PENNIES FROM HEAVEN [1981] (1 Viewer)

[trajan]

I just finished watching this work of art on dvd again. All I can say is this transfer looks like one of the worse VHS tapes. This film deserves better.The great work of Gordon Willis is almost ruined by this transfer. Would someone PLEASE release this on bluray..

 

[Matt Hough]

I did see it in the theater, but I don't remember being bowled over by the looks of it there either. Seems to me the real-life scenes always had slightly orangy skin tones and looked drab. I just got the DVD a couple of months ago after years of just owning the laserdisc, and I wasn't nearly as disappointed as you are with the transfer.

The movie has never been popular, but I wonder if WA would consider it for Blu-ray.

 

[GlennF]

I really like the movie, but can't say I find the picture on the DVD that bad. Only the first big production number seems to really suffer. It was sort of the look it had in the theatre. (Mind you I only have a 42 inch set.)A Blu-ray would be great, but it is a very niche film since a lot of people find it too depressing.

 

[Will Krupp]

A Blu-ray would be great, but it is a very niche film since a lot of people find it too depressing.

I always say it's a better film to remember than to experience

That being said, I would STILL probably buy a blu-ray of it (I'm eternally optimistic!)

I didn't think the DVD looked so bad either but I haven't played it in awhile so maybe I'll give it a spin over the weekend (if you don't hear from me come Monday, please somebody feed my cats!)

 

[trajan]

First off, the blacks levels are terrible.I accept grain but there are times when it looked like it was shot in 16mm. [look at the shots of the car going down the road against a blue sky] Filtering is something else I accept, but there were times I thought I needed an eye exam. Its been quite a while since I have watched anything on dvd, so maybe I am just spoiled by bluray.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

This is a prime title for Warner Archive to release on blu-ray.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Always wanted to see this film and a proper presentation on BLU would be a worthy blind buy from myself. A perfect WA title.

 

[Ejanss]

Always wanted to see this film and a proper presentation on BLU would be a worthy blind buy from myself. A perfect WA title.

I think I speak for many when I assure you to rent it first. You will know why when you see it.

(Let's just say,

Spoiler

it was released during December of 1981, which some critics say went down in history as The Most Depressing Christmas Movie Season of our generation:
Ragtime, Reds, Ghost Story...they all PALED in comparison.)

 

[Dick]

It is certainly not an "up" movie. But some of the musical numbers are stunning -- beautifully and imaginatively choreographed, costumed, and filmed. The title number, the little kids dancing on their school desks, and several others are alone worth the price of admission. I never saw it theatrically. My first viewings were on small t.v.'s, and it was still an exhilarating experience. I would be delighted by a Blu-ray release.

The dramatic story is somewhat clumsy and ends badly for some characters, so no, it would not have made good fodder for the Christmas crowd. And I guess I would call it a genuine musical, even though actors are all lip-syncing to popular songs of the time period (the depression, which makes the fact that it is a depressing movie pretty appropriate, without all the CINDERELLA MAN kinds of last-minute reprieves from poverty, which rarely happened in real life). The songs quite handily reflect the emotions the characters on screen are feeling. Don't be discouraged by those who tell you to pass this by...you might well find it to be memorable and occasionally great, as I do.

 

[Ejanss]

It is certainly not an "up" movie. But some of the musical numbers are stunning -- beautifully and imaginatively choreographed, costumed, and filmed. The title number, the little kids dancing on their school desks, and several others are alone worth the price of admission. I never saw it theatrically. My first viewings were on small t.v.'s, and it was still an exhilarating experience. I would be delighted by a Blu-ray release.

The dramatic story is somewhat clumsy and ends badly for some characters, so no, it would not have made good fodder for the Christmas crowd. And I guess I would call it a genuine musical, even though actors are all lip-syncing to popular songs of the time period (the depression, which makes the fact that it is a depressing movie pretty appropriate, without all the CINDERELLA MAN kinds of last-minute reprieves from poverty, which rarely happened in real life). The songs quite handily reflect the emotions the characters on screen are feeling. Don't be discouraged by those who tell you to pass this by...you might well find it to be memorable and occasionally great, as I do.

The musical numbers are good--at least for the pre-VHS/cable era, when we didn't know our old movies, and thought Old Musicals were all one big Fred Astaire/Esther Williams number directed by Busby Berkley--but Dennis Potter's British-deconstructive purpose was to tell how we were all reality-fleeing fools in that 30's Depression for dreaming of toe-tapping happiness, and that there were Dark Undercurrents under all those happy lyrics. (Again, an RKO Fred & Ginger myth believed by people who never actually sat down and watched gritty, street-smart pre-code-Warner "42nd St." or "Golddiggers of '33", where the Depression, naughty thrills, and unemployed WWI vets were still very real and sung about.)
And which, by putting the audience in the same situation, means the movie almost arrogantly spits on the audience for wanting some light relief moments with its non-stop "realistic" tragedy. Yeah, back at'cha, pal.
Oh, the sad 80's times we had back before Chicago fixed movie musicals...

For a bit of nostalgic embarrassment, it was Steve Martin's first lead role after "The Jerk" (and before he also wore a 30's suit well in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"), and confused critics' one single scapegoat for why the movie didn't do well was "Oh, look, the Wild and Crazy Guy's trying to do a dramatic role!"
Oh, the very idea.

 

[benbess]

I saw this in the theater 33 years ago. I was stunned, visually and emotionally. Spectacular and sad movie. I don't think it should be forgotten and lost....

 

[davidmatychuk]

It does contains what I think is the second greatest Christopher Walken scene in any movie, after his "Pulp Fiction" scene. Some days I reverse that order in favour of the one I've seen most recently.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

You can rent this in HD from the usual online sources if you're curious about seeing this film.

 

[bugsy-pal]

Yes, the musical numbers really make this film. The Walken routine in the bar is brilliant. And the Vernel Bagneris dance to the title song is unforgettable. This deserves a bluray release, for sure.

 

[bujaki]

I knew Walken was a musical performer since I purchased an original cast recording of Best Foot Forward, where he played a minor part (as a young cadet). However, his song-and-dance number in Pennies from Heaven was a real revelation as to his versatility as an actor and performer. Then I had the pleasure of seeing him live on B'way in the excellent, short-lived and, alas, unrecorded version of Joyce's The Dead. As a lagniappe, Marni Nixon was also on the show.
Pennies from Heaven may be depressing, but it is also an excellent film. I saw it during its original release, and I agree that it would make a splendid BD.

 

[pitchman]

Is there any chance Warner Archive will ever come out with a Blu-ray release of this? It strikes me as a perfect candidate for their niche film releasing structure. It may be a flawed movie but it is still deserving of better treatment than it has so far received on home video.

 

[Harold Chasen]

Is there any chance Warner Archive will ever come out with a Blu-ray release of this? It strikes me as a perfect candidate for their niche film releasing structure.

There's always a chance that Warner Archive, at any random time, will release any film that they control. That's the way the Archive works - one simply cannot predict what they will or will not release, and when they will release it. So, it could be on their next list of releases, or it may never see the light of day in our lifetimes.

I agree that Pennies From Heaven does seem like the type of film (or rather, one of the types of film) they release - a film from the last few decades that was not a big hit but has a niche following, similar to, say, Quick Change or Pump Up The Volume.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

In case anybody doesn't know that this film is a feeble remake of a marvellous tv series I'll mention it now.

If that is available you'll find it infinitely preferable.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Never underestimate the genius of the late Dennis Potter. However, this "feeble remake" does boast a killer Bob Peak poster.

 

[Alan Tully]

...& some amazing song & dance numbers. I've never seen the movie (just those bits on YouTube), but I'd love to buy a Blu-ray of it.