Pennies from Heaven(1981)
R
12/11/1981 (US)Drama, Music, Romance1h 48m6.0
"There's a world on both sides of the rainbow where songs come true and every time it rains, it rains Pennies from Heaven."
Overview
During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent school teacher.
Herbert Ross
Director
Dennis Potter
Writer
Top Billed Cast
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Pennies From Heaven - Trailer
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A review by Wuchak
5.0
Written on February 23, 2019
***Imagination helps endure the harsh realities of the Depression***
In the 1930s a struggling sheet music salesman (Steve Martin) tries to escape his dreary existence with his prudish wife (Jessica Harper) to pursue his dream and a cute schoolmarm (Bernadette Peters). The imaginations of the characters help them deal with the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Vernel Bagneris plays a homeless accordion player while Christopher Walken is on hand as a pimp.
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981) is a drama/musical based on the 1978 British mini-series and written by the same guy. The song & dance routines occur about every 7 minutes and are an amusingly kinetic counterpoint to the sad Depression-era dramatics. Martin is his usual comical self, but the drama is definitely not a comedy and contains some seriously unsavory moments.
“Pennies from Heaven” was the precursor to musicals like “Chicago” (2002) and “Nine” (2009), but those films have superior reality-based stories and far better women, especially “Chicago” as far as the women go. But Bernadette is a joy to behold as usual; and Martin is charismatic despite playing a man of dubious character.
The movie runs 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Illinois (Chicago & Galena) and Southern Cal (the Los Angeles area & Wasco).
GRADE: C
In the 1930s a struggling sheet music salesman (Steve Martin) tries to escape his dreary existence with his prudish wife (Jessica Harper) to pursue his dream and a cute schoolmarm (Bernadette Peters). The imaginations of the characters help them deal with the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Vernel Bagneris plays a homeless accordion player while Christopher Walken is on hand as a pimp.
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981) is a drama/musical based on the 1978 British mini-series and written by the same guy. The song & dance routines occur about every 7 minutes and are an amusingly kinetic counterpoint to the sad Depression-era dramatics. Martin is his usual comical self, but the drama is definitely not a comedy and contains some seriously unsavory moments.
“Pennies from Heaven” was the precursor to musicals like “Chicago” (2002) and “Nine” (2009), but those films have superior reality-based stories and far better women, especially “Chicago” as far as the women go. But Bernadette is a joy to behold as usual; and Martin is charismatic despite playing a man of dubious character.
The movie runs 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Illinois (Chicago & Galena) and Southern Cal (the Los Angeles area & Wasco).
GRADE: C
