7th Heaven. 1927. USA. Directed by Frank Borzage. Screenplay by Benjamin Glazer, based on the play by Austin Strong. With Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, David Butler. World Premiere. Silent. 118 min.
Casting Fox contract player Janet Gaynor as a Parisian street urchin and newcomer Charles Farrell as the sanitation worker who loves her, director Frank Borzage created one of the great screen couples, an alliance that would continue through 11 more films. 7th Heaven stands as Borzage’s strongest expression of the transcendent power of romantic love, evoking emotions of such strength and purity that only the dream world of silent film could contain them. At the first Academy Awards ceremony, the film won Oscars for Gaynor (Best Actress), Borzage (Best Director) and Benjamin Glazer (Best Adapted Screenplay). This is the premiere presentation of a new, upgraded digital restoration featuring improved image quality, stabilized intertitles, and the original color tints.
Digital restoration by The Museum of Modern Art. Funding provided by the Lillian Gish Fund for Preservation.