Pennies from Heaven

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 (Columbia, 1936), directed by Norman Z. McLeod, no relation to the 1981 musical of that same title featuring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters, stars Bing Crosby, on loan from his home studio of Paramount, in a forgettable but likable story with a notable title tune that underscores the film opening credits, presenting pennies falling from the thundering clouds above bouncing to the wet ground below. Crosby's character of Larry Poole is a drifter who lives a day-to-day existence tossing a feather into the air and heading the direction where the feather goes. He also passes the time singing by songs with the use of a 13th century flute, an instrument occasionally mistaken for a guitar. His biggest dream in life is to go to Venice, Italy, and ride on the gondolas, which, at present, seems unlikely.

In the story's fade-in, Larry, serving time in prison on a supposed smuggling charge, with one more week to go before his released, is met by a man Hart (John Gallaudet), a condemned prisoner on his way to the electric chair to die for his crime, who wants Poole, the only man he trusts, to deliver a letter to a family named Smith of Middletown, New Jersey, and explains his reasons. After Poole grants him this last request, Hart is then escorted down his last mile through the green doors. Following this dramatic scene opener, quite unusual for a musical-comedy, finds the pardoned Larry drifting along to a carnival where he encounters a pre-teen but tough little girl (Edith Fellows) being cheated at a game booth by a slick barker (who charges a dime for a throw of six rings). Larry helps her to win her prize by letting her know how she's getting cheated and threatens the carnival barker that there will be a loud call of "Hey, rube!" if he doesn't come up with the prize. The girl in turn gets it. Larry then tells her, "Thank the nice man." Girl to barker: "Thank you ... YOU CROOK!" After making the acquaintance with Patsy and later her grandfather (Donald Meek), who are flat broke and in financial need, and learning that their last name is Smith, Larry finds that they are the Smiths he's been searching for. He then presents them with the letter in question. It is learned that Hart's last request was that the family of the man he killed (Patsy's father) should inherit a large country estate that once belonged to his family. Upon arrival to the old mansion via hayride, they have second thoughts when finding the run-down mansion might possibly be haunted. With the help of the positive-thinking Larry, he happens upon an idea of turning the old place into a roadside restaurant called the Haunted House Cafe. The second half of the story focuses on Susan Sprague (Madge Evans), a county welfare agent, who feels Patsy, an incorrigible child who has been skipping school, isn't being brought up in the right atmosphere, especially when Patsy is bonding with a man who had spent time in prison, thus, threatening to take her away.

Aside from Crosby's easy-going personality and his easy-listening crooning, Madge Evans' blonde beauty and Edith Fellows' temper tantrums controlled only by Crosby, whose "taming of the shrew" is through his singing, the supporting cast also features a very young Louis Armstrong as Henry, the hired hand, trumpeter and vocalist of the Haunted House Cafe; Nana Bryant as Mrs. Howard; Charles C. Wilson as the Warden; and character actress Nydia Westman appearing briefly as the landlady.

Nice tunes, compliments of songwriters Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston include: "So Do I" (sung by Bing Crosby); "Pennies From Heaven" (sung by Crosby to Edith Fellows during a thunder storm); "Skeleton in the Closet" (sung by Louis Armstrong); "Let's Call a Heart a Heart" (sung by Crosby to Madge Evans); "Pennies From Heaven" (reprise); "One, Two, Button My Shoe" (sung by Crosby and orphan children); "So Do I" and "One, Two, Button My Shoe" (reprise/finale).

As in most Crosby musicals of the 1930s and '40s, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is a likable production no different from the movies he has done over at his home studio at Paramount. Along with the film, young Edith Fellows, who resembles a youthful Jane Powell, in a performance that could have been played by another registered movie "brat" named Bonita Granville, is as forgotten as this movie itself. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN will go on record as her best known film work, for that her subsequent features, mostly for Columbia, have been minor programmers that remain hidden in the land of oblivion. Her chemistry with Crosby registers well here. Aside from the screen characters, the movie includes some interesting camera angles worth mentioning. One that stands in mind is the introductory scene between Crosby and Fellows as they are leaving the carnival. After she asks him what his name is, the camera focuses to the girl's point of eye-view from the bottom up as Crosby's character, appearing quite taller, looks down and answers her question. A similar such scene occurs later as Crosby sings to the tune of "So Do I" while Fellows does some street dancing to earn some extra money as the tenement people throw some loose change from their apartment windows above. While there are enough good songs to go around, only "Pennies from Heaven" remains legendary, earning an Academy Award nomination as Best Song of 1936, losing to "The Way You Look Tonight" from SWING TIME (1936).

Available on DVD and shown on Turner Classic Movies(TCM premiere: December 5, 2005), PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, which which runs 81 minutes, is worthy screen entertainment made palatable by its good songs and fine supporting cast. (***)

Pleasant if meandering Bing Crosby vehicle casts him as a man unjustly jailed who is given a note to deliver by a condemned man. Out of prison, he tracks down the Smith family in New Jersey and discovers a lonely girl (Edith Fellows) who lives with her destitute grandfather (Donald Meek). On opening the note they realize the condemned man has left them a house. Crosby ambles along with them and becomes part of the family, much to the dismay of a nosy social worker (Madge Evans). Somehow it is decided that they will open a restaurant in the house and thus provide a steady income to satisfy the social worker. No one seems unduly concerned about school or the fact that a total stranger has moved into the household.

Not a lot of logic here but Crosby and Fellows are quite good. Evans seems a little ill at ease with her character. Meek is always good. Louis Armstrong shows up as a chicken thief and bandleader/singer at the restaurant. Nana Bryant is another social worker. George Chandler is a harried waiter. Nydia Westman has a nice scene as a maid with Crosby. Harry Tyler is the cheating ring-toss man, and Tom Dugan plays daredevil manager.

Not a great film but it has a few pleasant songs, including the title number, and Crosby continues his screen persona of easy-going and decent. Fellows is quite good as the sometimes bratty girl. Evans is very pretty--too bad she did get better films and parts.

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!

I was ten years old and this was one of Bing Crosby's earliest films. Oh how I used to enjoy all his films! I believe this is the first film he did with the great Louis Armstrong. What a joy and thrill to all that great music; same for Birth of the Blues.