Seventh Heaven (1927) (1927)
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100% of critics liked it
(6 reviews) -
88% of users liked it
(731 ratings)
In 1927, Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress with her performance in this film, among the most celebrated romances of the late silent era. Chico (Charles Farrell) is a poor sewer worker who has only two dreams in life: to be promoted to sweeping streets and to find a woman who… More In 1927, Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress with her performance in this film, among the most celebrated romances of the late silent era. Chico (Charles Farrell) is a poor sewer worker who has only two dreams in life: to be promoted to sweeping streets and to find a woman who will be his wife. While he prays for guidance and blessings, he continues to work in the filth beneath the Parisian streets. However, one day he meets Diane (Gaynor), a beautiful woman who has been handed many hardships in life and is being chased by the police for a petty crime. Chico helps her hide from the cops, and soon the two have fallen in love. Despite their poverty, they give each other a reason to go on, and they happily marry. But their bliss is shattered when Chico is called to fight in World War I; Diane lives for the day he returns, and when she's told that Chico was killed in battle, her world collapses and she renounces her faith in God. However, while Chico was severely injured on the battlefield and is now blind, he did not die, and now he must find his way back to the woman he loves. In addition to Gaynor's Oscar, Seventh Heaven earned statuettes for director Frank Borzage and screenwriter Benjamin F. Glazer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Frank Borzage
- Written By
- Benjamin Glazer
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics
- In Theaters
- May 25, 1927 Limited
Critic Reviews
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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.
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The kind of movie that births a lifelong love affair with silent cinema... I'd be extraordinarily hard-pressed to come up with any way in which it's not flawless.
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Gorgeously filmed (by Frank Borzage) film featuring Gaynor and Farrell.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
By today's standards, Borzage's romantic melodrama is sappy and outdated, but in 1927, the Oscar-nominated silent film was extremely popular with (female) audiences.
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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.
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Cast
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Janet Gaynor
as Diane
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Charles Farrell
as Chico
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Ben Bard
as Col. Brissac
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David Butler (I)
as Gobin
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Marie Mosquini
as Madame Gobin
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Gladys Brockwell
as Nana
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Albert Gran
as Papa Boul
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Emile Chautard
as Pere Chevillon
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George E. Stone
as Sewer Rat
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Brandon Hurst
as Uncle George
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Lillian West
as Arlette
- Henry Armetta
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Jessie Hasiett
as Aunt Valentine
- Dolly Borzage
- Jessie Haslett
- Lewis Borzage Sr.
- Mary Borzage