Pennies from Heaven (1981)

No matter how much you may hate the depressive story, you simply have to love it for the amazing charm of its ingenious innovative qualities of producing magic by the astounding imagination of the composition of the songs and their presentation. The dreariest of humdrum worlds in the exasperating void of the American depression in Chicago in the 1930s is suddenly whisked away by a song performed like in a dream of marvellous revelation and irresistible cheer. This is cinematographic magic at its best, mixing nightmare reality with the sublimation of poetry and music, and for me the most important character of all, hitting the nail and perfecting the moody setting of the drama, is the stammering Vernel Bagneris as The Accordion Man, a very secondary inferior by-character, but his appearance in all his pathetic misery completes and perfects the poetry. This is indeed a film to watch with very mixed feelings, but the dreamworks could never be more efficient than contrasted with the worst gutter visits of reality.

Fmovies: This film in a way reminded me of the recent "Far from Heaven" in that it captures the spirit of an art form but doesn't ignore the harsh realities of life. Story is about a sheet music salesman named Arthur Parker (Steve Martin) and its set in the depression era. Parker is married to frigid Joan (Jessica Harper) and after being turned down repeatedly by her he leaves and says he's not coming back. On the road he picks up a homeless accordion player (Vernel Bagneris) and head into the next town. While there he spots a local school teacher named Eileen (Bernadette Peters) and is smitten at first sight. He courts her and one night he gets intimate but Eileen gets pregnant and has to leave her job at the school. Meanwhile, Arthur has gone back to his wife and they try to make their marriage work so she loans him some money to open a music store. Eileen has become desperate and goes into a sleazy bar and meets a pimp named Tom (Christopher Walken) and there she says her name from now on is Lulu. She becomes a prostitute and one night on the streets meets Arthur and they get back together and decide to run off together leaving Joan behind. Meanwhile, the accordion player see's a blind girl and rapes and kills her. The girl had talked to Arthur before and the cops follow the clues that lead to him so Arthur is now a wanted man. Film is directed by Herbert Ross who has a background in music and he brings a totally convincing look from the 30's and the small details in every shot add so much flavor to this film. The films cinematographer is the great Gordon Willis who shot many of Woody Allen's films as well as the "Godfather" trilogy. Willis shot this film in a grainy and dark mode to give the reality sequences of the film a stark contrast to some of the brighter moments that take place during the song and dance numbers. I thought the performances were arguably some of the best that some of these actors have ever done. Walken was taught at a young age to be a song and dance man and as far as I know its the only time he has shown his real talent on film. We already knew what a wonderful singer Peters is but the one scene that stood out for me was when she was in the bar and agreeing to Walkens character that she would be willing to do anything for a fin. It was a convincing job of desperation on her part and its a moving scene in the film. What more can you say about Martin? The first time he opens his mouth to lip sync a song you can't help but laugh but with Martin he makes it appear more than silly. It wouldn't have worked with another actor but Martin brings so much to his screen presence that it appears to be okay that he's doing this. The dance number that he and two other men perform in the film is nothing short of astonishing to watch. I can't imagine how much training he went through for that scene. As great as Walken's tap dance number was, this might be the most impressive dance number in the film. Martin's performance is just a revelation to watch. Yes, the films story is dark and dreary but thats because Ross wanted to make a more sarcastic musical. This film is a real achievement and should be viewed by all.

Has it been over a decade since a really good movie musical has come out? "Evita" is an extended music video; and "The Bodyguard" is a stale idea from the seventies that Whitney Houston was expected to salvage with her singing. When you look back, the movie musical of recent note has taken shelter in the imagination of the animated film industry. (Disney put out almost all of the them.) But for a good musical with real actors, I can only remember movies like Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense" which is more a concert movie than a musical; "Bizet's Carmen" which is more filmed opera; and "Amadeus," and that's going back more than fifteen years.

Where are the talents that could create new musical happenings in the movies? I'm not a fan of hip-hop or rap, and there's probably enough music videos playing the stuff to fill miles of film. But its place in big screen movies is ancillary--part of the score, or a director's afterthought. If there is a movie musical that suggests what possibilities the right people with a good idea and the talent can draw from the tradition, it's "Pennies from Heaven."

