Pennies from Heaven (1936 film)

Pennies From Heaven is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, and Edith Fellows.

Jo Swerling's screenplay was based on the novel The Peacock Feather by Leslie Moore. The film is about a singer wrongly imprisoned who promises a condemned fellow inmate that he will help the family of his victim when he is released. The singer delays his dream of becoming a gondolier in Venice and becomes a street singer in order to help the young girl and her elderly grandfather. His life is further complicated when he meets a beautiful welfare worker who takes a dim view of the young girl's welfare and initiates proceedings to have her put in an orphanage.

Pennies From Heaven remains most noteworthy for Crosby's introduction of the titular song, a Depression-era favorite, since recorded by numerous singers. The film features Louis Armstrong in a supporting role. In 1937, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke).

This was Crosby's first independent production jointly with Emanuel Cohen's Major Pictures and he had a share in the profits. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures.