It seems only fitting, upon hearing the
news of master cinematographer Gordon Willis’ passing, to review one of his
unsung works for this continuing series on criminally neglected films.
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| "Everybody dance!!!" |
Steve Martin is a man whose comedic
timing is off the charts. Everyone has seen The Jerk and Planes,
Trains & Automobiles. He can play the bombastic as well as the subdued,
creating laughs on screen and off, also being an accomplished writer. Roxanne
(from a screenplay by Martin) remains one of the best romantic comedies of the
1980s, as well as a sharp-witted contemporary update of classic literature. The
adaptation of his own novella Shopgirl gave us an artfully long shot of
Claire Danes’ ass. I’m not sure why that’s relevant. In fact, I’m pretty sure
it’s not at all. But damn, that was a nice ass.
With Little Shop of Horrors, we
found that he was fully capable as a singer, if not the most reliable dentist.
And now that I’ve seen Pennies From Heaven, it’s finally official: Steve
Martin can do anything. In this indelibly surreal and hilarious spin on classic
1930s musicals of the depression era, we see Martin tap dancing with
athleticism that puts one in mind of the great dancing performers like Fred
Astaire and Gene Kelly. He also manages to make a despicable character
strangely likable, even as he does things we would cuss out our closest friends
for doing.
From the demented and cynical mind of
Dennis Potter, the man whose Brimstone and Treacle you may remember from
our recent list of Home Invasion Films, this is a movie musical that proudly
has Steve Martin and all of his co-stars throwing their arms in the air to say:
“This world really sucks! But damn, it’s entertaining!” Filter that perspective
through the lens of Herbert Ross, whose Secret of My Success is another
film destined for a place in this series on neglected nuggets of awesome, and
you’ve got a film of relentless irony double-stuffed with wall-to-wall musical
numbers topped off with the visual genius of Gordon Willis.
Steve Martin plays Arthur, a sheet music
salesman whose only dreams are to own a store, and maybe—just maybe—get laid.
If not by his ice princess of a wife (Jessica Harper from Dario Argento’s Suspiria),
then maybe with that mousy virginal school teacher. But this is during the
Great Depression; loans from banks are rare, and copulation with the only
survivor of a demonic dance school is even more rare. So how does one voice
their discontent with the world at large? Lip syncing, of course!
Ross and Willis manifest Potter’s
twisted, droll humor into wonderfully over-the-top musical showboat pieces that
leave you equal amounts perplexed and giddy with delight. I’m not sure who
looked at this material and called it Steve Martin’s “first ever straight
dramatic non-comedy role in a major motion picture” (taken straight from IMDB),
but they must’ve missed the point. In fact, it would seem that a lot of people
did.
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| "Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!" |
Coming right off the heat of The Jerk,
and complete with Steve Martin and his co-star from that film, Bernadette
Peters, Pennies From Heaven was angrily dismissed by film goers expecting
more of the same. Over the years, it’s lapsed into the annals of obscurity,
with nary a blu-ray release to its name, and only an out-of-print first
generation DVD you may be lucky enough to find at your local library and/or
Netflix. Believe me when I say this is worth seeking out in a big way. You may
wind up watching the film as I did: With your mouth half agape in a smile that
carries a hint of “WTF?!”, but I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more.
And if that isn’t glowing enough of a
recommendation, how’s this: Christopher Walken with a Cuban Pete mustache,
dancing on a bar in sock garters and a wife beater, motorboating two large
breasted women. I bet that got your attention.
-Blake O. Kleiner