One from the Heart
Pennies from Heaven
These two overlooked musicals from the 1980s offer stylized interpretations of longing. With ballooning production costs including the construction of a massive soundstage replica of Las Vegas, One from the Heart nearly destroyed the career of director Francis Ford Coppola. Teri Garr and Frederic Forest portray a jaded couple who fall in and out of love to the strains of a downbeat score by Tom Waits. Adapted from Dennis Potter’s prize-winning BBC series, Pennies from Heaven stars Steve Martin (in what was then an uncharacteristic dramatic turn) as a struggling sheet music salesman who lip syncs to 1930s standards. Featuring Hopper-esque tableaux and Berkeley-esque production numbers, the film is rife with visual razzle-dazzle, in particular a dancing Christopher Walken.
PROGRAM
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One from the Heart
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
With Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest, Nastassja Kinski.
US, 1982, 35mm, color, 107 min.
Print source: American Zoetrope
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Pennies from Heaven
Directed by Herbert Ross.
With Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Walken.
US, 1981, 35mm, color, 108 min.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
The Single Standard / Carnival in Flanders
Dumbo / He Who Gets Slapped
The Marriage Circle / The Merry Widow
The Cat and the Canary / And Then There Were None
