Topic Pennies from Heaven.... um... from the General Chit-Chat forum.
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| Author | Topic: Pennies from Heaven.... um... |
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 Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 7/24/2003 at 11:34:41 AM ET
ooo, thanks Karen. Wow, I didn't think the movie they showed was that far ahead, which is why I never thought to say Follow the Fleet.
<3CMH<3
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
134.126.30.x | posted: 7/24/2003 at 12:13:43 PM ET
Thanks to this site, I was able to tape "Pennies from Heaven" and see it for the first time last night. I had read it was Ms. Peters' favorite (or one of them). For the first 45 minutes or so, I thought: "This is sort of like 'Moulin Rouge.' I admired it, liked some of the numbers, but didn't much like the movie. It wasn't something I'd go out of my way to see again." And I thought too that Baz Luhrmann must have seen this movie before making MR.
Then I gasped at one scene, recognizing it as a reproduction of an Edward Hopper painting. Then the story unfolded, then the beautiful Fred Astaire sequence, then the hanging sequence. I began to look at this movie very differently. Correction: This is not a movie; it is a film. It is art, abstract art, and will take some work to fully understand and appreciate. (Steve Martin is an art aficionado and collector, remember.)
If you really want to begin to understand this movie, you have to become familiar with Fred and Ginger and Depression-era movies. Watch Turner Classics for some of these in the future (story lines are a lot the same, but it's the F&G dancing that will thrill), and check out Hopper's artwork (the diner scene is his "Nighthawks.")
I'm still not certain I like this movie, but the more I think about it, the more I admire it, and I plan to study it further for all its nuances and elegance.
Beyond all that, in the Christopher Walken scene in bar, Ms. Peters made my stomach hurt. Her face (realizing she would have to become a prostitute to survive) absolutely broke my heart. Migosh, she's wonderful....
| Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 7/24/2003 at 2:51:22 PM ET
"Then I gasped at one scene, recognizing it as a reproduction of an Edward Hopper painting."
I assume you watch TCM often? I know I do. If so, you are probably famliar with the little commercial add they do along with the song "Look For the Silver Lining"...it's usually on right before a movie is going to start. Well, they always end that add by showing that Diner scene from "Pennies From Heaven." 
I thought another very good, yet small scene was when Arthur was walking by and heard a man and woman acting up; then realized it was Eileen and what she had become. You could see it in his face that he knew it was his fault. 
More than once when Eileen would mention a regret or wish Arthur would say, "That's right. Go ahead and blame me" in a sarcastic tone...as if to say he doesn't think he should be blamed. But he wouldn't say that if he wasn't feeling guilty.
<3CMH<3
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
134.126.30.x | posted: 7/24/2003 at 4:02:01 PM ET
As it happens...my local cable company just switched. I've had TCM for less than 2 weeks (Great timing for "Pennies from Heaven," no?) I watched Astaire and Rogers movies many years ago ("She danced in heels and backwards."). I've heard the silver lining "jingle" on TCM and now will watch for the Hopper locale.
If your ideas about the moral are on point – taking responsibility for your actions and mistakes and their consequences – it could be a powerful message for these days (i.e., Kobe Bryant's one night of admitted adultery?)
Or, you could just enjoy the singing and dancing. (Is that the point?)
I think there might be a lot of little scenes in this movie, a lot under the surface – why I'd like to study it more closely. Wonder if anyone else has?
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
134.126.30.x | posted: 7/24/2003 at 4:44:35 PM ET
For anyone interested in figuring out "Pennies," try this:
http://www.lightsfade.com/reviews/pennies.htm
It also explains the TCM comments that fans of the Brit TV show hated the movie.
Here's this from another site: "Steve Martin talked for a little bit about how the art fit into the film. Referring to the Depression-era collage during the 'Pennies From Heaven' song number, he said it was like acting inside a painting."
This movie sure aint for everyone, or even, most. I can only imagine what people who loved Martin and Peters in "The Jerk" thought when they sat in the theaters watching this movie. Wholly wrong audience for this flick. Steve was still best known for an arrow thru his head. Perhaps if the movie had come later in their careers...
| BernadetteFan8
Registered User
Registered:
4/4/2003
From:
Liverpool | posted: 7/24/2003 at 4:56:30 PM ET
I know its a LONG way off but Pennies from Heaven is on TCM in Britain on 2nd October!Can't wait 2 see it and to see if i agree with all your opinions!
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
134.126.30.x | posted: 7/24/2003 at 5:27:30 PM ET
Thank you, Jean, for the reviews. (Pauline Kael liked it. Interesting.)
BTW, I'm old enough to have seen Christopher Walken in "High Spirits," but probably not old enuf to remember it.
Here's an interesting six-degrees-of-separation, Kevin-Bacon-type item in Walken's bio on a site I found:
"...Having graduated from The Children's Professional School (he received his diploma from Gypsy Rose Lee)...."
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