La chanson à deux sous

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.

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!

Bing Crosby was loaned out from Paramount to Columbia for this film and Columbia did no better for him in the way of budget than Paramount. Again relying on Crosby's personality to bring in the box office, if anything Columbia probably spent less money than Paramount on his films.

What they did do was give Crosby a good supporting cast, a role tailor- made for him and a good score of tunes to sing, topped by one of his immortal hits, the title tune Pennies from Heaven. This was the second of 15 movie songs introduced by Bing that were nominated for the Academy Award as best song when that award actually meant something.

Crosby's Larry Poole is a more delineated character than most of the ones he did in the 1930s. He's asked by a prisoner who's on death row to look up the family of a man he murdered and give them the key to an old house that the prisoner owned. He meets up with the family which consists of juvenile Edith Fellows and grandfather Donald Meek. He also tangles with social worker Madge Evans, but in the end all his righted.

In the real world I can't believe that civil servant Evans would ever take up with a vagabond character like Larry Poole, definitely not in this day and age. But if he's played by Bing Crosby, well.........

The film has one other interesting feature. Donald Meek mentions to Crosby a few times that while he's down on his luck now, he expects to come into a regular source of income soon. Finally Bing asks just what is this expected windfall and Meek replies, "The Townsend Plan."

Today's audience would not get that dated bit of humor, but the Townsend Plan was the brainstorm of a Doctor Francis Townsend who was a retired physician who came up with a scheme in which the elderly were to be paid in scrip (in other words money that had to be spent) and then that money would be taxed through the sales which would in turn pay for another month's scrip and so on and so on. At the time of the filming of Pennies from Heaven this plan had a lot of followers in the country which was in a depression.

Of course Townsend never got his plan passed, but a lot of historians credit him with raising such a fuss over what we did with our elderly that the result was Social Security.

One of Bing's best.

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.

Mr. Doyle's poor review is questionable at best. This film is a delight from beginning to end. Edith Fellows does NOT play a brat, but a determined and pleasant young girl who can use a little guidance. The songs are fun and Bing and Edith make a great team! If this was a crappy movie, the DVD wouldn't cost $30!! Madge Evans is a bit of a pain, but that's the role she has to play and does it well. Donald Meek is typically good, but Edith steals the show in the first scene at the carnival. Funny when her line 'Thank you, you CROOK! appears near the film's first few minutes. I;m giving this a 9 out of 10. I don't know where some of the rural scenes were filmed, but the interiors were filmed at the old General Service Studios in Hollywood.