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IMDb > Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Pennies from Heaven
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Pennies from Heaven (1981) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   2,367 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 30% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Dennis Potter (written for the screen by)
Dennis Potter (miniseries)
Contact:
View company contact information for Pennies from Heaven on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 December 1981 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
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 synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
6 Brilliant Films by This Weekend's Honorary Oscar-Winning Dp Gordon Willis
 (From Movieline. 13 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)

Streep Nom #3, 1981
 (From FilmExperience. 20 June 2009, 5:40 AM, PDT)

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
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
108 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Black and White | Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The "pennies" that are seen raining down from heaven were penny sized sequins. After filming, they blew out the stage door, and could be found in the corners in the streets at MGM studios for almost a year. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: Bar codes on railroad box cars. more
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!
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
References Umberto D. (1952) more
Soundtrack:
I'LL NEVER HAVE TO DREAM AGAIN more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
It rains on its own parade..., 21 October 2007
6/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

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 ****

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Why the creepy (and needless) part about the lipstick on the nipples? Reality-Bites
Truly disappointing... royalgravy
DVD is $3 at Big Lots. go-widescreen
CD music romanceh
Christopher Walken dance sequence sueziq
I missed part of the movie spare-flair
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