This is a stunning work of movie art. To find musical numbers this evocative, you need to go back to something like "Top Hat." It's a supernal pleasure just recalling Vernel Bagneris slow-dancing in a shower of scintillating tokens or how surprised I was at the dexterity of Christopher Walken's hoofing or how close to Steve Martin's Arthur I felt when he opens his mouth and out pops Connie Boswell's haunting refrain.

I cannot deny that I find the "reality" Dennis Potter has created jarring, and by the time, Arthur paints rings around his revolted wife Joan's nipples, you feel director Herbert Ross ("Goodbye, Mr. Chips") should have spared Joan--and us--this indignity with a more discreet camera setup. If their point is to slap us back to reality after a wonderful flight of fancy, it needs to be more pointed and funnier. It's not, and some people find the lurid aspects of Potter's creations insulting. It may explain why this movie was a flop at the box office. Maybe it was too coarse and too precious all at once.

But when Ken Adams can pull together some of the most serviceably beautiful sets ever to grace a movie; when Bob Mackie pulls out all reserves and furnishes the cast with some of the most sumptuous costumes they'll ever wear; when Marvin Hamlisch makes bright, smart choices of music memorabilia; when the incomparable Gordon Willis creates the kinds of visions that leave you glued to the screen; why quibble? The state of the musical may be to some on its last breath, but with "Pennies from Heaven" to look back on, it seems to be saying "All is not lost." If the right people come together, there are wonderful things to imagine on the horizon.

Pennies from Heaven fmovies. One reason musicals have been going out of style for the past 30-odd years is that audiences simply don't buy the escapism and optimism that permeated the genre in its heyday. This lavish and biting 1981 work solves the problem brilliantly by using the upbeat nature of '30s popular song ironically. The production numbers, and there are many, are toe-tapping, feel- good entities that play in devastating counterpoint to the somber narrative. The production design is amazing, Martin a surprisingly sympathetic Everyman with some rough edges, Peters perfection, Walken amazing in his one scene (imagine what a brilliant Pal Joey he would have made). But then, everybody in this movie seems to be performing at his peak: Even Marvin Hamlisch, whose musical scoring is usually so soppy and obvious, comes through. A salute, too, to Herbert Ross and his wife, Nora Kaye, for employing so many wonderful stage- trained dancers who seldom got a chance to shine on film: Robert Fitch, Vernel Bagneris, and Tommy Rall, who was so splendid in the movie of "Kiss Me, Kate." As far as I'm concerned, the movie's a masterpiece -- but nobody went to see it, and Ross reacted by making nothing but safe, mainstream entertainment for the rest of his life. At least this one shows the audacity and power of which he was capable.

Unusual story combining drama, musical numbers and fine performances by all concerned. This had to have been one of the first times that Steve Martin was allowed to show that he is so much more than just some guy with an arrow through his head, a fact that has been demonstrated time and time again over the past 20 years.

This film physically depicts the depression era in beautifully muted tones and powerfully evokes the desperate feelings of people trying to make ends meet during hard times. Martin gives a dead on performance of a man with nothing left in his moral bank account. Arthur does and says whatever it takes to gain the instant gratification he constantly seeks.

As for the ensemble musical numbers, let me just say that even Busby Berkeley might have been envious. Martin and Peter's turn at Fred and Ginger was well beyond adequate and Walken's tap dance number is worth the price of admission.

I watched this movie the other evening after not having seen it for several years. I was amazed at how much it had improved with age. This movie could almost certainly never be made today and, in fact, I find it hard to believe it was ever made. Hollywood rarely takes chances of any kind and this movie had to have been a huge gamble, even in 1981.

Unique, amazing film. Each of the big, sometimes complex, musical numbers is a look inside one of the character's heads, showing how they perceive the 1930s Depression Era world around them. Their dreams (or delusions) usually have little to do with reality. Steve Martin's Arthur is a bizarre, almost unredeemable amoral man who creates a pretend morality in the vision of the music he loves: he claims to listen to the words, that he is a pure romantic, but the reality of his actions constantly opposes this. Bernadette Peters is, well, Bernadette Peters...she's gorgeous and perfect here as the mousey then trampy object of Arthur's obsession. And Christopher Walken has a show stopping tap-dance sequence that must be seen to be believed. Great stuff that at the very least you have never seen anything quite like before. Darkly ironic eye-candy that stays with you.