Penny Serenade [G]

Before she walks out their apartment door forever leaving her husband, Julie takes a moment to listen to a few records: each one pertaining to a particular memory of their romantic courtship and happy marriage. There are fond memories of the moment they first met, their whirlwind wedding, their time in Japan, and the day they brought their daughter home. But there are also sad memories, the hardest to relive being the shock that brought their marriage to this point. 

I’d attempted to watch this movie before and found it to be really hard to get into and plaintively uninspiring. I remember turning it off because I had work that day and just didn’t feel the need to pick up where I left off. I obviously was not in the right frame of mind that day because, giving the film a second chance today, I found that I could easily sit through it and really enjoy the portrait of a marriage. A highly romanticised love story, Penny Serenade appeals to a specific audience: it really isn’t for everyone, but regardless the film has the characterising charm and sophistication of 1940s cinema and I quite enjoyed it. 

Before she walks out their apartment door forever leaving her husband, Julie takes a moment to listen to a few records: each one pertaining to a particular memory of their romantic courtship and happy marriage. There are fond memories of the moment they first met, their whirlwind wedding, their time in Japan, and the day they brought their daughter home. But there are also sad memories, the hardest to relive being the shock that brought their marriage to this point. 

Although the cast may boast the names of Carey Grant and Irene Dunne, the real star of the show is the music. Aside from maybe Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which explores the power of music in creating, breaking, and cementing relationships, this is the only movie that I’ve seen that exhibits and explores the power of music and its effect on people. In the case of Penny Serenade the nostalgia and reminiscing card is played to great effect in both driving the story as well as creating atmosphere and chemistry amidst the characters. I don’t care who you are, whenever people listen to music, even if it’s a song they haven’t heard, it changes their demeanour. Their faces become animated, they might sing or hum along, their eyes light up, they begin gesturing in time: all this stems from some deep-seated level of nostalgia. Music, because it’s cyclical and borrows bits from various genres and stuff almost always reminds us of people and places and that’s what this film explores. What’s great also too is not just that the nostalgia of music is shown in the story, you can see it on Irene Dunne’s face every time she puts on a record: the changes to her face and posture have this very genuine feel about them as though the music really is taking her back to a romantic time and that’s what I really enjoyed most about this movie. 

Carey Grant as Roger delivers a charming performance, though quite different to the ones we’ve come to expect of him. Usually Carey is the brilliant comedic/romantic actor with charm, wit, and impeccable timing. Here we see him trying to grow, he’s almost like a stunted child, and even though some comedy does creep into the mix where he’s concerned it’s done with a sort of uncertainty: like he knows what the situation calls for but can’t quite deliver and so says something funny or out of place to try and ease his anxiety. He was very interesting to watch. 

Starring Irene Dunne, Beulah Bondi, and Edgar Buchanan, Penny Serenade is a lovely little movie filled with romance, comedy, drama, happiness, and sadness. I said it would appeal to a certain audience and it’s true: I cannot see many men watching this movie, even less modern men. Having said this, I am more than willing to admit that I could have just made a superficial judgement call. As I’ve said many times before, what makes a good movie is what you think makes a good movie and I can sit here and rave and say “watch this, this is great” til the stars turn cold, but that doesn’t mean that I’m right.