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

The film takes place in 1934.

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Goofs

While the film is set in 1934, the characters watch Follow the Fleet in a movie theater - that film was released in 1936.

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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 Nostalgia Critic: Top 11 Most Awkward Christopher Walken Moments (2010)

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Soundtracks

Let's Face the Music and Dance
(1936)
Written by Irving Berlin (uncredited)
Performed by Fred Astaire
Danced by Fred Astaire (uncredited) and Ginger Rogers (uncredited) in a clip from the film Follow the Fleet (1936)
Courtesy of RKO Pictures
Also danced by Steve Martin (uncredited) and Bernadette Peters (uncredited)

User Reviews

The more I see it

the more I am amazed. It is the film that Chicago could have been were it not for its irony. I never saw the BBC original, but fondly remember Potter's "The Singing Detective." I can understand that Hoskin's Cockney optimism would fit Pennies' lead character to a tee, but Martin gives us a hint of the fragility of the song pusher's world, like Willy Loman, out there on a shoeshine, and for Martin, a song.

The film is innovative and definitely not your father's musical, and the songs, done up not in 1981 over-orchestration but in that tinny sound of early vinyl, just blow me away. After I saw it, I went searching for Follow the Fleet just to see 'Face the Music' in reel time.

This film will not be everyone's cup of tea. It is one of those movies that I say works best when you begin with "Once upon a time."