7th Heaven (1927) User Reviews (37)

Melodramatic magic from the gods.

[alice liddell · 9/10 · 3 October 1999]

There are some things in life I don't understand. Applied mathematics. Bunions. The working class persistantly voting conservative. Frank Borzage languishing in critical limbo. What is wrong with you people (I mean critics, not you, dear reader)? It can't be because he made silly women's pictures, because Ophuls, Murnau, Sirk and Minnelli have all appeared in Top 100 lists in the last two decades. I don't get it: Borzage was definitely a master: of light, space, plot, critique and emotion. His films - of which I have only seen four, not for want of trying - are among the most emotionally intense and beautiful things in cinema. They offer the straightforward weepie thrills we expect from melodrama, as well as an unexpected critical dimension.

Although I just about prefer the faded self-pity of THREE COMRADES, SEVENTH HEAVEN is probably his masterpiece. It is astonishing in so many ways: let me list some. The more I see of her, the more remarkable an actress I find Janet Gaynor. The film's progressive politics - an impoverished victim, suicidal, prostituted, heinously whipped by her sister, transforms into a loving wife, fierce protector of her home, member of the workforce, and eventual carer of her husband - owes much to her all-encompassing performance.

The use of light and shade to represent the emotional life of the characters. The (Americanised) Expressionistic use of space, which breaks up conventional point of view to provide varying levels of experience and ways of looking. The deceptively delicate poetry of the imagery. The tacit outrage at a system that forces people to live so badly. Even the movie score, uniquely, shows an intelligent perception of what Borzage was trying to do.

Diane and Chico have many obstacles thrown in their way, both individually and collectively, but the most terrifying and inexorable is that of the war. It is quite shocking to find a melodrama - by its nature domestic, local, specific, small-scale and personal - erupt into a war film, that most national of crises. The effect is wrenching, but no more so than the events of the melodrama which alternated the most radiant highs with the most despairing lows. Witness the astonishing, jerking, tracking shot as Diane flees her sister, shattering the smooth rhythm of composition and editing.

Borzage, like no other director before Kubrick, is responsive to the farce of war, as well as its horror. There are sublime scenes of comedy amidst the carnage. The battle scenes put pretenders like ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT to shame; the sheer scale and irrationality of war bursts the screen. Points of identification become lost, the tyranny of destruction is a perversely beautiful thing.

It is in this context that the couple's transcendent love must be seen. What could have been as a desperately mushy romance with its talk of the Bon Dieu and heaven, becomes a necessary rebellion, a refusal to succumb to social pressures, war, nation's follies, domestic horrors, betrayal or death. So the ending is not preposterous, but the perfectly comprehensible hallucination of a woman who, having been raised from hell, could not possibly leave heaven now. Imperishable.

Stairway to Happiness

[lugonian · 8/10 · 21 March 2003]

SEVENTH HEAVEN, released as 7th HEAVEN (Fox, 1927), directed by Frank Borzage, is a tender love story set in pre-World War I Paris that unites two unlikely people to become popular twosome of the silver screen, the pert and angelic Janet Gaynor and the tall but not-so-rugged Charles Farrell for the first of twelve movies they were to appear together.

Chico Robas (Charles Farrell) is a sewer worker in the streets of Paris whose ambition is to be promoted to street-cleaner. Although he is self-confident, he lacks religious faith, believing God has disappointed him to a point of becoming an atheist. Not far away is Diane (Janet Gaynor), a frightful young girl, is being abused by her vengeful sister, Nana (Gladys Brockwell), who pleasures herself by whipping the frightful thing for the slightest cause. When Nana feels she's been cheated out of living the life of luxury with her visiting rich uncle (Brandon Hurst) due to Diane's truthfulness to his questions of not actually being "good girls," Nana grabs her whip and starts beating her as she runs out the door and into the streets. Lying in the gutter and in the process of being strangled, Chico comes to the girl's rescue, frightening Nana away. Shortly after-wards, Diane decides to take her own life with Chico's knife, but is soon stopped by him. When Diane is denounced to the police by Nana, Chico, once more comes to her defense, telling the law-abiding officer the waif is his wife. As the police intend on checking out his story, Chico, who now feels pity for the girl, invites her to staying his apartment, a seventh floor walk up flat which Diane soon calls, "Seventh Heaven." During that time, Chico obtains the job he wants and looks forward to bigger and better things. As for Diane, because of Chico's self-confidence that makes him a very "remarkable fellow," she no fears life. She soon proves her courage first by defeating Nana when confronted with her face to face, and after-wards by going through life alone after Chico enters the military with the outbreak of the Great War. In one of the film's most memorable scenes set during their long separation, Chico and Diane communicate with each other through their hearts and minds every night at the stroke of eleven as promised prior to his departure. Then on one particular evening, Chico is caught in a bombing explosion which sends the message immediately to Diane, now occupying her time as a munitions worker, sensing something has seriously gone wrong.

This sentimental love story, based on the play by Austin Strong, by 1927 standards, was so popular that it earned Janet Gaynor an Academy Award as Best Actress, the first to be honored for such an award. Simultaneously, she won for SUNRISE (1927) and STREET ANGEL (1928 while Frank Borzage was voted as Best Director. Twentieth Century-Fox remade SEVENTH HEAVEN in 1937 with an added plus to spoken dialog instead of the use of title cards, with the new Diane and Chico enacted by Simone Simon and James Stewart. Like Gaynor, Simon was short and fixed up to resemble her while Stewart, like Farrell, was the ever-so-tall "remarkable fellow." However, SEVENTH HEAVEN appears to work well as a silent than during the changing times of the 1930s, which by then seemed old-fashioned and outdated. With the sound version 22 minutes shorter than the original two hour silent, the elements between two central characters remains the same, right through the young couple climbing seven flights of stairs, an exhausted journey, as a trip to "seventh heaven," hence the title. Had SEVENTH HEAVEN been made some years earlier, it is my envision that it would have been directed by DW Griffith, starring Lillian Gish as the abused waif, with Richard Barthelmess playing Chico.

