The original 1978 British TV miniseries PENNIES FROM HEAVEN was such an outstanding production that it seemed pointless to make a truncated feature film version. The only way a new version would succeed would be if Potter's scenario was given a different interpretation that would provide a new perspective on the story of Depression-era salesman Arthur Parker's passionate belief in the sunny lyrics of the songs he markets despite his bleak life. In fairness to the feature, the American producers do attempt to give their version of PENNIES a new spin. Whereas the miniseries took place in England, the movie is set in the United States, specifically Chicago. The British version emphasized the songs' emotional resonance in the characters' lives; when they lip-synched them, they generally remained in their ordinary settings. The American version, on the other hand, stresses how removed the songs are from the characters' brutal reality; when THEY lip-synch them, they generally find themselves in opulent Hollywood-style musical productions. Thus when the characters stop lip-synching and resume their dreary existences, the effects are more jarring than in the miniseries version.<br /><br />But what made the British version so wonderful was that despite the drama's unrelenting grimness, it was truly heartrending. One was moved by the hopes and struggles of Arthur Parker and the other characters. By comparison, the drama in the American version has little soul. One problem is that because Potter's original story has been retrenched, important characters have been diminished. The Accordion Man, a haunting, tragic personage in the British version (beautifully played by Kenneth Colley) who functioned in a way as Arthur's alter ego , is reduced to an incidental figure (Vernel Bagneris here) in the American version. Another problem is that while most of the performances in the feature version are professional, they cannot match the sterling performances in the TV version. As Arthur's wife Joan, Jessica Harper possesses the necessary prissiness and bitterness, but lacks the vulnerability which made Gemma Craven's performance in the original version so affecting. Only Bernadette Peters as Eileen Everson and Christopher Walken as the pimp Tom contribute notable performances that measure up to the original miniseries.<br /><br />But Steve Martin in the central role of Arthur Parker is the film's greatest liability. His efforts are earnest but he fails to capture the character's essence.<br /><br />If the feature version was completely original, it would emerge as a fairly successful dramatization, save for Martin's miscasting, of the disturbing clash between musical fantasy and Depression-era reality. But since this film was a remake of a TV miniseries, it reveals itself as a dim shadow of a brilliant melodrama.