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   2,348 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 20% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Herbert Ross

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:

Drama | Musical | Romance more

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:

Loved The Hilarious, Innovative Musical Numbers; Hated The Depressing Story 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:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

In the scene in the classroom, miniature flags of several nations are sitting on the desk. The Canadian flag, however, is inaccurate because the Red Maple Leaf flag used was only created in the 1960s and became Canada's official flag in 1965 many years after "Pennies from Heaven" took place. 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:

Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V) more

Soundtrack:

LET'S PUT OUT THE LIGHTS AND GO TO SLEEP more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
Loved The Hilarious, Innovative Musical Numbers; Hated The Depressing Story, 10 January 2007
6/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Man, did I love the musical numbers in this film.....but hated the story. I wound up taping just the music segments out of this film and making myself a neat little half-hour video of fantastic song-and-dance numbers.

The dance numbers are 1920s-1930s material except you get 1980s color and special-effects (and loose sexual mores). Actually, these are more like put- ons of those routines, including Busby Berkeley extravaganzas. Added to the routines are humor. I just laughed out loud at the absurdity of them, which included having the actors lip-sync to the old-time singers.

The dance routines are all totally different and very entertaining, from the opening bank skit, to the kids in the classroom to Christopher Walken's striptease to Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters imitating Astaire & Rogers. The dancing is good and the songs are great: catchy and fun.

Story-wise, Martin ("Arthur Parker") plays a boorish, profane, lying and just plain unlikeable character. Are we supposed to root for him? Maybe we are to root for Peters, who plays "Lulu," the school teacher-turned- prostitute (sounds like real-life these days with all the female teacher sex scandals). Hey, I like Martin in a lot of films. He can be a very entertaining guy, but the character he plays in here.....well, you can have him and this very cynical and depressing story. No thanks.

It's no surprise to me it bombed at the box office. Too bad, because with a more appealing story a lot more people would have been treated to the great musical numbers in this movie.

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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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