"Pennies From Heaven" is not a particularly deep film and the film is filled with lots of music. Because of this, I might easily have predicted I wouldn't like it--as these are the sort of things I usually don't enjoy. However, I can happily say that because the film turned out to be a lot of fun AND the music was light and enjoyable.
The film, oddly, starts on death row! An inmate about to be executed asks to see another prisoner and this request is granted. He wants to see Bing Crosby--a man you just can't imagine being in prison! And, it turns out they don't even know each other. Because of this, the condemned man asking Crosby to do him a favor seems pretty odd, but he agrees. He is to locate the family of the murdered man and give them a deed for a home--a small way the condemned man can try to make amends.
Eventually, Bing does find the family--which turns out to be a child and her grandfather (Donald Meek). They are is trouble--without money AND a social worker (Madge Evans) breathing down their necks--they want to put the child in an orphanage! Well, Bing takes to the kid and makes it his job to keep this from happening. Because of this, there is a lot of friction between him and Evans--though you know that the cliché is that they'll eventually fall in love.
There's a lot more to the story than this. It's all quite predictable but also pretty nice family viewing. Some might balk at it and think it's a bit sappy. I can understand this, but also occasionally like this sort of thing. Well-acted, nice music and a nice directorial touch--it's one musical I actually liked!
The film, oddly, starts on death row! An inmate about to be executed asks to see another prisoner and this request is granted. He wants to see Bing Crosby--a man you just can't imagine being in prison! And, it turns out they don't even know each other. Because of this, the condemned man asking Crosby to do him a favor seems pretty odd, but he agrees. He is to locate the family of the murdered man and give them a deed for a home--a small way the condemned man can try to make amends.
Eventually, Bing does find the family--which turns out to be a child and her grandfather (Donald Meek). They are is trouble--without money AND a social worker (Madge Evans) breathing down their necks--they want to put the child in an orphanage! Well, Bing takes to the kid and makes it his job to keep this from happening. Because of this, there is a lot of friction between him and Evans--though you know that the cliché is that they'll eventually fall in love.
There's a lot more to the story than this. It's all quite predictable but also pretty nice family viewing. Some might balk at it and think it's a bit sappy. I can understand this, but also occasionally like this sort of thing. Well-acted, nice music and a nice directorial touch--it's one musical I actually liked!