MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE:
WHERE THE SONGS COME TRUE: DENNIS POTTER'S
"PENNIES FROM HEAVEN," PART 4 {PACKAGE 2, TAPE 2 OF
2}: "BETTER THINK TWICE"
Summary
"Pennies from Heaven"
Unlike any other musical ever produced, Dennis PotterÕs
"Pennies from Heaven" was a profound and personal
statement on the liberating potential of the popular
song. To express his vision, Potter created a musical
technique that will be forever associated with
himÑcharacters revealing their innermost longings by
lip-synching to old phonograph recordings. In tribute to
Dennis Potter, who died five years ago, the Museum is
screening the original, eight-hour version of Pennies
from Heaven, which received BritainÕs highest honor, the
BAFTA Award for Outstanding Drama, when it was first
broadcast in 1978.
Part Everyman drama, part Busby Berkeley spectacle,
"Pennies from Heaven" follows the amorous and financial
struggles of a sheet-music salesman during the
depression thirties in England. Over the course of six
episodes, the traveling salesman (in a bravura
performance by Bob Hoskins as Arthur Parker) fails at
his business, ruins his marriage, destroys the life of
his mistress, is arrested for murderÑand yet still
believes life can be like a song. By juxtaposing the
life-affirming qualities of big band music with the
degrading realities enveloping ArthurÑrape,
prostitution, bankruptcy, and homicideÑPotter examines
the resilience of the human spirit in the face of total
humiliation.
Throughout his thirty-year career, Potter passionately
believed in television as a way to explore the hidden
landscape of the mind. In Pennies from Heaven, Potter
continually disrupts the narrative to unleash the
unconscious desires of his characters. When Arthur
first bursts into song, miming a rendition of "The
Clouds Will Soon Roll By" by Elsie CarlisleÑa female
singer no lessÑwe see the psyche of a man grappling
with the contradictions of fantasy and reality. Pennies
from Heaven endures as PotterÕs testament to the
artistic possibilities of television.
Parts 3 and 4
"Easy Come, Easy Go"
"Better Think Twice"
As ArthurÕs life becomes more complicated, his affair
with Eileen leads to her dismissal from her rural school
and a move to London, where she is forced to take up
with a sinister pimp (Hywel Bennett). Arthur opens up a
shop to sell records of the songs that shape his life.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1998
- RUNNING TIME: 1:17:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:57983
- GENRE: N/A
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dennis Potter