Pennies from Heaven (1981)

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.

Director:

Herbert Ross

Writers:

Dennis Potter (written for the screen by), Dennis Potter (based on original material by)

Stars:

Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Arthur
Bernadette Peters	...	Eileen
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
Christopher Walken	...	Tom
Francis X. McCarthy	...	The Bartender (as Frank McCarthy)
Raleigh Bond	...	Mr. Barrett
Gloria LeRoy	...	A Prostitute (as Gloria Leroy)
Nancy Parsons	...	The Old Whore

Storyline

In Chicago during the 1930s depression, sheet music salesman Arthur Parker is trying to sell his products, but it's not easy to convince unwilling music store owners to buy them. Although he's already married to the somewhat drab Joan, when he meets school teacher Eileen in a music store, he falls in love with her.

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Plot Keywords:

police | vengeful wife | blinking light | movie theater | finger snap | 

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Taglines:

There's a world on both sides of the rainbow where songs come true and every time it rains, it rains...

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dinheiro do Céu

Filming Locations:

4th Street Bridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$9,179,289

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),SLM Production Group,Hera Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White ("Follow the Fleet" dream sequence) Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At least four paintings are recreated as "tableaux vivants" in the film: "Hudson Bay Fur Company" (1932) and "20 Cent Movie" (1936), both by Reginald Marsh, and "New York Movie" (1939) and "Nighthawks" (1942), both by Edward Hopper. Three of the four were painted after 1934, when the movie takes place, and all depict scenes in New York, not Chicago, the setting of the movie. Turner Classic Movies uses the "Fur Company" and "Nighthawks" shots in their "Open All Night" interstitial.

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Goofs

When Arthur meets the blind girl, he says that he is traveling from Chicago to Galena, IL. The police later ask about his travels along IL Route 1. IL Route 1 starts in Chicago and runs south, paralleling the Illinois-Indiana border, ending at the Kentucky border. Galena is west of Chicago, in the extreme northwest corner of the state.

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Quotes

[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!
[...]

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Amazing Moments in Music (2007)

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Soundtracks

Pennies from Heaven
(1936)
Written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston
Published by Intersong Music
Performed by Arthur Tracy
Courtesy of Decca Co. Ltd
Mimed onscreen and Danced by Vernel Bagneris (uncredited)
Later sung by Steve Martin (uncredited)

User Reviews

Solving the Musical Problem

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.