‘Pennies From Heaven’ Is at Last Adding Up After Two Decades

Twenty years ago this Christmas, MGM released the big-budget movie musical “Pennies From Heaven,” starring Steve Martin, fresh from his success in the slapstick comedy “The Jerk.” But fans of Martin’s “wild and crazy guy” routine were in for a shock. Instead of a sparkling musical comedy, “Pennies From Heaven” was a dark, audacious and sophisticated melodrama with Martin playing Arthur Parker, a Depression-era music salesman who is married to a woman named Joan (Jessica Harper) but falls in love with a schoolteacher (Bernadette Peters). Co-stars Christopher Walken and Vernel Bagneris almost steal the movie with their musical numbers.

The movie bombed: Reviews were mixed and audiences stayed away from the somber tale. But over the years, respect for the film has grown, particularly for its spectacular art and production design, costumes and its innovative dance numbers.

Tonight, several members of the cast and crew, including Martin, are scheduled to participate in a 20th anniversary screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Adapted by Dennis Potter from his seminal 1978 British miniseries of the same name, “Pennies From Heaven” featured several numbers with the characters lip-syncing to classic tunes of the era--revealing their innermost thoughts through these songs. Highlights include the “Pennies From Heaven” number with Bagneris, and the “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” sequence in which Martin and Peters imagine themselves as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Directed by the late Herbert Ross, “Pennies From Heaven” was visually astonishing, with costume designer Bob Mackie receiving an Oscar nomination for his evocative designs. Although the late Ken Ada didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for his production design, his work on “Pennies From Heaven” is a marvel--borrowing from the paintings of Edward Hopper and Walker Evans’ Depression-era photographs. “Pennies From Heaven” was also Oscar-nominated for sound and screenplay based on material from another medium.

Harper, Mackie, art director Bernie Cutler and David Chasman, the studio executive who supervised the production for MGM, also are scheduled to participate in the panel discussion after the screening. Martin, Mackie, Cutler and Chasman recently recalled their experiences making “Pennies From Heaven.”

Beginnings

Steve Martin: I knew at the time it was a drastic thing [from my “wild and crazy guy” image]. But I did it for three reasons. One, I needed emotionally to do something different. I didn’t want to do “Jerk II.” Two, I loved the project. I saw the British TV version and I was completely taken with it. Three, I knew in time, like 20 years from now, that people don’t remember it as your film after “The Jerk.” It is just a film that stands on its own. I had a real belief in the project.

I didn’t have to [fight] for the part. I believe the studio wanted me because I was very hot at the time. I think their commercial belief overruled their sense. I met with Herb Ross and read for him, and they came to see me [perform] in Las Vegas. The choreographer, Danny Daniels, came to see if I could dance, so there was an ordeal to get the part. I think Herb Ross felt a little saddled with me.

David Chasman: It had arrived [at MGM] as a project for discussion. When it first came to MGM, its future was kind of uncertain there. I began to champion it mostly because it had an idea that was simply breathtaking, i.e., that most people, the vast majority of people, can’t really express the deepest feelings that they have and what they do is fall back on the fairly banal lyrics in order to express them. It was just ingenious.

There were doubts about its commercial future, and if I had them, I suppressed them very quickly because I just loved the idea and it was such a coming together of diverse talent. I remember during the making of it when we used to get the dailies, the stuff of [cinematographer] Gordy Willis brought tears to my eyes. It was so beautiful, and when it ran into over-budget problems, as it was bound to, I was indeed its champion.

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Working With Herb Ross

Bob Mackie: I had worked with him on “Funny Lady.” I did the last Fred Astaire TV special with him, and that was in 1968. There was always a lot of discussion with Herb Ross. It went on and on and on.

Bernie Cutler: He liked to know what was happening. He wanted to be very much involved. Unfortunately, he isn’t around now, but he did keep his finger in everything. He didn’t hesitate to tell you if he didn’t like a specific color, even after something was painted. We would show him samples and he would approve things, but some things had to be redone to what he wanted.

Martin: Herb Ross really gave me some acting lessons. Let’s put it this way: It was trial by fire. That’s how I learned, essentially, to act: through Herb. We could do a lot of takes. I wouldn’t allow myself to be daunted, but as I look at the movie now, I realize there were some places I could have done better.

Chasman: If you look at the filmography of Herbert Ross, he did his very best work when he worked with writers that were strong. The script was not Herbert’s strength, but when he worked with Neil Simon or Arthur Laurents or Dennis Potter, he was great. His virtues were tempo and movement, which were choreographers’ virtues.

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The Look

Cutler: This was one of the most fun pictures to work on. A musical is always tremendous, and it gave us an opportunity to do a lot of research into the 1930s era of what things looked like, what objects were and architecture. We must have had six or eight sound stages going. It was a giant picture. There were two sets that were outstanding to me. The interior of the bank, which was on the biggest stage at MGM. And when we did the exterior of the Chicago street onstage, that was marvelous as well, but you didn’t get to see it all as well.

Mackie: It was kind of like doing two films--a realistic Depression-era drama and a Busby Berkeley musical all in one. We had wonderful old clips to look at. All of those musical numbers from the Busby Berkeley musicals from Warner Bros. were very important to look at, and Walter Evans and all sorts of people like that, to get the right feeling. I designed [‘30s-era underwear] because you couldn’t buy it. I designed it for whomever had to show their underwear. The boxer shorts had a little yoke on them with little buttons

Martin: It was beautiful [on the set]. At that stage, I wasn’t used to movies, so I loved all the waiting and the sets and the lighting. Gordon Willis is a very slow-paced, slow-moving, lighting cameraman. So these things took a long, long time. But I could get four hours [between shots] and go rehearse the dance numbers.

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The Reaction

Martin: I do think there was an element of my image in conflict with the nature of the movie, and it’s a difficult movie, you know. It’s like a big art film--a studio art film.

Cutler: I think it was ahead of its time. At that instance in time, people weren’t ready for that, for the type of thing it was: a musical with these dark overtones.

Mackie: MGM advertised it as the return of the MGM musical. Well, people were taking their children to see it, and it was hardly something for a child to see. It was so violent. Then they knew Steve Martin as “The Jerk” and the “wild and crazy guy.” They expected a comedy. Today, he would do it and no one would think anything about it. They didn’t promote it properly at all. You have to get an audience ready for something like that. It was not a success, but it has become an underground cult favorite.

Chasman: There were some rapturous reviews from some of the most influential critics. I said [to MGM executives], “I know this is a hard, bleak story, but the musical numbers are so inventive and so enchanting, it is like sugar on a pill. I think audiences will be so happy with the sugar, they will swallow the pill.” But it didn’t turn out that way. They licked the sugar off and they spit out the pill.

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The 20th anniversary screening of “Pennies From Heaven” takes place tonight at 8 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Admission is $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.