Also in the supporting cast are Ben Bard as Colonel Brissac; David Butler as Gobin; Albert Gran as Boul; Emile Chautard as Father Chevillion; and George E. Stone as The Sewer Rat. Gladys Brockwell as the abusive sister, stands out with her performance in her key scenes, especially with those vengeful eyes that would be an instant reminder to resembling that of Joan Crawford shortly before Crawford began looking like Crawford.

SEVENTH HEAVEN was one of the twelve selected films to appear during the summer months on public television's 1975 presentation of "The Silent Years" as hosted by Lillian Gish, with a piano score by William Perry from the Paul Killian collection, and off-screen female vocalist singing to the title tune of "Seventh Heaven." In the Critic's Choice Video Masterpiece Collection distributed in 1997, the SEVENTH HEAVEN copy remained the same as it played on TV back in 1975, with color tinting as an added treat. The Perry piano score was replaced with the original synchronized Fox Movietone score featuring the song and vocalization of "Diane" in its soundtrack.

In spite of how SEVENTH HEAVEN will play to movie goers today, the movie itself represents the kind of movies made popular during the silent era and should be treated as such. But it is Janet Gaynor, under the tender direction of Frank Borzage, whose expert know-how, succeed in making this sugary romance into something special. (***)

A beautiful movie

[richard-1787 · 9/10 · 23 May 2012]

This movie took me completely by surprise. I had never heard of it, but got it because it's set in Paris. It turned out to be a really beautiful movie. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted. Two rather shy individuals fall in love, almost against their wills, or at least against his will. We watch the relationship grow. Never trite, very seldom over-acted. The battle scenes in World War I are remarkable for their effectiveness.

And the end, which I won't reveal, hits you right in the mid-section and knocks your breath out.

Even someone who doesn't like silents would enjoy this, very much. It makes you understand why some people thought that by the introduction of talkies in that same year, 1927, silents had developed to the point that the first sound pictures were actually something of a regression in many ways.

remarkable film

[plaidpotato · 10/10 · 11 July 2003]

This could have been something awful. It's high schmaltz, really fever-pitched melodrama, and the plot relies on a huge number of coincidences. But it all works beautifully, through a perfect combination of acting, directing, and photography, not to mention the incredible lighting and set design. This is one of the great silent movies, and one of the great screen romances. Janet Gaynor had quite a year in 1927, turning in fantastic performances in this, as well as F. W. Murnau's Sunrise. 10/10

A year later, Buster Keaton in The Cameraman would do a brilliant spoof of the famous staircase crane shot from Seventh Heaven.

Should be seen by all

[cvonsca · 8/10 · 28 February 2014]

I finally had the chance to see the beautifully preserved copy of Seventh Heaven(1927)on DVD and can say that it is really worth it.For many years one aunt who has been a movie fan had told me how great the 1938 remake was but I felt really disappointed after seeing it for reasons that I will not comment here. I kept telling her that the 1927 original was supposed to be much better and I have confirmed it today. I find both Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell brilliant in their performances.The movie should be appealing to modern audiences for the reason that its plot can be summed up in one single word redemption.Janet Gaynor's Diane is proof that you can overcome terrible obstacles in your upbringing and make considerable changes in your self esteem through falling in love in an unexpected place and with an unexpected person. Charles Farrell's Chico is that creature from the sewer who instead of complaining about his fate is full of self worth and incredible self esteem. He may be wrong in many things but is basically a remarkable fellow capable of going out of his way to help others.Little does he know what life has in store for him and how that meeting on the streets will change his life.

Janet Gaynor plays a waif in the great tradition that Lilian Gish created in Broken Blossoms (1919).Giuletta Massina in La Strada (1954) and Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown(1999) are others that I remember very vividly.Charles Farrell is incredibly contemporary and having found stardom right after the arrival of the talkies it is a shame that he did not become a lasting name in the same sort of Gable, Cooper or Joel McCrea.Gaynor and Farrell look wonderful together. it is no wonder that the studio kept pairing them until exhausting the partnership.

All together the production is remarkable.The direction, staging, editing and music are top notch however its considerable length and story coincidences render it as a would be masterpiece.That says a lot.Coincidences and the melodramatic tone present in segments of the 20's films is as unnecessary then as they are today. I recommend Seventh Heaven to all movie fans.Sit and enjoy it.

"I work in the sewer, but live near the stars"

[ackstasis · 8/10 · 5 June 2009]

'Seventh Heaven (1927)' is usually compared to 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927),' and not without reason. Director Frank Borzage has a keen sense for lighting and shot composition, perhaps not as effortlessly graceful as that of Murnau, but the film superbly explores three-dimensional space, most memorably in a vertical long take that follows the characters up seven floors of staircases, and a backwards tracking shot through the crowded trenches of a battlefield. Janet Gaynor, who also starred in 'Sunrise,' is once again a perfect picture of fragility and helplessness, a persona at which she was bettered only by Lillian Gish. More interesting, however, is that Gaynor's character undergoes a startling character arc, developing from a weak, embattled victim – a trampled flower – to a decisive and assertive woman, a member of the workforce, and an independent but devoted wife. Her husband, played by Charles Farrell, likewise undergoes a transformation, of the spiritual kind. Together, they share a love so definitive that the formula has since become familiar, but Borzage keeps it fresh.

Perhaps the greatest miracle about 'Seventh Heaven' is that the romance works at all. Farrell's Chico is a haughty, athletic sewer worker, so determined of his own worth that he bores his grotesque colleagues with anecdotes of his future greatness. Gaynor's Diane, a small creature routinely lashed by her sleazy sister, is at first an object of derision for Chico, who uses her mere existence to affirm his atheism. Indeed, so aloof is his attitude towards her that I could scarcely believe that the pair were to fall in love, but the transition is carried out gradually and convincingly. As in most great romances, the two star-crossed lovers are swiftly separated by the onset of war. Here, once again, Borzage's keen eye for visual storytelling results in some wonderful sequences of conflict, with his portrayal of the battlefield perhaps serving as inspiration for Lewis Milestone's war drama 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).' Only with the occasional moments of misplaced comedy – the ritualistic bowing of the street-sweepers, for example – does the director fumble with the film's mood.

