Pennies from Heaven

As a teenager I was a great fan of the music of the 1920s and the 1930s. I didn't see this series when it was first shown in the 1970s but I saw it when it was repeated in 1990. I know you shouldn't speak evil of the dead but Dennis Potter was one weird and scary guy. The music is very pleasant. It may be dated but it is still nice to listen to in the same way comedy films of the same era like those of the Marx Brothers, Will Hay and Laurel and Hardy are still fun to watch. Many things in the series are morbid and ghoulish and a bit inconsistent with the music. These scenes where you had men moving their lips to female singers (eg Bob Hoskins mouthing to Elsie Carlisle and in another scene his friends mouthing to the Carlyle Cousins) and vice versa (eg Gemma Craven mouthing to Dan Donovan) annoyed me greatly. As a teenager I built up a collection of 400 78s from that era including some that were featured in the programme like Jack Hylton's "Painting The Clouds With Sunshine" recorded 25/10/29, four days before the Wall Street Crash. I also corresponded with a few old men who had been musicians in these bands including Tiny Winters, the bass player with the Lew Stone band. Tiny played bass on a few of the records that were featured in the series. He said, agreeing with my views, that he didn't like it. Mary Lee, one of the singers with Roy Fox's band, told me she was surprised to see Cheryl Campbell in the series moving her lips to her voice. This series did not gain the approval of the musicians on the 1930s records featured in it or of people who were fans of these bands in the 1930s or of modern day enthusiasts. This was just a depressing play written by a sad lecherous oddball who aimed more at upsetting people than entertaining them.

Dennis Potter's PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is a masterpiece of both style and substance. It is a masterpiece of style in that it vividly conjures the look and atmosphere of mid 1930s England. This setting perfectly complements the original recordings of Depression era songs that emerge from the characters' mouths when they try to express themselves. It is a masterpiece of substance in that it is a riveting drama, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes poignant, sometimes both simultaneously.

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN dramatizes the trials and tribulations of Arthur Parker (Bob Hoskins), a song sheet salesman who unceasingly hopes the lyrics of the music he tries to peddle will become reality. It is a compelling story not only because of the novel use of lip synching to illustrate Parker's and the other characters' fantasies, but because of Potter's stark contrast between the songs' cheery lyrics and the characters' troubled lives. PENNIES also benefits from the cast's persuasive performances, especially Hoskins, Gemma Craven as his repressed wife Joan and Cheryl Campbell as a shy schoolteacher Arthur's infatuated with. One feels great empathy for the characters, even though they are flawed, because one can easily identify with their wishes and frustrations.

On one level, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is a chilling cautionary tale- a warning that dreams of paradise are folly because life is cruel and hard. On another level, it is an inspiring story of hope- that even when life is at its most grim, we can always lift our spirits with those same dreams. Whatever message one may perceive, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is thoroughly moving and absorbing, a testimony to the late Dennis Potter's genius.

Thanks to the PBS Network, KCET 28 Los Angeles, I was able to see "Pennies From Heaven" years ago during a tribute to writer, Dennis Potter. I throughly enjoyed this tv mini-series. To be honest in this review, I did not get to see the last episodes of "Pennies From Heaven" because my VHS video tape cut off after six hours of recording. The last scene I saw was when Bob Hoskins and the blonde lady were eating at a ritzy restaurant and had just tasted the wine. But I throughly enjoyed all that I had seen. The drama, the comedy and the good ole music is fantastic. Bob Hoskins is a young 36 in this film. Handsome and dashing. He is perfect in the lead role. It is fun to watch him lip-syncing. Bob Hoskins acting is the best and the top. His clarity of emotions that he brings forth (to the camera, to the viewer) is impeccable. Oh, how I wish this fine production were available on VHS video or DVD. I guess the only chance of seeing this tv mini-series again is if the PBS network in Los Angeles broadcasts it again. The 25th Anniversary of this "Pennies From Heaven" tv-mini-series is on March 7, 2003.

This series first aired when I was completing my school career and encouraged me to watch other Dennis Potter work. I have watched re-runs and the series on DVD many times since and I am still struck by new and startling elements in it's writing. It is one of the finest pieces of television the BBC ever produced. Dennis Potter was a unique talent with an ear for how people spoke and the ability to cut through the words to get to the truth. Not all his work was to the standard of Pennies From Heaven but it was always engaging and thought-provoking. This series is in the top 25 of the BFI's poll of best television and rightly so.

If you have never seen it, watch it and if you saw it years ago, it bears re-watching. Great writing like this always offers something new and fresh.

To evaluate Pennies from Heaven solely in terms of its use of 1930s dance tunes is at best blinkered and at worst deeply stupid. What Potter did with those tunes was to point up how his characters sought refuge in what now would be called 'pop culture' to escape the grim realities of the time - and he was writing about the 1930s: the Depression, Fascism, Stalinism, etc. And Potter was genuinely fond of the 30s tunes that were used: I don't think the series mocks the songs at all, but their up-beat denial of misery is what makes their use so powerful as they counterpoint the characters' despair.

Whatever else Dennis Potter might have done (I am not an unqualified fan) this series is just about the greatest drama series ever seen on British TV; except, that is, for Potter's last word on his 'lip-sync' method, The Singing Detective, from 1987.