Seventh Heaven (1927)
A Paris sewer worker takes in a fragile young woman to shield her from arrest, and the two fall in love in his top-floor garret. The First World War calls him to the front, and she keeps faith through a daily ritual of remembrance even after word comes that he has been killed.
Seventh Heaven paired Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell for the first time and made them the era’s definitive screen couple, while Frank Borzage’s romantic idealism helped carry Gaynor to the first Academy Award for Best Actress and won Borzage the first award for directing. It was selected for the National Film Registry.
Background
Seventh Heaven paired Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell for the first time, a partnership that proved so popular with audiences that the two were cast together in several more films over the following years and became closely identified as a screen couple. Director Frank Borzage, known for a style of idealized, emotionally intense romance, follows a Paris sewer worker and the fragile young woman he shelters, whose love survives even what both believe is his death in the First World War.
What to watch for
Watch for Gaynor’s performance, which helped earn her the first Academy Award ever given for Best Actress, an award that at the time recognized a body of work across several films rather than a single role. Borzage also won the first Academy Award given for directing. The film’s combination of hardship and heightened romantic faith was influential on the kind of melodrama Hollywood would continue producing throughout the following decade.
