...but I live near the stars.

Another sublime work by John Borzage,one of the greatest directors America has ever had.

Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor were the romantic couple of that era.Both were able to transcend the limitations they were working under,that is to say ,to convey any emotion without using voices.

The soundtrack is particularly good including military marches ("la Madelon" sung in French,"La Marche Lorraine")as well as French folk songs ("J'ai Du Bon Tabac" "Fanfan La Tulipe")and even opera arias.

Remarkable scenes:

Gaynor,sadistically whipped by her sister ,and the relatives from South America,who would not take in those whores Chico (Farrell)discussing faith with his fellow men in the streets at night ,and the "miracle" : the priest telling him he would become a street-washer."The Bon Dieu" (in French in all the lines) cares about you!).

Chico and Diane in the boy's apartment on the seventh floor : this is probably the most romantic scene in the whole silent age ,with the eventual exception of the scene in the church in Murnau's "Daybreak" which also featured Gaynor.These extraordinary lines by Chico: "I work in a sewer but I live near the stars.

The historical episode of "les Taxis de la Marne" and the old man speaking of his old car :" She gave her life for France" .

More than "the river" the complete version of which is unfortunately impossible to see,"Seventh Heaven" contained the seeds of what Borzage (and others) would do later The lovers against a hostile world subject reappear in "little man what now?" and "Mortal Storm" .All in all,the woman is stronger than the man ,it's her who builds the couple ;here,Chico did not want to say "I love you" ,he thought it was silly.And he is a remarkable fellow though; the loyal male friendship between Gobin and Chico predates the extraordinary camaraderie depicted in "three comrades" The priest and Chico's road to Damascus ,we will find them back in "Strange Crago" ,where Borzage's Christian concerns admirably emerge again.

The telepathy,the supreme hour (the French title is "l'Heure Suprême" ) when the two lovers,although they are worlds apart,during which they are "together" not only influenced Henry Hathaway for "Peter Ibbetson" but also predates Borzage's own " I'll always loved you" where the two heroes communicate by music.

The last pictures are so strong we do not know at first if it's reality or if Chico takes Diane away into a dream...or onto the true Seventh Heaven.

But we,the audience, we were in the Seventh Heaven .Borzage was a genius,period.

It's an interesting coincidence that I saw the 1930s remake of "Seventh Heaven" just a week or so prior, so I was able to compare them. While I hated the remake for so many reasons (the dumb casting of Jimmy Stewart as a Frenchman among them),I adored this silent version. There are three main reasons for this. First, the direction in the silent was fantastic as was the camera-work. I loved the scenes where you see the leads walking up the many flights of steps with the camera following them, but the movie also was so artfully conceived in so many other ways. It truly was a work of art. Second, this sort of old fashioned romance just seems to work better as a silent. Whereas you might be more willing to accept the old fashion style in a silent, in a talking picture the plot seemed much more forced. Third, the acting was just better--a lot better. Jimmy Stewart was just lost playing an Atheistic Frenchman--whereas Charles Farrell was much more believable and likable--plus his character was softer and more likable in the earlier film. Stewart, oddly, played a jerk. And while Simone Simon was well cast in the remake (as she is French),Janet Gaynor was just magnificent--and the audience really felt compelled to want to take care of this waif-like character as she really pulled at your hearts with a combination of fine acting and her physical looks.

Aside from thinking the 1927 version was much better, it also was, surprisingly, a little less scandalous--even though it was made before the strengthened Production Code and the remake was made after--when it SHOULD have been harder to make this film. That's because in the later one, the female lives in a brothel and the Madame is trying to force her to put out for customers. Here, the Madame is instead Gaynor's abusive sister and she forces her to steal.

The bottom line is that the 1927 is a classic--one of the better silents I have ever seen (and I have seen an unbelievable number of silents--sometimes to my family's consternation). I can see why this and other 1927-28 films resulted in Miss Gaynor receiving the first Oscar for Best Actress--she was great. But so was this entire production. Well worth seeing and probably Gaynor's best silent, as I liked its simple story even more than her more famous "Sunrise".

'7th Heaven' is the first of three films with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell paired together with all three films being directed by Frank Borzage. The other two being 'Street Angel' and 'Lucky Star'. Like those two films, this film's title is immediately appealing and the story sounded really relatable. One that certainly played to Borzage's strengths, a common theme of his in his early work being love fighting against and triumphing over adversity, and also Gaynor's.

Of Gaynor, Farrell and Borzage's collaborations, my personal favourite is actually 'Lucky Star'. But '7th Heaven' is a very close second, the Oscars garnered richly deserved and for me it was a better film than the film that won Best Picture that year 'Wings' (which is still very, very good, but this film connected with me more somehow). Gaynor and Borzage are on top form and Farrell showed with them that he did had potential of being a bigger star when the material was particularly good. Some may find fault with the story sure, and that aspect was not perfect here, but so much works brilliantly here.

Will get the not so good things out of the way. The story can be too coincidence-heavy and the ending did feel tacked on.

However, '7th Heaven' looks beautiful. The lush romantic style that Borzage was developing in the lead up to this film was very much evident here and by 'Street Angel' it was developed fully. The photography is lush and often dazzles, making the sets and costumes even more beautifully elegant than they already are, while also having a lot of atmosphere. Borzage directs typically sensitively and intelligently, not allowing the film to become too lightweight or too heavy.

'Lucky Star' has more subtlety and is lighter when it comes to the writing, but '7th Heaven' is still intelligently written and sympathetic. The story is immensely charming, carried by the already luminous chemistry between Gaynor and Farrell that blossomed with each film, and very moving. The battle scenes still impress and while the story was not quite as relatable as 'Lucky Star's' the same amount of emotional connection is here.

The characters are identifiable and one roots for them to overcome their trials. Gaynor is luminous in looks while also giving a very heartfelt performance that earned her a deserved triple film Oscar (a first). Farrell is similarly restrained but never dull, he brings a lot of heart to the film. The two work beautifully together.

All in all, great. 9/10