Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Overview
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.
Cast
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
Tommy Rall
Ed
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Wuchak
***Imagination helps endure the harsh realities of the Depression***
In the 1930s a struggling sheet music salesman (Steve Martin) tries to escape his dreary existence with his prudish wife (Jessica Harper) to pursue his dream and a cute schoolmarm (Bernadette Peters). The imaginations of the characters help them deal with the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Vernel Bagneris plays a homeless accordion player while Christopher Walken is on hand as a pimp.
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981) is a drama/musical based on the 1978 British mini-series and written by the same guy. The song & dance routines occur about every 7 minutes and are an amusingly kinetic counterpoint to the sad Depression-era dramatics. Martin is his usual comical self, but the drama is definitely not a comedy and contains some seriously unsavory moments.
“Pennies from Heaven” was the precursor to musicals like “Chicago” (2002) and “Nine” (2009), but those films have superior reality-based stories and far better women, especially “Chicago” as far as the women go. But Bernadette is a joy to behold as usual; and Martin is charismatic despite playing a man of dubious character.
The movie runs 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Illinois (Chicago & Galena) and Southern Cal (the Los Angeles area & Wasco).
GRADE: C
