7th Heaven (1927) - First act is romantic, second act is melodramatic

Review : 0007

Title : 7th Heaven

Year : 1927

Director : Frank Borzage

Country : United States

World’s Verdict : Rotten Tomatoes – 100%; IMDB – 7.8 out of 10.0; Academy Award – Best Directing, Best Actress, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).

My Verdict : 2.3 out of 5.0.

I am officially starting my Oscar Challenge with the films that were nominated for Best Picture in the Academy Awards for the year 1927/1928 (the first Oscars).

7th Heaven is a silent film.  If my memory is correct this is my first silent film (excluding The Artist, 2011) so I was really not sure what to expect.  I’m just blessed to see that this film is available on YouTube, though the condition of the film was a little dark and blurry I still got to see and understand the film.  The version has a background piano music but I don’t think it is an original part of the film, but definitely better than nothing.

The film is the story of a prostitute named Diane who was saved by a poor Parisian sewer cleaner, Chico, from her abusive sister.  To prevent Diane (Janet Gaynor) from being thrown into prison Chico (Charles Farrell) told that police that she was his wife and not a prostitute.  They decided to live together to cover their lie to the police.  Soon they fell in love but the honeymoon was cut short because Chico joined the army and that was when the corniness started.

What Went Right

• Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor (at least during the first act) – Farrell was actually funny and natural, he made the film very lively. Gaynor was good in acting as an abused, weak and scared person.

What Went Wrong

• Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor (during the second act) – Farrell was good in romantic comedy but terrible in drama.  In the end of the film, where he became blind, he was exaggerated it so much that it annoyed me a little and was too hard to watch.  Gaynor had moments where her acting shows a little over the top.  I just wished there were more consistencies in the way they acted in the movie.
• Second part was too melodramatic.  I wish they prolonged the story of the couple living together pretending as husband and wife, that would have given more laughter and smiles to the audience.  The war scenes, though nicely done, should have not taken more of the movie.  It’s probably a marketing tool back then.

The fact that 7th Heaven was nominated during the first Academy Award says a lot of good things about it.  It was also selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry because it is culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.  I agree that this movie deserves all the respect and importance because it is part of cinema’s history.  But this is a film that will never be my favorite and may not watch again.

Should I recommend it for you to watch? Definitely, if you are a film buff.

A good movie test is: If you will watch it again OR watch it again and again.  7th Heaven neither passed the test.