Penny Marshall’s Legacy is Bigger Than the Piano Scene in ‘Big’

Penny Marshall has passed away at the age of 75. The actress was best-known for her iconic turn as Laverne in the classic sitcom Laverne & Shirley, but she was also a brilliant producer and director. In fact, her eye gave us some of our most beloved films, including the zany comedy that made Tom Hanks a mega-star, Big. 

Big is a gleeful movie about a little boy who makes a wish to be “big” and wakes up in the body of a full-grown man. Soon, he finds himself, and his youthful mindset, coveted by a toy company struggling for new ideas. It’s a story that puts viewers of any age into the joyous mindset of a playful little boy and no scene in the film does this better than the “piano scene.” Iconic in its own right — and maybe the moment that sells the whole movie — the “piano scene” is staged like a moment of sheer improvisation, but to pull it off took tremendous technical precision. And that’s all got to be thanks to Marshall’s direction.

Watching it on its own, you’re immediately struck by Marshall’s ease as a visual storytelling. She opens the scene with a pretty normal shot following Hanks and Robert Loggia as they walk through a crowded toy store. Then, we hear a tinkling under Hanks’s foot, followed by a close-up of his tattered sneaker tapping the first keys. Marshall then chooses to switch between a wide shot — which not only establishes the size of the piano, but also lets the choreography to come shine — and a close up of Loggia’s face. Hanks is the one who starts playing the piano, but Marshall knows that Loggia’s got to sell the joy. His nonplussed expression melts to wonder and then enthusiasm, mirroring the journey the audience takes as our own notions about what’s done melt away.

The “piano scene” also shows off what Marshall was best at as a director: making the “effort-full” look effortless. If Marshall’s brother Garry Marshall was an auteur, constantly pushing his sugary worldview into the frame, Penny was the opposite. She got out of the way of the story, letting her actors create a world that the audience could climb into. When you think of Big, you don’t think of it as a “Penny Marshall film.” You think of Zoltar, Tom Hanks, and the big piano. Likewise, when you think of A League of Their Own, you don’t remember all the detailed choices Marshall made to create the world; you remember “There’s No Crying in Baseball,” Mae teaching Shirley Baker how to read erotic paperbacks, and Betty Spaghetti collapsing when she hears about George. When you think of Awakenings, you don’t even remember that it’s a Penny Marshall film. It’s the Robin Williams/Oliver Sacks movie.

Penny Marshall’s great strength as a director is ironically the reason why she probably never got the due she deserved. But Marshall created so many moments that stick in our memory – like the “piano scene” — and for that, her cinematic legacy will live on forever.

Where to stream Big