Dennis Potter wrote the 1981 film adaptation of his 1978 TV series. For my money, the film adaptation is superior, tighter, to a sprawling TV series of six 75 minute programs.
In the 1981 film adaptation with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters, there was real ambiguity here whether Arthur Parker murdered the blind girl; there is real ambiguity in the TV Program as well. Where there is NO ambiguity is when Eileen Everson (played by Cheryll Cambell) murders in cold blood with a shotgun the farmer whose barn Arthur & Eileen sought comfort. But that cold blooded murder never comes up for trial, and is never reported, while Arthur's (maybe yes, maybe no) murder of the blind girl goes to Trial.
This presents a serious flaw in thematic development. Arthur is found guilty of murder of the blind girl and is sentenced to be hung, a sentence shown on TV program as being carried out. In the closing scene, Arthur shows up on the bridge where Eileen is considering jumping off as suicide.
In the movie, Arthur is also found guilty of murder of the blind girl, and just as mysteriously, Arthur shows up at the final film scene. What works in the movie, falls terribly flat in the TV series. The point made in the movie cannot be underestimated: the songs derive from Movie Scenes (Let's Face the Music and Dance--from "Follow the Fleet"), a movie where we know nothing is real, no one was shot, no one really died, they all acknowledge this is "make-believe-land". And sure enough, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers are still alive with every re-showing of TOP HAT; Judy Garland lives with every showing of THE WIZARD OF OZ--not the cadaverous, drug addled Judy Garland of her last days, but a vibrant young star lives on the silver screen once again.
So in the film, Arthur showing up, not hung, makes a certain sense in underlining an important theme of the movie--that the songs present a real "make believe" response to some real crisis. But if the movie can cast doubt on the possibility of murder of the blind-girl (maybe yes, maybe no), then the movie as a "lark" works. But when in the TV show, the cold blooded murder of the farmer by Eileen is further ignored as a plot device, then we simply end up in the bizarre.
The ambiguity of the 1981 movie (again which Potter wrote) works for thematic development; in the TV program, the blatant cold blooded murder of the farmer by Eileen gives a dimension of realty that cannot be glossed over with song and dance.
I'm surprised people liked the 1978 TV program; its charm started to wear thin. The songs in the 1981 movie seemed more up-beat, more uplifting. The 1978 TV program seemed unwieldy and ultimately a thematic failure with Eileen's cold blooded murder left unresolved. The 1981 Movie seemed tighter, better organized, more linear, and ultimately underlined the point of the land of movies that the songs seemed intended to emphasize: that this is all fake, the movie (the songs) gives immortality--and so Arthur can show up at the end as an emphasis to that point. After all, in the movie, the ambiguity of Arthur murdering the Blind Girl is also real and justifies the ending.
While the TV program fails on one level, it did have a certain bizarre charm and it was nice to hear music from the 1930s. It is available on DVD. The 1981 film PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is a personal favorite and I wanted to see what the original TV series looked like. It was interesting to see what Potter retained, and what was rejected for the movie; in the end, Potter wrote an vastly improved Filmed adaptation of his TV program.
In the 1981 film adaptation with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters, there was real ambiguity here whether Arthur Parker murdered the blind girl; there is real ambiguity in the TV Program as well. Where there is NO ambiguity is when Eileen Everson (played by Cheryll Cambell) murders in cold blood with a shotgun the farmer whose barn Arthur & Eileen sought comfort. But that cold blooded murder never comes up for trial, and is never reported, while Arthur's (maybe yes, maybe no) murder of the blind girl goes to Trial.
This presents a serious flaw in thematic development. Arthur is found guilty of murder of the blind girl and is sentenced to be hung, a sentence shown on TV program as being carried out. In the closing scene, Arthur shows up on the bridge where Eileen is considering jumping off as suicide.
In the movie, Arthur is also found guilty of murder of the blind girl, and just as mysteriously, Arthur shows up at the final film scene. What works in the movie, falls terribly flat in the TV series. The point made in the movie cannot be underestimated: the songs derive from Movie Scenes (Let's Face the Music and Dance--from "Follow the Fleet"), a movie where we know nothing is real, no one was shot, no one really died, they all acknowledge this is "make-believe-land". And sure enough, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers are still alive with every re-showing of TOP HAT; Judy Garland lives with every showing of THE WIZARD OF OZ--not the cadaverous, drug addled Judy Garland of her last days, but a vibrant young star lives on the silver screen once again.
So in the film, Arthur showing up, not hung, makes a certain sense in underlining an important theme of the movie--that the songs present a real "make believe" response to some real crisis. But if the movie can cast doubt on the possibility of murder of the blind-girl (maybe yes, maybe no), then the movie as a "lark" works. But when in the TV show, the cold blooded murder of the farmer by Eileen is further ignored as a plot device, then we simply end up in the bizarre.
The ambiguity of the 1981 movie (again which Potter wrote) works for thematic development; in the TV program, the blatant cold blooded murder of the farmer by Eileen gives a dimension of realty that cannot be glossed over with song and dance.
I'm surprised people liked the 1978 TV program; its charm started to wear thin. The songs in the 1981 movie seemed more up-beat, more uplifting. The 1978 TV program seemed unwieldy and ultimately a thematic failure with Eileen's cold blooded murder left unresolved. The 1981 Movie seemed tighter, better organized, more linear, and ultimately underlined the point of the land of movies that the songs seemed intended to emphasize: that this is all fake, the movie (the songs) gives immortality--and so Arthur can show up at the end as an emphasis to that point. After all, in the movie, the ambiguity of Arthur murdering the Blind Girl is also real and justifies the ending.
While the TV program fails on one level, it did have a certain bizarre charm and it was nice to hear music from the 1930s. It is available on DVD. The 1981 film PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is a personal favorite and I wanted to see what the original TV series looked like. It was interesting to see what Potter retained, and what was rejected for the movie; in the end, Potter wrote an vastly improved Filmed adaptation of his TV program.