7th Heaven (1927)

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writers:

Austin Strong (play)
Benjamin Glazer (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1927 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Expect a Big Picture. We personally assure you that you'll not be disappointed in "7th Heaven"

Plot:

A street cleaner saves a young woman's life, and the pair slowly fall in love until war intervenes.

Plot Keywords:

Love | World War One | Male Female Relationship | Sister Sister Relationship | Number 7 In Title

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Janet Gaynor	...	Diane
Charles Farrell	...	Chico
Ben Bard	...	Col. Brissac
Albert Gran	...	Boul
David Butler	...	Gobin
Marie Mosquini	...	Madame Gobin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lewis Borzage Sr.
Dolly Borzage
Mary Borzage
Sue Borzage
Gladys Brockwell	...	Nana
Emile Chautard	...	Father Chevillon
Jessie Haslett	...	Aunt Valentine
Brandon Hurst	...	Uncle George
George E. Stone	...	Sewer Rat
Lillian West	...	Arlette
Henry Armetta	...	(uncredited)
Italia Frandi	...	(uncredited)
Venezia Frandi	...	(uncredited)
Lois Hardwick	...	Bit Role (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Borzage

Writing credits
Austin Strong		(play)
Benjamin Glazer		(screenplay)
H.H. Caldwell		titles
Katherine Hilliker		titles
Bernard Vorhaus		uncredited

Produced by
William Fox	....	producer
Sol M. Wurtzel	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
William P. Perry
Erno Rapee
R.H. Bassett		(premiere: Los Angeles) (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Palmer
Joseph A. Valentine

Film Editing by
H.H. Caldwell
Katherine Hilliker

Art Direction by
Harry Oliver
Freddie Stoos		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Kathleen Kay
Bert Offord		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Peggy Christman	....	hair stylist
Kitty Thompson	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lew Borzage	....	assistant director
Park Frame	....	assistant director

Special Effects by
Louis J. Witte	....	matte paintings
David Anderson	....	lighting (uncredited)
Max Borch	....	matte paintings (uncredited)
Joe Les Coulie	....	matte paintings (uncredited)
Walter Pallman	....	miniatures (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Stanley Little	....	assistant camera
Julian Robinson	....	assistant camera
Harold D. Schuster	....	assistant camera
Max M. Autrey	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Philip Klein	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
S.L. Rothafel	....	musical presentation: New York premiere
Maurice Baron	....	orchestrator: Erno Rapee score (uncredited)

Other crew
André Chotin	....	technician

Production Companies

• Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Deutsche Vereins-Film (1927) (Germany) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Fox Film Corporation
• I.V.C. (1994) (Japan) (VHS)
• I.V.C. (1995) (Japan) (video) (laserdisc)
• I.V.C. (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Suevia Films (2006) (Spain) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "7th Heaven" by Austin Strong opened at the Boothe Theater on October 30, 1922 and ran for 704 performances. The Wizard of Oz 'Frank Morgan' was in the original cast.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Murnau, Borzage and Fox (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Diane

Oscar's Early Nomination Record Setter

"Seventh Heaven," Frank Borzage's poetic romantic melodrama from 1927, was the last of the three films nominated for the first Best Picture Oscar that I have now finished viewing (the other two being Lewis Milestone's "The Racket" and William A. Wellman's "Wings"). It's a sweet little movie about a meek waif (Janet Gaynor) who meets cute with a macho street cleaner (Charles Farrell) and then proceeds to fall in love with him, and he with her, while living together as a fake husband and wife in order to fool the authorities and prevent Gaynor from going to jail (that's another story, and is disposed of within the film's first 20 minutes or so). From there, the film transitions into full-blown melodrama as Farrell goes off to war and Gaynor waits stoically for him to return.

This all would be enough to make one gag, if someone other than Borzage had directed it. He had a knack for taking the most saccharine subject matter and handling it with utmost delicacy; as a result, you're utterly charmed and swept up in the film's romanticism even as your head tells you you should be rolling your eyes. It also helps that Farrell and especially Gaynor were very good actors, and they make the characters believable while keeping the rampant sentimentality at bay.

Borzage won the first Best Director Oscar for his work, and Gaynor was Oscar's first Best Actress, winning for this and two other films, "Street Angel" and "Sunrise," back when Oscars were given for entire bodies of work over a year and not for one specific film. Writer Benjamin Glazer completed the film's triplicate wins by taking home the first Oscar for Writing (Adaptation), before a screenplay award even existed.

"Seventh Heaven" was passed over in the Best Picture category for "Wings," and it also lost Art Direction (for Harry Oliver's impressive Parisian loft and WWI battlefield sets), but with five nominations it emerged as the most nominated film in Oscar's debut year.

Grade: A