This reviewer being an atheist, films dealing with a central religious theme face an uphill battle. Chico opens the film not unlike myself, as an obstinate atheist who curses God for failing to answer his prayers. Christianity intercedes through a kind-hearted priest, who offers Chico his dream-job as a street-sweeper, as well as two religious necklaces. Predictably, our hero is converted by the film's end, and, indeed, stages a resurrection that borders on Biblical. This "miraculous" ending could easily have had me rolling my eyes, but – somehow, and against all odds – it didn't. Borzage doesn't play Chico's survival as a startling revelation, and nor does it feel tacked-on, as does the fate of Murnau's hotel doorman in 'The Last Laugh (1924).' Alongside Diane's stubborn insistence that her husband is still alive, to actually see him pushing through the crowds seemed like the most natural thing in the world. And even if Chico is dead, then his wife is already there in Heaven, on the seventh floor, waiting to greet him.

Spatial Love and War

[tedg · 12 April 2008]

Much has been made of Murnau, but I'm more impressed by Borzage.

Yes, the subject matter is more lowbrow, but it is also more fully integrated into the cinematic flow, perhaps as a result.

I'm told this is his best in terms of what impresses me: the integration of space.

Nearly every shot is framed, not in two dimensions by three. There's impressive use of vertical space as well, even incorporating it into the story. Though the story is simple (love, war, return) it has certain narrative elements that bind it to space, and these aren't afterthoughts but essential elements of the story that rest easily in the big holes left by melodrama.

The love nest is literally on the seventh floor. Our hero literally starts in the sewer. He is elevated by intercession of the church, which provides him with a pair of religious medals. If the sewer-heaven dimension is vertical, these medals provide for horizontal space overlay via a sort of spiritually pure love — each day at 11.

But the space idea is carried in every frame as well. Its not layers like Kurosawa with give us. Nor a camera that would explore and define space like Hitchcock — the camera is stationary here. But its deep.

Gaynor is impressive.

Oh, and it has that most spatial of drugs: absinthe.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

First Pairing Of Gaynor & Farrell Like Magic

[CitizenCaine · 7/10 · 10 May 2009]

Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell star in Frank Borzage's Oscar-winning directed film: 7th Heaven. The seven in the title refers to the seven story walk-up to the flat Farrell eventually shares with Gaynor. Farrell is a faithless, disgruntled sewer worker who happens upon the put upon waif Gaynor in the street. Gaynor is attacked by her sister when she speaks up to relatives willing to take her and her sister in. Farrell saves Gaynor from her sister and takes her in after police threaten to arrest her. She poses as his wife, and they eventually fall in love before having to part from each other abruptly for World War I.

The film, like many of Borzage's, is romantic, sentimental, and contrived beyond belief at times. However, the first pairing of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell is somewhat magical, as they do have great screen chemistry. Like many silent films, some stars were either above the material they appeared in or elevated the material with their performances. 7th Heaven was such a film for Janet Gaynor. Charles Farrell was never much of an actor and relied mostly on his looks to carry him until the sound era revealed his voice did not match his rugged good looks.

In 7th Heaven, Gaynor and Farrell are ably directed by Frank Borzage who copped an Oscar for his direction. Writer Benjamin Glazer won the first of his two Oscars, basing the script on Austin Strong's play. Harold Oliver was also nominated for the terrific art direction, which evoked a French tenement area effectively. Janet Gaynor won the best actress Oscar for a combination of three of her performances: 7th Heaven, Sunrise, and Street Angel. The film itself was also nominated for best production. The cinematography, framing, and tracking shots add to the film immensely.

Borzage's films were unique for the artistic level he worked toward despite the typical subject matter he filmed. Some viewers will see the ending as more existential than unbelievable, and romantics may find little to complain about at all. Unfortunately, like many early films made in Hollywood, time has taken a toll on 7th Heaven. The ending is weakened by one too many climaxes, each one increasingly more preposterous. This mars an otherwise unique, naturalistic film; it's still one of the better late silent era films. The supporting players include Gladys Brockwell and George E. Stone making his film debut. *** of 4 stars.

Chico, Diane, Heaven

[francois-massarelli · 10/10 · 12 February 2006]

Some films are brilliant. Others are fine. This one is beyond category. Like Murnau's Sunrise, for instance, or Sjöström's The Wind, it is amazingly impossible to describe without going over the top. Especially since it concerns what the French Surrealistes dubbed "L'Amour Fou", the love that goes beyond reason, beyond society barriers, beyond the capacity to back down, and involves the story of a man(Charles Farrell) and a woman(Janet Gaynor) who discover passion through co-existing, and eventually meet up after one of them actually dies. Or does he?

Beginning inauspiciously in a reconstructed, Dickensian Paris, the adventures of Chico and Diane start by an encounter, and in a scene that is paralleled by other Borzage films(A Man's Castle, Mannequin, Street Angel)has the man sheltering the woman at his home on the roofs to protect her both from prostitution and her family; This type of cohabitation is often the key to Borzage's love affairs in his melodramas, as if it was necessary to cohabit before discovering a connection between two people; at Chico's, they will co-exist, and fall in love, and even(As in Man's Castle and The Mortal storm)resort to a mock marriage before being separated by war: the necessity of fashioning a sacred link will elevate their love further. Chico is drafted into the French ranks; all the ensuing days though, they will "communicate" by taking an 11 o'clock break in whatever they're doing, in order to be reunited in thought, until one day Chico does not answer Diane's message. After a period of despair, Diane is ready to give him up, but as the war finishes, Chico unexpectedly returns: Borzage shows him in the street, blinded by a wound, but transfigured by love, walking through the cheers and congratulations of the people around him, as if both born again from the atmosphere of joy and indifferent to it, since his only goal is to see Diane again, to reach her before she stops believing in him. As the two lovers reunite they are all alone, in Seventh Heaven. This "ascension" motif is echoed in a surprisingly effective way by the fact that Chico works in the sewers when he rescues Diane(She is figuratively speaking "in the gutter" herself)and lives just under the roofs, where he can see the stars; thus we are foretold what the movement will be; Borzage had a set built to allow the vertical use of a camera in order to shoot the ascension of the stairways in one take. Another sign of the times is the expressionistic depiction of war by Borzage (Who will repeat the device in Lucky star two years later) war, seen in this film, is mud, explosions, sweat and fear, with no . It is a world entirely deprived of realism, but more simply it's a world that neither Chico nor Diane want to acknowledge. Apart from being very close to Murnau's experiments in stylization(Faust, Tartuff, Sunrise, The last Laugh), it is also a significant departure, on the part of an American director, from the realism of war as it was seen in The Big Parade(Vidor, 1925) or Wings(Wellman)the same year. Ford would partially repeat the move in his "Four Sons" in 1928 for... Fox. As everything in the film, war is a mental place, hence the possibility of escaping it mentally at a given time, or even simply an annoying obstacle between Chico and Diane, just as the notion of duty(Chico's duty as a soldier keeps him far away from his lover), or morals(If they submitted to the moral standards of their day, Chico would never offer Diane any shelter, let alone permanent accommodation, not even with a fake wedding): what we see in this film is desire elevated to the point of becoming a conduct. Chico desires Diane, or to be with Diane so much that he resuscitates. War, social conventions, death, nothing can stand in the way.

Seventh Heaven is at first glance very usual melodramatic fare, but enhanced by the impressive skill of director Frank Borzage on the one hand, and also benefiting on the other hand very much from the rivalry of Murnau's Sunrise, that was also shot at the Fox Studios at the time. Everybody at Fox was invited to see what Murnau was doing, and the dailies provoked many a vocation. Ford, for instance, never recovered from seeing these images. Seventh Heaven is probably the first film having benefited directly from Murnau's influence, and it is a blessing that Borzage, without topping Murnau's effort, was able to almost equal it, by refusing to compromise by tampering with the lack of logic of the plot, or by allowing his two actors(Gaynor and Farrell, brilliant as ever together)free reign in the expression of their emotions, as suggested by the very genre of the film: Borzage's infamous tendency to weep on the shooting of his films is reported to have always been a key element of his direction on such films as this or his powerful MGM melodramas of the late 30s.

To sum up, these twelve reels are an emotional experience, like the aforementioned masterpieces, and decidedly a key film from an exceptional period in the history of cinema.

Gaynor shines and makes it worth seeing

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 8 September 2019]

"7th Heaven" is an American English-language movie from 1927, so this one is not that far away anymore from its centennial anniversary, maybe depending on when you read this review already closer to 100 than to 90 which was now two years ago approximately. I was lucky enough to watch these 110 minutes on the big screen again as one of the theaters in my place is showing a Frank Borzage retrospective these days. This one here is neither among his earliest nor latest career efforts, but a definite contender for his most famous now. By the way, he was also a really prolific actor in his younger years, but by 1927 he was really only shooting films. And also not writing them really because he was not one of the many writers credited with this one here that include those working on teh original play, the screenplay, the intertitles etc. Yep intertitles. You are probably not surprised by the fact that this was still a silent movie. Well sort-of. There is a great deal of music and soundtrack here, some of it really beautiful honestly, but we don't hear the actors talk (yet). But this lack of spoken language did not really take away anything here in terms of quality. I must say I needed a little while to actually develop an interest in this film, but when I did I was really curious about what is going to happen next. The main reason for that was lead actress Janet Gaynor and this was really her year. She was barely in her 20s, but won the Best Actress Oscar for this one and two other movies she made. One other would be Sunrise, maybe the most known and in "Street Angel" she also acts next to Charles Farrell, her love interest in this one here, and I read these two were also a couple for a while in real life. Or at least considered marriage. God knows what that means back in the 1920s.

Anyway, now for this film we got here: Farrell, not related to Colin, does okay overall with what he was given and he is certainly the most lead character in this film, especially early on, so he carries the movie nicely for the most part. But like I said the scene stealer here is Gaynor, who really shines every time she is to be seen, Which is a lot as this is for really long sequences basically a two-person play you could even say. Only at the beginning we see some supporting characters and actors who do not really have any impact on the story honestly and this is before the two at the center of it all know each other or are sepperated again due to war. So I must say honestly that when it came to supporting characters, the film did not have too much to offer away from the key story. Like the other woman who is a bit of an antagonist (if you could even say that with how she has virtually no screen time) and even has a juicy physical fight sequence with the female main character. Or also the notion about the rich uncle and aunt it was early on I think. It just felt so randomly thrown in, but hardly made any impact. Same is true about the main character's job background. How he is down there in the sewers, but dreams of being a street cleaner instead. Now talk about job perspectives. People today would be disgusted, but days were different back then. Best example is the other well-off guy who approaches Gaynor's character when her sweetheart is dead. Dead, apparently I should say because in fact he does show up in what is honestly a way too unrealistic happy ending sadly. But these are done so frequently today, especially in German movies, and back then they weren't an exception either I supppose. The one other main story criticism I got is about how the two grew closer. I mean come on can you really fall for somebody, and so hard, who actually when they commit suicide you complain that they use your knife for it? That was pretty sadistic this scene honestly and well, I also really cannot understand the other way around why she would so hopelessly fall for him. But it was cute nonetheless how she hoped she can stay at his place / with him once they showed to the police they are actually a couple. Or married even. Interesting. Being together in the same place was a strange piece of evidence honestly in my opinion. What if one person was just out. Or how about marriage certificates? No databases there. Oh well, lets not be too picky here. At least the film delivered emotionally.

Still they somehow saved it at the end with how they included again the "fill my eyes with you" reference and how he was blind. Temporary? Forever? They wanted us to believe temporarily for sure int he sense of a fully happy ending, but who knows. In general these recurring themes and quotes were truly the heart and sould of the script. I am of course also talking about the "looking up" and "remarkable fella" moments that are at their best when they actually come from her one one occasion. So cute when she calls herself that. Oh well, there was a special kind of romance to these movies that is so hard to find in films these days. let alone, achieve in real life. Then again, real life back then was maybe different too. After all, we were in-between two of the most gruesome wars mankind had seen, even if it was almost 10 years since WWI and still over 10 until WWII. But Black Friday was also just looking around the corner and there were many other issues in terms of people being poor in society. And crime ruling entire cities. Now we are drfting a bit away, sorry. What else can I say about this movie. I quite liked it honestly. I am generally not too big on silent films, but the music truly made a big difference here, no need to add a soundtrack decades later. The actual one is amazing enough, also some tunes you will recognize immediately. Now I already just mentioned how war was on people's minds and the side story with the old guy and his car (Éloise) was one I actually enjoyed quite a bit. This they handled nicely and you almost felt a bit sad for poor old Éloise at the end, which is quite an achievement given she is just wires and metal. But giving a name to things always makes a difference I suppose. Okay I guess that would be all then. Oh wait, finally a few words on the awards success. Borzage won his first of two Oscars here. Also it was successul for the script, funnily only one credited winner. And like I said for Gaynor. Kinda surprising with all this success that the movie did not take home Best Picture. But this should not keep you from watching. I won't hesitate to give this charming little movie a thumbs-up. Go see it unless you really dislike old films. And even if you do, then maybe Gaynor's turn here can change your mind. It's impossible not to fall in love with her. I wonder if they ever remake this one. Probably not anytime soon and that is alright. This one here is good enough for sure without a modern overhaul.

I work in a sewer...

[dbdumonteil · 10/10 · 28 February 2007]

...but I live near the stars.

Another sublime work by John Borzage,one of the greatest directors America has ever had.

Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor were the romantic couple of that era.Both were able to transcend the limitations they were working under,that is to say ,to convey any emotion without using voices.

The soundtrack is particularly good including military marches ("la Madelon" sung in French,"La Marche Lorraine")as well as French folk songs ("J'ai Du Bon Tabac" "Fanfan La Tulipe")and even opera arias.

Remarkable scenes:

Gaynor,sadistically whipped by her sister ,and the relatives from South America,who would not take in those whores Chico (Farrell)discussing faith with his fellow men in the streets at night ,and the "miracle" : the priest telling him he would become a street-washer."The Bon Dieu" (in French in all the lines) cares about you!).

Chico and Diane in the boy's apartment on the seventh floor : this is probably the most romantic scene in the whole silent age ,with the eventual exception of the scene in the church in Murnau's "Daybreak" which also featured Gaynor.These extraordinary lines by Chico: "I work in a sewer but I live near the stars.

The historical episode of "les Taxis de la Marne" and the old man speaking of his old car :" She gave her life for France" .

More than "the river" the complete version of which is unfortunately impossible to see,"Seventh Heaven" contained the seeds of what Borzage (and others) would do later The lovers against a hostile world subject reappear in "little man what now?" and "Mortal Storm" .All in all,the woman is stronger than the man ,it's her who builds the couple ;here,Chico did not want to say "I love you" ,he thought it was silly.And he is a remarkable fellow though; the loyal male friendship between Gobin and Chico predates the extraordinary camaraderie depicted in "three comrades" The priest and Chico's road to Damascus ,we will find them back in "Strange Crago" ,where Borzage's Christian concerns admirably emerge again.

The telepathy,the supreme hour (the French title is "l'Heure Suprême" ) when the two lovers,although they are worlds apart,during which they are "together" not only influenced Henry Hathaway for "Peter Ibbetson" but also predates Borzage's own " I'll always loved you" where the two heroes communicate by music.

The last pictures are so strong we do not know at first if it's reality or if Chico takes Diane away into a dream...or onto the true Seventh Heaven.

But we,the audience, we were in the Seventh Heaven .Borzage was a genius,period.

Hit film reveals American shallowness

[mhesselius · 4/10 · 26 July 2010]

I wanted to like "7th Heaven," and I did for most of the first half. I like the way it begins in a literal and figurative sewer, with one worker trying to look up the skirts of a couple of women standing on a sewer grate. I like Chico's cynicism and atheism, believing society has kept him in the sewers in spite of the fact he's "a remarkable fellow." I like how the camera moves ahead of Diane—played by Janet Gaynor—as her alcoholic sister chases her through the streets with a whip. Gladys Brockwell is marvelous as the sister who led them into prostitution and crime. I like how Chico rescues Diane by suspending the sister by her wrists over a man hole, threatening to drop her into the muck where she belongs. I like Chico's misogyny that doesn't jibe with his random acts of kindness, and how he takes care of Diane in spite of himself. I like Gaynor's wide, sad eyes. She is very good and deserved her Academy award.

What I did not like is how the presence of the Church influences the development of the characters' lives. The Parish Priest promotes Chico to street washer, and asks him to guard religious medals, making it seems as if the medals alone are the reason for Chico's and Diane's blossoming love. I also did not like how WWI jarringly erupts midway through the film without foreshadowing, and how Chico, heretofore a critic of society, responds unquestioningly to France's appeal to patriotism. I didn't like how his love for Diane is no longer implied and subtle, but emerges full blown, heightened by the prospect that they are to be parted by war.

From the beginning of the film Charles Farrell as Chico overacts. But he gets worse as the film lapses into overt sentimentality that makes us all too aware our emotions are being manipulated. From the point where the war intrudes the film wallows in undiluted melodrama, and Farrell's mugging becomes as annoying as the clumsy and confused montage of the mobilization of Paris' taxicabs to transport troops to the front. Diane's sister comes back to reassert her dominance, and sweet little Diane literally and uncharacteristically turns the whip on her sister. Chico returns from the trenches, converted by "the Bon Dieu" who made him blind so that he could see.

All these arbitrary transformations, however, distract us from the fact that these characters were good people to begin with. As long as they are good in spite of themselves, as long as they unselfconsciously transcend their circumstances the action seems natural and the characters real. It's when they become romantic stereotypes that the film breaks the mirror it had been holding up to life.

I don't see silent films as separate from talking films. Any movie that relies on language for character exposition (telling and not showing) has failed. Non-talking film has an advantage because it must pack a maximum of information in every frame to engage the mind and eye. The tracking shot that shows Diane fleeing her whip-wielding sister, the camera's point of view as the sewer worker looks up the women's dresses, and as we look down through the man hole through which Chico seems about to drop Diane's sister shows how inventive the camera can be when it has to be. But silent cinema's need to stick to simple themes did not relieve film-makers of the responsibility to examine the ambiguities inherent in real life.

