Overview
In a time of despair, love finds a way to bloom amidst the chaos of life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- theatrical
- wistful
- arthouse movie night
- classic musical viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the ambitious, innovative musical numbers and period stylization while finding the film emotionally chilly, esoteric, and unevenly cohesive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Period songs are staged as heightened wish-fulfillment while the Depression-era plot remains bleak and socially constrained.
The film's artificial song sequences and emotionally distancing style evoke Brecht and Weill while refusing conventional musical realism.
Arthur's failing sales career and the characters' imagined pleasures embody desires shaped by the Great Depression.
Married salesman Arthur Parker pursues schoolteacher Eileen as an imagined route out of his drab domestic life with Joan.
Films like Pennies from Heaven, and why
Cabaret
stylized period musical, social alienation, and popular songs expressing suppressed desire
The Threepenny Opera
experimental musical form, Depression-era hardship, and Brechtian emotional distance
Dancer in the Dark
romantic longing, theatrical musicality, and disjunction between fantasy and social reality
Moulin Rouge!
bittersweet musical romance and deliberately artificial performance sequences
Movie Details
- Director
- Herbert Ross
- Release Date
- 1981-12-11
- Runtime
- 108 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (110)
Cast
- Steve Martin
- Bernadette Peters
- Jessica Harper
- Vernel Bagneris
- John McMartin
- John Karlen
- Jay Garner
- Robert Fitch
- Tommy Rall
- Eliska Krupka
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Pennies from Heaven about?
- A desperate Depression-era salesman pursues romantic escape as classic songs transform economic misery into dazzling, unsettling fantasy.
- What is Pennies from Heaven like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pennies from Heaven as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Pennies from Heaven violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Pennies from Heaven as mild.
- What did critics think of Pennies from Heaven?
- Critics broadly admired the ambitious, innovative musical numbers and period stylization while finding the film emotionally chilly, esoteric, and unevenly cohesive.
- Which films are like Pennies from Heaven?
- Films with a similar feel include Cabaret, The Threepenny Opera, Dancer in the Dark, and Moulin Rouge!.
- How long is Pennies from Heaven?
- Pennies from Heaven runs 108 minutes.
- Where can I watch Pennies from Heaven?
- In United States, Pennies from Heaven is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
