Seventh Heaven

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1h 59m

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Chico (Charles Farrell) is a poor Parisian sewer cleaner who aspires to work his way out of his dead-end job and into the middle class. When he meets Diane (Janet Gaynor), an abused prostitute, he sympathizes with her plight and tells the police she's his wife to prevent them from arresting her. To keep up the appearances of marriage, he invites Diane to live with him, and a real romance blossoms until Chico is drafted in the army at the start of World War I.

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Dan Callahan

Slant Magazine

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.

Rated: 4/4

Jul 20, 2006

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

I find particularly moving its melodrama about poverty, love and hope. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Oct 29, 2022

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Robert E. Sherwood

LIFE

[Frank Borzage] has displayed real originality, imagination, sympathy and restraint, and has converted Seventh Heaven into an extremely effective picture.

Oct 5, 2021

Full Review

Katie Duggan

TAKE ONE Magazine

Frank Borzage's 1927 silent classic 7th Heaven begins in the gutters. ... it is impossible to not be carried up with it from the grimy depths towards the stars.

Jul 27, 2020

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A world of rough cobblestones and exploding trenches softened by romance made tangible

Nov 19, 2014

Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

If it weren't for the existence of Murnau's Sunrise, I wouldn't hesitate to call 7th Heaven the greatest of all silent films.

Rated: 5/5

Feb 11, 2009

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ChrisCSH H

"Seventh Heaven" is a film that comes close to a masterpiece as one can get. the film is filled with everything from Hope and sadness to love and despair to faith and everything in between. the film is absolutely fantastic whether it's a silent movie or not. The acting throughout the film, even for 1927 is still fantastic today, and so is the heart of the film, It's absolutely prevalent to this day.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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Louisa E

I loved this movie. Great acting and chemistry from Gaynor and Farrell. The plot had genuine tension and joy. 8.5/10

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/08/23

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william d

A bit sappy at times, particularly at the end. Still, it's a pretty good silent melodrama, and if you have any interest in that genre you should check it out.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

When it was released it was a critical and commercial success. It grips your interest from the beginning and though the end is a bit sappy you are sympathetic to Chico he is brought back to Diane. Due to t his film, Fox films featured sound elements the studio re-released it with a synchronized Movietone soundtrack.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Steve D

Strong silent film, sure to please fans of the like. Janet Gaynor shows why she transcended the silent era.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tragic love stories are typically a favorite of mine with Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and Gone With the Wind (1939) being among my favorite films and 7th Heaven is a worthy entry into the genre. The lovely Janet Gaynor stars in the film, this is one of three films she earned the Best Actress Academy Award for along with Street Angel (1928) and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), and her presence alone is enough to carry it. I was not familiar with director Frank Borzage before having seen this film but I will venture to watch Bad Girl (1931) in the future so I will become more familiar with his work. This is definitely a film worth watching because it tells a lovely story compellingly and serves as an interesting documentation of filmmaking from this period. A poor sewer worker Chico, Charles Farrell, falls in love with the suffering prostitute Diane, Janet Gaynor, and the two make a happy home together despite the struggles they face in everyday life. Their quiet lifestyle is interrupted with the outbreak of World War I and Chico is forced to leave Diane to serve in the armed forces which causes her to be distraught. In the war Chico is injured, blinded and believed to be dead but due to the religious connection between himself and his wife she continues to believe he is alive out there somewhere. Where the film excels is in it's writing, the lines are undeniably cheesy and if you have even a cynical bone in your body they will make you want to gag but when heading into a film of this sort you should know what you are getting into. The religious references irked me slightly but I have realized that you just have to accept them with films from this era and they were not as overt as those found in The Song of Bernadette (1943). I appreciated the care put into building up the connection between these two because it really made me invested in the character Chico and hopeful that he would survive his time at war. Watching Gaynor and Farrell interact you realize that they have been gifted with unusually naturalistic dialogue for this era and it really makes the love between the two characters evident because we witness what would make them so devoted to one another even as they face a many great trials. The film also looks rather beautiful, although it's hardly The Grand Illusion (1937), with cinematographers Ernest Palmer and Joseph A. Valentine take great care to contrast the horror of the early scenes with the bliss that the happy couple feel when they are together. They do this quite effectively by highlighting the almost hellish darkness that Chico spends all of his time in as a sewer worker and then later featuring shots of the angelic Gaynor's face being hit with what seems like a million spotlights. I am actually rather surprised that the film lost Best Art Direction but then again I have not seen The Dove (1927) or Tempest (1927) so I really cannot judge. I like seeing films from this time period because they have an inimitable griminess to them that seems more authentic than that found in films like The Revenant (2015) and other films in director Alejandro González Iñarritu oeuvre. In terms of Gaynor's performance I do believe she is impressive here, her presence alone is powerful, but it is Gloria Swanson in Sadie Thompson (1928) who really amazed me. On the surface they portray similar characters, both are hookers with hearts of gold, but I felt like Swanson brought more nuance and depth to her role. When she suffers we really feel for her instead of being overwhelmed by her beauty or luminous face. That may just be because Swanson is blessed with a unique ability to play maniacal characters as people that you can sympathize with and feel for. On the whole I wouldn't recommend this film to people who are allergic to melodrama, of which there are many, but if you like silent films, Janet Gaynor or have a general interest in early filmmaking then this is an enjoyable experience.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Frank Borzage

Director

Janet Gaynor

Diane

Charles Farrell

Chico

Ben Bard

Col. Brissac

David Butler

Gobin

Marie DeForrest

Madame Gobin

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Synopsis

Chico (Charles Farrell) is a poor Parisian sewer cleaner who aspires to work his way out of his dead-end job and into the middle class. When he meets Diane (Janet Gaynor), an abused prostitute, he sympathizes with her plight and tells the police she's his wife to prevent them from arresting her. To keep up the appearances of marriage, he invites Diane to live with him, and a real romance blossoms until Chico is drafted in the army at the start of World War I.

Director: Frank Borzage
Production Co: Fox Film Corporation
Genre: Drama
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 30, 1927, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 14, 2004
Runtime: 1h 59m