"7th Heaven" was a huge hit. But the box office success and Oscar wins for Borzage and Glazer as best director and writer speak more about Americans' fondness for sentimentality and need for tidy endings than it does about the nature of non-talking cinema in general. In Europe performances were often more naturalistic and the plotting more realistic than in American film. Hence the reason for the box office failure of the critically acclaimed "Sunrise," made with complete artistic freedom by German émigré director F. W. Murnau in the same year.

Just first rate all around...the Gaynor/Farrell pairing at its best

[secondtake · 8/10 · 9 June 2010]

7th Heaven (1927)

Coming at the end of the silent era, we might expect a film of the highest order in that silent era sense, untainted by sound, depending on gesture and action to keep the plot going. And Seventh Heaven really is a great film. It's complex, subtle, beautiful, and not clunky, not a bit what some people picture when they think of silent films.

It also is a great love story. Janet Gaynor was becoming a big star (she won best actress for this performance among others that year) and her counterpart Charles Farrell is a convincing charming actor. It's Paris 1914 when we begin, and that's not half bad. Then there are some early versions of the war, including some scenes with flame throwers that ought to surprise everyone.

What becomes of our two leads as they struggle to stay together during all this is for you to see, but it's told with economy (even at two hours the movie never drags) and with touching honesty. The director, Frank Borzage, made a whole bunch of good films during the 1930s, in the sound era, but this shows a real mastery of the earlier basics of cinema. Credit also goes also the cinematographer Ernest Palmer, a lesser known veteran who made the most of a lot of great sets and a range of interior and exterior scenes. Keep an eye on that, especially a moment toward the beginning where the camera follows the actors up the circular stairs, floor after floor, seamlessly. This will be echoed with perfection at the end of the film, so it's not just showing off.

And keep some Kleenex handy. It'll get to you.

Old fashioned but very sweet--this is the one to watch

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 9 November 2010]

It's an interesting coincidence that I saw the 1930s remake of "Seventh Heaven" just a week or so prior, so I was able to compare them. While I hated the remake for so many reasons (the dumb casting of Jimmy Stewart as a Frenchman among them), I adored this silent version. There are three main reasons for this. First, the direction in the silent was fantastic as was the camera-work. I loved the scenes where you see the leads walking up the many flights of steps with the camera following them, but the movie also was so artfully conceived in so many other ways. It truly was a work of art. Second, this sort of old fashioned romance just seems to work better as a silent. Whereas you might be more willing to accept the old fashion style in a silent, in a talking picture the plot seemed much more forced. Third, the acting was just better--a lot better. Jimmy Stewart was just lost playing an Atheistic Frenchman--whereas Charles Farrell was much more believable and likable--plus his character was softer and more likable in the earlier film. Stewart, oddly, played a jerk. And while Simone Simon was well cast in the remake (as she is French), Janet Gaynor was just magnificent--and the audience really felt compelled to want to take care of this waif-like character as she really pulled at your hearts with a combination of fine acting and her physical looks.

Aside from thinking the 1927 version was much better, it also was, surprisingly, a little less scandalous--even though it was made before the strengthened Production Code and the remake was made after--when it SHOULD have been harder to make this film. That's because in the later one, the female lives in a brothel and the Madame is trying to force her to put out for customers. Here, the Madame is instead Gaynor's abusive sister and she forces her to steal.

The bottom line is that the 1927 is a classic--one of the better silents I have ever seen (and I have seen an unbelievable number of silents--sometimes to my family's consternation). I can see why this and other 1927-28 films resulted in Miss Gaynor receiving the first Oscar for Best Actress--she was great. But so was this entire production. Well worth seeing and probably Gaynor's best silent, as I liked its simple story even more than her more famous "Sunrise".

The golden yardstick for measuring love stories!

[Cdorothygale-1 · 9/10 · 14 May 2006]

This love story is so much a product of its' era, a time of innocence and charm. The leads, Gaynor and Farrell, are simply perfect as the lovers who are parted by World War I. Janet Gaynor is beautiful and Charles Farrell is handsome. SEVENTH HEAVEN has it all: prostitution, romance, war, a sadistic whipping, and religion. It is melodramatic, to be sure, but this is part of the charm. It is a winner of multiple 1st Academy Awards, and deserves to be seen on DVD in a Fox release. Perhaps if we wrote to Fox Home Entertainment. They allowed that abysmal tape of SEVENTH HEAVEN to be circulated by Critics Choice. It's time to correct a bad judgment.

Magical heaven

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 13 July 2020]

'7th Heaven' is the first of three films with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell paired together with all three films being directed by Frank Borzage. The other two being 'Street Angel' and 'Lucky Star'. Like those two films, this film's title is immediately appealing and the story sounded really relatable. One that certainly played to Borzage's strengths, a common theme of his in his early work being love fighting against and triumphing over adversity, and also Gaynor's.

Of Gaynor, Farrell and Borzage's collaborations, my personal favourite is actually 'Lucky Star'. But '7th Heaven' is a very close second, the Oscars garnered richly deserved and for me it was a better film than the film that won Best Picture that year 'Wings' (which is still very, very good, but this film connected with me more somehow). Gaynor and Borzage are on top form and Farrell showed with them that he did had potential of being a bigger star when the material was particularly good. Some may find fault with the story sure, and that aspect was not perfect here, but so much works brilliantly here.

Will get the not so good things out of the way. The story can be too coincidence-heavy and the ending did feel tacked on.

However, '7th Heaven' looks beautiful. The lush romantic style that Borzage was developing in the lead up to this film was very much evident here and by 'Street Angel' it was developed fully. The photography is lush and often dazzles, making the sets and costumes even more beautifully elegant than they already are, while also having a lot of atmosphere. Borzage directs typically sensitively and intelligently, not allowing the film to become too lightweight or too heavy.

