I just watched in again recently and I think it still holds up pretty well (barely remember the Martin version). The best thing I've read on Pennies is by the critic Howard Hampton in his book Born In Flames.
Manny
· 2 years ago
Excellent post, Dennis. What do you think of Potter's "The Singing Detective?" I have always prefered it (probably because of its more explicit darkness), though your post makes me want to revisit the Bob Hoskins Pennies".
Howard Chaykin
· 2 years ago
I saw "Pennies from Heaven" in its original run, and was blown away. I couldn't agree more about the film version--although Bernadette Peters can still ruin my life.
And let's not forget the extraordinary sequence with Christopher Walken doing his striptease with the blowsiest looking hookers ever seen in a Hollywood movie not taking place in a Berlin cabaret.
Hoskins also deserves props for a miniseries called "Flickers," about the nascent days of the British film industry, where he plays a lower class con man/hustler opposite the strictly upper crust Francine Latour, recently of "History Boys," doing, among other things, a serious tango.
Come to think of it, that was a golden time for BBC imports--"Thank You, Comrades," "I, Claudius," "Private Schulz," and that series whose title escapes me about Soviet sleeper agents in London.
Kevin Wolf
· 2 years ago
I'd love the see the original Pennies again; it's been a very long time. I remember how striking it was. I agree, Hoskins is a terrific actor.
For now, I content myself with the Steve Martin movie. I like it a lot, though I agree with most of your criticisms. I'm a sucker for dance in movie musicals so I enjoy those numbers; the two versions really are different animals.
I now have a love of Depression Era music caused by Pennies from Heaven -- first the original soundtrack album to the movie and then much later a 3-CD set of tracks as used in the BBC version. Interestingly, the Hollywood version uses some of the same records. Potter must have demanded that some of the British versions of the pop tunes of the day be used again.
All Comments
And let's not forget the extraordinary sequence with Christopher Walken doing his striptease with the blowsiest looking hookers ever seen in a Hollywood movie not taking place in a Berlin cabaret.
Hoskins also deserves props for a miniseries called "Flickers," about the nascent days of the British film industry, where he plays a lower class con man/hustler opposite the strictly upper crust Francine Latour, recently of "History Boys," doing, among other things, a serious tango.
Come to think of it, that was a golden time for BBC imports--"Thank You, Comrades," "I, Claudius," "Private Schulz," and that series whose title escapes me about Soviet sleeper agents in London.
For now, I content myself with the Steve Martin movie. I like it a lot, though I agree with most of your criticisms. I'm a sucker for dance in movie musicals so I enjoy those numbers; the two versions really are different animals.
I now have a love of Depression Era music caused by Pennies from Heaven -- first the original soundtrack album to the movie and then much later a 3-CD set of tracks as used in the BBC version. Interestingly, the Hollywood version uses some of the same records. Potter must have demanded that some of the British versions of the pop tunes of the day be used again.
Now I know who Al Bowlly was.