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''Pennies from Heaven'' is a 1981 musical film adapted from a 1978 BBC television drama. Dennis Potter adapted his own screenplay from the BBC series for American audiences, changing its setting from London and the Forest of Dean to Depression era Chicago and rural Illinois. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, but lost to ''On Golden Pond''. The film starred Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Walken and Jessica Harper. The director was Herbert Ross and the choreographer was Danny Daniels.〔''Variety'' film review; December 9, 1981.〕 The film includes musical numbers consisting of actors lip-syncing and dancing to popular songs of the 1920s and '30s, such as "Let's Misbehave", "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries", "Let's Face the Music and Dance", and the title song. ==Plot== In 1934, Chicago sheet-music salesman Arthur Parker (Martin) is having a hard time, both in his business and at home with his wife Joan (Harper). His business and marriage are failing, and Joan refuses to give him the money she inherited from her father to start his own business. Arthur's dream is to live in a world that is like the songs he tries to sell. He is refused a bank loan, although he fantasizes that he gets it. In his travels, Arthur meets a school teacher, Eileen (Peters), and falls in love with her instantly. They embark on a short affair, but Arthur leaves her and returns to Joan, who, desperate to keep him, agrees to give him the money he wanted. Arthur denies having an affair, though Joan is sure he is lying. Eileen gets pregnant by Arthur and is fired. With nowhere to go, she takes up with stylish pimp Tom (Walken). While Eileen is attracted to Tom's "badness", it is quite clear that Tom means business, and arranges for her to have an abortion. When Arthur meets Eileen again, she is now a prostitute calling herself "Lulu". They resume their romance, and Eileen leaves Tom and her sordid life. Impulsively, Arthur convinces her to run away together. Having failed to sell his business, Arthur and Eileen break into the store one night and trash it, smashing its phonograph records (except for "Pennies From Heaven"). To supplement their income, Eileen keeps prostituting in spite of Arthur's objections. A blind girl whom Arthur knew superficially is raped and murdered by an accordion-playing hobo (Bagneris) who Arthur gave a ride to earlier in the film. The police's suspicions are confirmed by Joan, who lies to them about Arthur's supposed sexual perversions in order to get back at him for cheating on her. The police find Arthur trying to leave town with Eileen, and arrest him for murder; he is soon convicted and sentenced to death. At the gallows, he recites the lyrics from the song "Pennies from Heaven". In one final fantasy, Arthur and Eileen are reunited, with Arthur saying, "We've worked too hard not to have a happy ending." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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