'Lucky Star' has more subtlety and is lighter when it comes to the writing, but '7th Heaven' is still intelligently written and sympathetic. The story is immensely charming, carried by the already luminous chemistry between Gaynor and Farrell that blossomed with each film, and very moving. The battle scenes still impress and while the story was not quite as relatable as 'Lucky Star's' the same amount of emotional connection is here.

The characters are identifiable and one roots for them to overcome their trials. Gaynor is luminous in looks while also giving a very heartfelt performance that earned her a deserved triple film Oscar (a first). Farrell is similarly restrained but never dull, he brings a lot of heart to the film. The two work beautifully together.

All in all, great. 9/10

It all works beautifully, through a perfect combination of acting, directing, and photography!

[Larry41OnEbay-2 · 9/10 · 23 April 2010]

SEVENTH HEAVEN, premiered May 6th of 1927, Produced by William Fox and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures.

Here's an actual TRIVIA Pursuit question: Who preceded Judy Garland in the title role of the first film version of A Star Is Born? She is also the answer to another Trivial Pursuit question: who was the winner of the very first Academy Award as Best Actress, at the inaugural 1927-28 ceremony? And if that does not recommend the film enough to you, SEVENTH HEAVEN also received the most nominations of any film at the first Academy Awards ceremony, with five.

The movie is a romance starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Frank Borzage won the first Academy Award for Best Director and Benjamin Glazer won the first Oscar for Best Writing which was based on the play adaptation from the novel by Benjamin Harrison.

Seventh Heaven is the 13th highest grossing silent film in cinema history, taking in more than $2.5 million at the box office in 1927.

Seventh Heaven featured the song "Diane" by Erno Rapee and Lew Pollack, who wrote the song specifically for the film.

A comparatively unknown remake of Seventh Heaven was produced as a sound film in 1937, starring Simone Simon, James Stewart, Jean Hersholt, and Gregory Ratoff, with Henry King directing.

Some of you may recognize character actor George E. Stone in the beginning who usually played small gangsters in comic relief here playing a character called, "Sewer rat." Janet Gaynor with her big-eyed, small doll's face was a five foot tall actress known for her cleft chin and very expressive eyes. Six foot two, Charles Farrell could fill a room with his optimism and hope. Frank Borzage, a former actor directs with an intuitive sense of emotional temperature; he keeps things boiling under the surface while the screen only registers a simmer.

Based on a long-running stage success and wildly popular upon its first release, SEVENTH HEAVEN is probably Frank Borzage's most famous film, the one where all his principles of mystical romance come together most distinctively. This exquisite tale of romance between street waif Diane (played by Janet Gaynor) and Paris sewage worker Chico (played by Charles Farrell) stresses the redemptive side of couplehood so persuasively that otherworldly connotations, like the strong ray of light that literally shines down on them after their various trials, seem only fair and natural. Borzage ennobles their poverty-stricken lives to such an extent that even the cruelties of war don't stand a chance when they are working against it together. It's the perfect exchange, lovers drawing strength from one another and ascending onto a different, metaphysical plane—you feel they could fly off the rooftops if they wanted to. Borzage patiently catches the smallest details of love, most memorably in the scene where Diane, alone in their garret, picks up Chico's coat and strokes it tenderly as if it were him. When the six-foot-two-inch Farrell kisses Gaynor passionately and holds her tiny five-foot frame up in the air, they truly look like a couple blessed by a winged divinity, with the space around them seemingly vibrating with some kind of spiritual presence. Watching them together in the same shot is an uncanny experience, one not easy to explain.

His gift for transforming the mundane, commonplace world into something beautiful and dreamlike made the films of Frank Borzage extraordinary. 7th Heaven, and the heartbreaking performance of its star Janet Gaynor, virtually defined not only the Borzage style, but also Gaynor's screen image and to an even greater extent, romantic love in Hollywood. The story of a Paris waif, saved by a sewer worker who pities her, was so wildly successful Fox spent years trying to equal it. Nothing ever did. The pairing of Gaynor with handsome leading man Charles Farrell presented a couple so attractive, likable and with such genuine chemistry, the two would go on to appear in 12 films together, including two more with Borzage.

Borzage's use of beautiful set design: the girls' decrepit home, the ancient cobblestone streets, Chico's rooftop garret and even the sewer, evoke an atmosphere that is both unreal and timeless. The ravishing sets created by Harry Oliver, whom Borzage used many times, add to the rich fairy-tale mood of a rather simple story, giving the characters an iconic quality.

The acting may be a bit direct but in silent films they had to communicate more visually and sometimes it seemed over the top, but keep watching their eyes and you'll never loose the focus of the story. Film critic and historian Andrew Sarris described SEVENTH HEAVEN'S magic as "Borzage's commitment to love over probability." To some it's high schmaltz, really fever-pitched melodrama, and the plot relies on a huge number of coincidences. But it all works beautifully, through a perfect combination of acting, directing, and photography, not to mention the incredible lighting and set design. This is one of the great silent movies, and one of the great screen romances. Janet Gaynor had quite a year in 1927, turning in fantastic performances in this, as well as F. W. Murnau's Sunrise.

One of the greatest romances of all time

[westerfield · 10/10 · 12 September 2006]

My wife and I saw this film 35 years ago at a retrospective house - a single showing with a packed house. We witnessed something we'd never seen before or since. When Diane finally finds the courage to stand up to her sister - taking the whip away and whipping her sister out of the apartment - the entire audience stood up and cheered. The film affected us so much that we named our daughter Diane. We didn't see the film again until it was released on VHS several years ago. If anything, having experienced more of life, it affected us even more strongly. We each went through multiple tissues crying tears of joy. Now we often say, "Al - Patricia - heaven!" Borzage has never failed to get at least a small weep from me but Seventh Heaven is his best.

A Classic Romance

[silent-12 · 10/10 · 30 November 1999]

I would like to add my own favorite scenes:

1. Diane leaning her head against the lamppost, utterly hopeless, eyes downcast, after she has tried to commit suicide. Chico--and you only see his boots--leaves her and heads down the street, hesitates, takes a few steps forward, hesitates, then, as if he finally makes up his mind, he comes stalking back to her.

