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Pennies from Heaven (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
11 December 1981 (USA) moreTagline:
There's a world on both sides of the rainbow where songs come true and every time it rains, it rains...Plot:
In Chicago during the depression, sheet music salesman, Arthur Parker, is trying to sell his products... more | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Streep Nom #3, 1981 (From FilmExperience. 20 June 2009, 5:40 AM, PDT)
The Best Films You’Ve Never Seen – James Napoli’s rental of the week -- This week: Pennies From Heaven (1981)
(From Collider.com. 3 May 2009)
User Comments:
It rains on its own parade... more (42 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Steve Martin | ... | Arthur | |
| Bernadette Peters | ... | Eileen | |
| Christopher Walken | ... | Tom | |
| Jessica Harper | ... | Joan | |
| Vernel Bagneris | ... | The Accordion Man | |
| John McMartin | ... | Mr. Warner | |
| John Karlen | ... | The Detective | |
| Jay Garner | ... | The Banker | |
| Robert Fitch | ... | Al | |
| Tommy Rall | ... | Ed | |
| Eliska Krupka | ... | The Blind Girl | |
| Francis X. McCarthy | ... | The Bartender (as Frank McCarthy) | |
| Raleigh Bond | ... | Mr. Barrett | |
| Gloria LeRoy | ... | A Prostitute | |
| Nancy Parsons | ... | The Old Whore |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
108 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:R (#26127) | Singapore:NC-16Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Anachronisms: In the classroom, a modern Canadian flag can be seen. It wasn't designed until 1964. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Arthur Parker: Joan... Joanie? Sugar? C'mon, Joan... sugar... wake up, baby.
Joan Parker: No, Arthur, don't.
Arthur Parker: Oh, baby... come on, sugar.
Joan Parker: No, it's too early, Arthur.
Arthur Parker: Oh, Joan.
Joan Parker: Arthur, there isn't time.
Arthur Parker: Oh, there's always time for this. Joan, come on.
Joan Parker: Stop it, Arthur! No, don't!
Joan Parker: [getting out of bed] No... I said no!
[...]
more
Soundtrack:
IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (42 total)
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Heavy-going, off-putting Depression-era musical (set to old recordings of the 1930s) is quite elaborate and usually looks good, but is filled with ciphers. Steve Martin, in a fair dramatic acting turn, plays a sex-obsessed sheet-music salesman in Chicago with no conscience who cheats on his frigid wife with a schoolteacher, later becoming involved in a murder investigation. Unfortunately for Martin, this character is such a crude, lascivious lout, we don't really care about his fate or whether or not his teacher-girlfriend (now a prostitute) leaves him. Jessica Harper (as the cold-fish wife) is every married man's nightmare: the bride-turned-shrew; Bernadette Peters is somewhat more sympathetic as the lover, and gets to utilize her natural Kewpie doll-ness to fantastic effect in the musical numbers. But, for the most part, "Pennies From Heaven" is peopled with low-lifes. The extravagant showstoppers, fantasy sequences designed like mini Busby Berkeley movies, are breathlessly intricate and exciting to watch, but they provide little emotional subtext for what's happening in the real world (I don't know if original creator Dennis Potter meant it or not, but the material plays like "Up the Sandbox" with music). Herbert Ross directed with a heavy hand, though he does get some fine moments from his cast, especially Christopher Walken as a hoofing pimp. An expensive remake of a British mini-series starring Bob Hoskins, the movie ultimately feels a bit claustrophobic and sluggish, and has an unsatisfying wrap-up to its reedy-thin plot. **1/2 from ****