PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (DVD/16X9/WS/1.85/ENG-FR-SP-SUB) DVD

Pennies from Heaven
Adapted from Dennis Potter's landmark British TV miniseries and relocated to the United States during the Depression, Pennies from Heaven dramatizes how popular songs both shaped and reflected the thoughts of people living through economic (and emotional) hardship. Arthur Parker (Steve Martin) is a sheet music salesman who believes that he can spot a hit a mile away and wants to open his own store. But he can't get a bank loan and his wife Joan (Jessica Harper), who has savings left to her by her father, refuses to give him the money. Also, while Arthur has a fierce sexual appetite, Joan generally refuses his advances. While on the road, Arthur meets Eileen (Bernadette Peters), a shy schoolteacher as desperate for affection as Arthur is hungry for sex. They begin an affair, which leads to tragedy for both. Punctuating the drama of Pennies from Heaven are elaborate musical numbers in which the characters lip-synch to popular songs of the day, which at once lift their hopes and reflect their fears. Arthur's buoyant tap number to "My Baby Said Yes" and Eileen's saucy rendition of "Love is Good for Anything That Ails You" are reflections of their needs for money and love, and their pas de deux on "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is at once an escape and an acknowledgement of their hopelessness. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast Steve Martin as Arthur Bernadette Peters as Eileen Christopher Walken as Tom Jessica Harper as Joan John McMartin as Mr. Warner John Karlen as The Detective Robert Fitch as Al Eliska Krupka as The Blind Girl

Crew Bernard Cutler - Art Director Fred Tuch - Art Director Ken Adam - Associate Producer Danny D. Daniels - Choreography Bob Mackie - Costume Designer L. Andrew Stone - First Assistant Director Herbert Ross - Director Thomas J. Wright - Second Unit Director Richard Marks - Editor Rick McCallum - Executive Producer Billy May - Composer (Music Score) Ralph Burns - Composer (Music Score) Marvin Hamlisch - Composer (Music Score) Ken Adam - Production Designer Philip Harrison - Production Designer Gordon Willis - Cinematographer Nora Kaye - Producer Herbert Ross - Producer Martha Johnston - Set Designer Garrett Lewis - Set Designer Christopher Burian-Mohr - Set Designer Glen Robinson - Special Effects Al Overton - Sound/Sound Designer Dennis Potter - Screen Story Dennis Potter - Screenwriter

Pennies from Heaven
A dazzling downer of a musical and one of the more interesting works to emerge from the last gasps of '70s-era critical Hollywood, the film version of Dennis Potter's remarkable BBC series Pennies From Heaven (1981) provocatively dissects the power of movie-made fantasy. Contrasting bleak, Edward Hopper-esque Depression era reality with sumptuous Art Deco illusions, Potter and director Herbert Ross illuminate the divide between sheet-music salesman Arthur Parker's sordid life and the musical dreams that give him hope. Stars Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters masterfully dance and lip-synch their way through elaborately imagined 1930s numbers (including outrageous Busby Berkeley spectacles and a potent reworking of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' "Let's Face the Music and Dance"), but the showstopper is Christopher Walken's saucy "Let's Misbehave" tap solo. Still, bucking the usual musical uplift, Martin's Arthur remains a doomed sex addict and Peters' Eileen an unrepentant fallen "good girl." Along with an Oscar nomination for Potter's screenplay, Bob Mackie's costumes earned Academy approval, while Gordon Willis' rich cinematography garnered several critics' prizes. Despite favorable reviews and Martin's star status, however, audiences did not appreciate either his serious performance or the film's modernist conception, and Pennies From Heaven failed. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

Al Overton: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Bernadette Peters: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or C (winner) Bob Mackie: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Costume Design (nominated) Dennis Potter: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated) Jay M. Harding: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Michael J. Kohut: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Richard Tyler: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (nominated) Steve Martin: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com (nominated)

Golden Globe, Best Picture - Musical or Comedy (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Scene-specific commentary by film critic Peter Rainer Pennies From Heaven: 20th-Anniversary Cast and Crew Reunion Theatrical trailer Subtitles: English, Français & Español DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1: Alternate Wide Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 107 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Credits [2:10] 2. Empty [5:50] 3. What's the Use? [1:42] 4. Yes, Yes! [2:48] 5. Accordion Man [2:07] 6. Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? [4:31] 7. Pennies From Heaven [6:44] 8. Head, Heart and Soul [2:22] 9. It's the Girl [4:33] 10. Love Is Good for Anything That Ails You [4:30] 11. You Won't Tell Lies [4:37] 12. Lipstick and Dreams [5:13] 13. It's a Sin to Tell a Lie [2:03] 14. Fired [3:17] 15. The Blind Girl [:01] 16. Talking Truth [3:59] 17. I Want to Be Bad [3:32] 18. Stumbling Into Death [3:04] 19. Tom Meets Lulu [3:29] 20. Let's Misbehave [3:19] 21. Something in Return [4:04] 22. Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries [1:59] 23. Record-Smashing Reunion [1:41] 24. Sordid Details [5:59] 25. No Time to Wait [3:07] 26. Let's Face the Music and Dance [2:33] 27. Running Scared [4:56] 28. Pennies From Heaven [4:00] 29. The Glory of Love [4:30] 30. End Credits [1:54]