Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 01:47:34 | 6 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, Français, Español
Genre: Musical, Drama, Romance
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 01:47:34 | 6 Gb
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, Français, Español
Genre: Musical, Drama, Romance
Pennies from Heaven is a 1981 American musical film adapted from a 1978 BBC television drama. Dennis Potter adapted his own screenplay from the BBC series for American audiences, changing its setting from London and the Forest of Dean to Depression era Chicago and rural Illinois. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, but lost to On Golden Pond. The film starred Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Walken and Jessica Harper. The director was Herbert Ross and the choreographer was Danny Daniels.
Adapted from Dennis Potter's landmark British TV miniseries and relocated to the United States during the Depression, Pennies from Heaven dramatizes how popular songs both shaped and reflected the thoughts of people living through economic (and emotional) hardship. Arthur Parker (Steve Martin) is a sheet music salesman who believes that he can spot a hit a mile away and wants to open his own store. But he can't get a bank loan and his wife Joan (Jessica Harper), who has savings left to her by her father, refuses to give him the money. Also, while Arthur has a fierce sexual appetite, Joan generally refuses his advances. While on the road, Arthur meets Eileen (Bernadette Peters), a shy schoolteacher as desperate for affection as Arthur is hungry for sex. They begin an affair, which leads to tragedy for both. Punctuating the drama of Pennies from Heaven are elaborate musical numbers in which the characters lip-synch to popular songs of the day, which at once lift their hopes and reflect their fears. Arthur's buoyant tap number to "My Baby Said Yes" and Eileen's saucy rendition of "Love is Good for Anything That Ails You" are reflections of their needs for money and love, and their pas de deux on "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is at once an escape and an acknowledgement of their hopelessness.Synopsis by Mark Deming, Allmovie.com
A dazzling downer of a musical and one of the more interesting works to emerge from the last gasps of '70s-era critical Hollywood, the film version of Dennis Potter's remarkable BBC series Pennies From Heaven (1981) provocatively dissects the power of movie-made fantasy. Contrasting bleak, Edward Hopper-esque Depression era reality with sumptuous Art Deco illusions, Potter and director Herbert Ross illuminate the divide between sheet-music salesman Arthur Parker's sordid life and the musical dreams that give him hope. Stars Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters masterfully dance and lip-synch their way through elaborately imagined 1930s numbers (including outrageous Busby Berkeley spectacles and a potent reworking of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' "Let's Face the Music and Dance"), but the showstopper is Christopher Walken's saucy "Let's Misbehave" tap solo. Still, bucking the usual musical uplift, Martin's Arthur remains a doomed sex addict and Peters' Eileen an unrepentant fallen "good girl." Along with an Oscar nomination for Potter's screenplay, Bob Mackie's costumes earned Academy approval, while Gordon Willis' rich cinematography garnered several critics' prizes. Despite favorable reviews and Martin's star status, however, audiences did not appreciate either his serious performance or the film's modernist conception, and Pennies From Heaven failed.Review by Lucia Bozzola, Allmovie.com
Film at IMDB
Film at Wiki
Director: Herbert Ross
Writers: Dennis Potter
Cast: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Christopher Walken,
Vernel Bagneris, John McMartin …
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Special Features:
- Scene-Specific Commentary by film critic Peter Rainer
- 20th Anniversary Cast and Crew Reunion