Pennies from Heaven (1936)
Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.
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Sadly Over-hyped
People are voting emotionally.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Bing Crosby plays a drifter serving a stretch in prison when he's asked by a condemned inmate to deliver a letter to the family of the man the inmate killed ("Anybody that can sing sappy, sentimental songs in prison wouldn't double cross a guy taking his last walk"). When he's released, he fulfills his promise and delivers the letter to a family of two -- a befuddled old man and his precocious granddaughter. He takes an immediate liking to these two and wants to help them, even though he would also like to get back on the road. He also finds himself at odds with a pretty social worker whose job it is to see the young girl is properly cared for.An enjoyable bit of fluff with nice comedy and some mild tugging at the heartstrings. Crosby is likable and has a good chemistry with everybody he shares the screen with. He croons several tunes, including the title one. Child actress Edith Fellows is wonderful here, never cloying but just the right amount of corny to be appreciated. Donald Meek is fun as the grandfather. Madge Evans has a thankless role she does her best with. Louis Armstrong is terrific in a small part. Love the haunted house and carnival scenes. It's not a challenging movie but it is a pleasant one. Fun for the whole family, as they say. It should also hold some interest for those who like Depression-era material (Townsend Plan, anyone?). Crosby fans will, of course, love it.
"Pennies from Heaven" is thematically so similar to "Penny Serenade" (a classic tear-jerker) that one might think was Columbia's attempt to (forgive me) cash in on the success of "Penny Serenade" (another Columbia film). But the latter came five years later. "Pennies from Heaven" is little more than a Bing Crosby vehicle -- one badly in need of a tune-up.It starts off well enough, with a man about to be executed for murder handing a letter to a self-styled "troubadour" (Bing Crosby) to be delivered to the family of the man he killed. Once Crosby finds them, he makes a half-hearted effort to help (he's on his way to Venice), but his affection for the man's daughter (Edith Fellows) encourages him to stay. When a social worker (Madge Evens) comes after the girl to put her in an orphanage, Crosby announces a plan to open a restaurant.It is at this point that the story runs off the rails of plausibility, crashing into a chasm deeper than any Wile E Coyote ever fell into. I need not describe the fore-ordained and saccharine ending, made possible by the miracle of Arbitrary Plotting.There are good things. If you like Der Bingle, you get to hear him introduce the classic title song. Louis Armstrong (whom Crosby insisted be hired) is a treat, Edith Fellows is an agreeably anarchic child, and Stanley Andrews (the host of "Death Valley Days") has an unbilled role as a plainclothes officer. Evans, though, is sufficiently blah one wonders how a woman-hater like Crosby's character would ever find her attractive.Jo Swerling wrote better scripts than this one, but Norman McLeod's direction is tight and brisk. Note his unusual camera angles, as when Fellows looks through her opera glasses at Crosby.Nevertheless, "Pennies from Heaven" is one of those "less than the sum of its parts" films in which everyone's contribution is wasted on a poor story. You may safely skip it.PS: Crosby's character says at one point that he was born in Washington state -- which the real Crosby was. (Different city, though.)
How innocent the movies were 70 years ago! But innocent doesn't mean without cool: Bing is the paragon of smooth, then or today. And what a vehicle for several excellent pop songs: "Pennies From Heaven", of course, but also "So Do I", "Let's Call A Heart A Heart" and even "One, Two, Button My Shoe". Of course the plot is no more sophisticated than Bellini's operas, but who's really watching it for the plot when it's bel canto?! And you have to love the interplay between Bing and Louis Armstrong - and while you're watching Louis, that's Lionel Hampton playing the drums rather than vibes tonight - not many remember that he first started on the drums before moving to the vibes. I mean, what's not to like here? Check this thing out, you'll love it. Even the graphics on the hand-painted "The Haunted House Cafe" sign are fun!
Pennies from Heaven 1936 is a great film and has a wonderful scene with Louis Armstrong singing "Skeleton in the Closet" while chasing a skeleton all around the room. It works great for school kids on Halloween.Does anyone know if this movie is available on VHS or DVD for sale? If so where can I purchase it? Please email me