have a happy ending."

The style of the movie balances the drab despair of the Depression era and the characters' sad lives with brightly colored dream-fantasy lavish musical sequences. The characters break into song and dance to express their emotions. For example, Eileen turns into a silver-gowned torch singer in her school-room, with her students lip-synching and dancing ("Love Is Good for Anything That Ails You"). Tom seduces Eileen with a tap dance/striptease routine on top of a bar ("Let's Misbehave"). Arthur and Eileen go to a movie (Follow the Fleet
Follow the Fleet
Follow the Fleet is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in small supporting roles...

) and wind up dancing in formal wear, first with, then in, a Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...

-Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....

 musical number from the film, "Let's Face the Music and Dance
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...

". All the songs are lip-synched except Martin singing/speaking the title song at the end, but Arthur, Tom, and Eileen dance.

Cast

  • Arthur Parker -- Steve Martin
    Steve Martin
    Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

  • Eileen, aka 'Lulu'-- Bernadette Peters
    Bernadette Peters
    Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...

  • Tom -- Christopher Walken
    Christopher Walken
    Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

  • Joan Parker -- Jessica Harper
    Jessica Harper
    Jessica Harper is an American actress and producer, as well as a singer and author of children's music and books.-Early life:...

  • Accordion man -- Vernel Bagneris
    Vernel Bagneris
    Vernel Martin Bagneris , playwright, actor, director, singer, and dancer, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris Sr. Bagneris’s mother was a housewife and deeply religious woman who “quietly outclassed most people,” and his father was a...

  • Mr. Warner -- John McMartin
    John McMartin
    John McMartin is an American actor of stage, film and television.-Early life and career:McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana and raised in Minnesota. He attended college in Illinois and New York. He made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959, playing opposite Eileen Brennan...

  • Detective -- John Karlen
    John Karlen
    John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...


Response

The film grossed slightly more than $9 million at the box-office against a budget of $22 million.
When asked in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

about the film's box-office failure, Martin said: "I'm disappointed that it didn't open as a blockbuster and I don't know what's to blame, other than it's me and not a comedy. I must say that the people who get the movie, in general, have been wise and intelligent; the people who don't get it are ignorant scum." It was Martin's second starring role in a film, following 1979's comedy hit The Jerk
The Jerk
The Jerk is a 1979 American comedy film. Directed by Carl Reiner, the film was written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias. This was Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh and Jackie Mason.-Plot:The film begins...

, and fans were confused to see Martin in a serious role. "You just can't do a movie like Pennies from Heaven after you have done The Jerk", Martin said in a BBC interview.

The film was given a rapturous review by Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....

 in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

: "Pennies from Heaven is the most emotional movie musical I've ever seen. It's a stylized mythology of the Depression which uses the popular songs of the period as expressions of people's deepest longings - for sex, for romance, for money, for a high good time...there was never a second when I wasn't fascinated by what was happening on the screen." Kael further noted that "The dance numbers are funny, amazing, and beautiful all at once; several of them are just about perfection." Peters won the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 as Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her role as Eileen Everson, a schoolteacher turned prostitute. A review of the DVD reissue asserted, "Peters brought a cocky attitude and a sexy exuberance to the musical numbers."

Fred Astaire, who was powerless to prevent the reuse of his old footage, detested the film: "I have never spent two more miserable hours in my life. Every scene was cheap and vulgar. They don't realize that the thirties were a very innocent age, and that [the film] should have been set in the eighties – it was just froth; it makes you cry it's so distasteful."

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

  • Best Costume Design – Bob Mackie
    Bob Mackie
    Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costuming for entertainment icons such as Judy Garland, Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, and Mitzi Gaynor...

     (nominated)
  • Best Sound - Michael J. Kohut
    Michael J. Kohut
    Michael J. Kohut is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for seven Academy Awards in the category Best Sound.-Selected filmography:* Meteor * Fame * Pennies from Heaven * WarGames...

    , Jay M. Harding
    Jay M. Harding
    Jay M. Harding is an American sound engineer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Sound.-Selected filmography:* Fame * Pennies from Heaven -External links:...

    , Richard Tyler
    Richard Tyler (sound engineer)
    Richard Tyler is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 80 films between 1932 and 1989.-Selected filmography:* Bite the Bullet * Silver Streak...

     and Al Overton, Jr.
    Al Overton, Jr.
    Al Overton, Jr. is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 40 films between 1969 and 1991...

     (nominated)
  • Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium –Dennis Potter (nominated)

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
  • Best Cinematography – Gordon Willis (WON)

Golden Globes
  • Best Motion Picture Actress, Comedy/Musical – Bernadette Peters (WON)
  • Best Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical (nominated)
  • Best Motion Picture Actor, Comedy/Musical – Steve Martin (nominated)

National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
  • Best Cinematography – Gordon Willis (WON)

External links

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