Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)
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| Pennies from Heaven | |
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| Directed by | Herbert Ross |
| Produced by | Rick McCallum Herbert Ross |
| Written by | Dennis Potter |
| Starring | Steve Martin Bernadette Peters Christopher Walken Jessica Harper |
| Music by | Ralph Burns |
| Cinematography | Gordon Willis |
| Editing by | Richard Marks |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | December 11, 1981 |
| Running time | 108 |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Pennies from Heaven is the 1981 film adaptation of the 1978 BBC television drama of the same name. Dennis Potter, the writer of the original British series, adapted his own screenplay for American audiences. The film's setting was changed to Depression era Chicago. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The film starred Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, and Christopher Walken. The director was Herbert Ross.
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[edit] Production
This was Steve Martin's first dramatic role in a film. Martin had watched the original miniseries and considered it "the greatest thing [he'd] ever seen".[1] He trained for two months learning to tap dance. Christopher Walken trained as a dancer as a young man and this was the first time he was able to use his dancing skills in a film.
According to a 1990 article in The Times, MGM had Dennis Potter rewrite the script thirteen times. MGM also required Potter to buy back his copyright from the BBC. According to the same 1990 Times article, Potter paid the BBC "something over $100,000" for the rights to his own script. In addition, MGM prohibited broadcast of the BBC's original production for ten years. Around 1989, at the prompting of Alan Yentob, the controller of BBC2, producer Kenith Trodd was able to buy back the rights from MGM at "a very inconsiderable sum." In February 1990, the BBC rebroadcast the original Pennies From Heaven for the first time since its original transmission.
In the same Times article, Trodd stated that Bob Hoskins and Cheryl Campbell, the stars of the original series, "were terribly upset that they weren't considered for the film. I think they still blame Dennis and me in some way, but there was no way to argue the point with MGM."
Four paintings are recreated as Tableau vivants in the film: Hudson Bay Fur Company and 20 Cent Movie by Reginald Marsh, and New York Movie and Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. Three of the four were painted after 1934, when the movie takes place, and all depict scenes in New York City, not Chicago, the setting of the movie.
[edit] Response
The film grossed slightly more than $9 million at the box-office against a budget of $22 million.[2]
When asked about the film's box-office failure in Rolling Stone, Martin said: "I'm disappointed that it didn't open as a blockbuster and I don't know what to blame, other than it's me and not a comedy. I must say that the people who get the movie, in general, have been wise and intelligent; the people who don't get it are ignorant scum."[1]
