7th Heaven (1927 film)

Cast

Reception

7th Heaven initially premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles replacing another Fox melodrama What Price Glory?, which had been playing since November 1926. A second opening was held at the Sam H. Harris Theatre in New York City on May 25. Both openings earned a total of $14,500. A series of Movietone shorts featuring Ben Bernie and his Orchestra, Gertrude Lawrence, Raquel Meller, and Charles "Chic" Sale preceded the film.

Upon its release, 7th Heaven was a critical and commercial success. A New York Times critic stated that the film "grips your interest from the very beginning and even though the end is melodramatic you are glad that the sympathetic but self-satisfied Chico is brought back to his heart-broken Diane." The critic also praised Borzage's direction, stating that the director "has given it all that he could put through the medium of the camera." The film went on to play for 19 weeks in New York City and for 22 weeks in Los Angeles.

Due to the film's success and the success of other Fox films featuring sound elements (Don Juan, Sunrise, and What Price Glory?), the studio re-released 7th Heaven with a synchronized Movietone soundtrack, including a musical score arranged by Ernö Rapée and sound effects. The re-release version premiered at New York City's Roxy Theatre on September 10, 1927.

By 1932, 7th Heaven had become the 13th-highest-grossing American silent, earning more than $2.5 million at the box office.

Remakes and adaptations

A comparatively unknown 1937 remake of the film was produced as a sound feature, starring Simone Simon, James Stewart, Jean Hersholt, and Gregory Ratoff, with Henry King directing. Unlike the 1927 version, the sound remake was not as financially successful.

On October 17, 1938, a radio adaptation of 7th Heaven aired on the Lux Radio Theatre, starring Don Ameche as Chico and Jean Arthur as Diane. A television adaptation was aired on October 26, 1953, on the anthology series Broadway Television Theatre. The episode stars Hurd Hatfield and Geraldine Brooks and was directed by Robert St. Aubrey. On May 26, 1955, a stage musical version of the film opened at the ANTA Theatre starring Gloria DeHaven and Ricardo Montalbán. It closed on July 2, 1955, after 44 performances.

Home media

On December 9, 2008, 7th Heaven was included in the Murnau, Borzage and Fox DVD box set released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

In popular culture

Chinese writer-director Yuan Muzhi's 1937 film Street Angel has been cited as being influenced by elements of 7th Heaven and another Frank Borzage film Street Angel (1928).

The theatrical poster for 7th Heaven is displayed on the wall of the student Watanabe's lodgings in the oldest surviving film by the Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu, Days of Youth: A Student Romance (Gakusei Romansu: Wakaki Hi, 1929).

Filmmaker Damien Chazelle has said the ending of his 2016 musical La La Land was inspired by the ending of 7th Heaven.