2. Diane helping Chico to get dressed in the morning, holds out his belt and Chico whirls around, wrapping it around and around his waist, until he bumps into Diane.

A gorgeous film! The Farrell-Gaynor chemistry is incredible!

A great romance

[medtec · 2 August 1999]

Two scenes stick out in my mind.

1. Janet Gaynor walking across the plank into the apartment where Chico is waiting. She looks like an angel descending to earth.

2. The crane shot where the two lovers run up the stairs to the seventh floor (seventh heaven). This is a place where the two are isolated from the rest of the world and time stands still.

A film which MUST be seen.

[fairb · 9/10 · 1 March 2005]

There is some pedestrian acting in Seventh Heaven; furthermore, there are situations which in the world of today seem crass beyond belief. But anyone who can watch this film, with its original tints and Movietone score, without a complete sense of wonder at what film once was, and might be again if the business of films allowed, is dead emotionally and spiritually.

It is no wonder Janet Gaynor won an Oscar for this, and other, film in 1927. Frank Borzage, who seems to be the forgotten director of all time, deserved sainthood for getting at least a credi8ble performance from Charles Farrell. His deft handling of the material and the camera is really astounding. His use of the helix as a symbol of re-birth, not original, is flawless and we still get fatigued walking with the two lovers up seven flights of stairs with his excellent crane shot. One suspects Lewis Milestone learned much from the war scenes and I wonder how Borzage would film Iraq, Afghanistan, or the World Trade Centre.

Simply put, no cinema fan can comment intelligently on film without seeing this masterpiece. I prefer it to Sunrise, no easy thing to admit. I rate it a 9 simply because Farrell is objectionable in so many ways. But Janet Gaynor is a wonder and Frank Borzage deserves a university course of his own.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival - David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

[rdjeffers · 10/10 · 2 July 2006]

Friday July 14, 8:00pm The Castro, San Francisco

" The trouble with you is you won't fight. You're afraid! Me! I'm not afraid of anything! That's why I'm a very remarkable fellow!"

His gift for transforming the mundane, commonplace world into something beautiful and dreamlike made the films of Frank Borzage extraordinary. '7th Heaven', and the heartbreaking performance of its star Janet Gaynor, virtually defined not only the 'Borzage' style, but also Gaynor's screen image and to an even greater extent, romantic love in Hollywood. The story of a Paris waif, saved by a sewer worker who pities her, was so wildly successful Fox spent years trying to equal it. Nothing ever did. The pairing of Gaynor with handsome leading man Charles Farrell presented a couple so attractive, likable and with such genuine chemistry, the two would go on to appear in eight films together, including two more with Borzage.

A pitiful young girl from the Paris streets, Diane (Gaynor) is saved from death at the hand of her degenerate and violent sister Nana (Gladys Brockwell) by Chico (Charles Farrell), a sewer worker, who then tells police Diane is his wife to keep her out of prison. There is a sense that Nana's corruption is a moral burden imposed on the girl, who remains virtuous in her heart.

Borzage's use of beautiful set design: the girls' decrepit home, the ancient cobblestone streets, Chico's rooftop garret and even the sewer, evoke an atmosphere that is both unreal and timeless. The ravishing sets created by Harry Oliver, whom Borzage used many times, add to the rich fairy-tale mood of a rather simple story, giving the characters an iconic quality.

To avoid being caught in the lie, Diane timidly offers a suggestion. " Couldn't I stay at your place until the police come? Then I'd go away." Thoughtful and good-natured but very self- centered, Chico grows accustomed to the girl while Diane falls deeply in love with him. In a touching scene, she wraps herself in the arms of his coat she's been mending, and dreams. The moment when Chico and Diane finally profess their love is tender and genuine. She comes from the sky like an angel in her wedding dress and Chico is overcome with emotion. It is the rapturous and poetic fulfillment of young love.

Released both silent and later with an overwrought (but effective) Western Electric 'Movietone' sound-to-film musical score, '7th Heaven' maintains its emotional impact regardless of the musical accompaniment. The surviving print is a 12 reel "road show" version screened in previews, the originally released nine reel theatrical version, cut by some 35 minutes, having been lost. '7th Heaven' is rife with obvious and improbable circumstances: The sudden onset of war without any previous hint or allusion. Diane's near murder virtually at Chico's feet, and several others later on. They seem insignificant in this story of tragic romance, which emphasizes what Andrew Sarris described as "Borzage's commitment to love over probability."

One of the most influential movies ever made!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 7 December 2017]

I could write a very large book that touched upon films that, while primarily love stories, actually also have very strong noir elements. Indeed in some of these movies, like "Sunrise" (1927), available on a 10/10 Fox DVD, the noir plot at times totally overwhelms the romance.

The star of "Sunrise", Janet Gaynor, had previously headlined the film under review, "7th Heaven" (1927) (another 10/10 Fox DVD) in which, rather than a murderous husband, she was at the mercy of a sadistic sister, from whom she was rescued by a sewer worker (!) only to fall back into the clutches of the whip-wielding sister when her lover is called up to defend Paris from the brutal German invaders of 1914.

Extravagantly produced, masterfully directed by Frank Borzage, and beautifully acted by fellow-director David Butler, as well as the stars, Janet Gaynor and her frequent movie partner, Charles Farrell, "7th Heaven"'s strikingly composed studio set-ups were superbly lit by Joseph A. Valentine.

Valentine's photography in this movie is centered in a heavily contrasted black-and-white Germanic style, which was soon imitated so much by other cine photographers that it became known in the trade as "Valentine lighting". A decade later, it became a standard component of film noir.

From a sewer to the seventh floor of a tenament, love abounds.

[traintoy · 8 October 2001]

Just to let you know, Seventh Heaven can be rented. I just did that here in New York and each scene is tinted a different color. The war scenes although too long, are very good especially the one when all the Paris taxis go off to war carrying anyone who could fight. But best of all and the only reason to watch this movie is Janet Gaynor extraordinary performance. She won her first Oscar winning role -- first ever Oscar wining role. But Charles Farell is your basic Brad Pitt of his day, beautiful to look at but not enough substance to balance Janet's performance. Oh yes, the Diane Waltz is still beautiful.