The Oscar Project

7^th Heaven (1927)

A Fox Film Corporation Film. Distributed by Fox Film Corporation.

7^th Heaven really swept up at the first Oscars. It was nominated for the most awards, and won three out of five of them. It’s interesting, because the film is very much a romance, with any other genre really sitting on the bench. That’s not to say it isn’t a great film, because it is.

Diane (Janet Gaynor) and her sister are prostitutes, living in a slum-like apartment in an unnamed city. After an incident goes pear-shaped with a wealthy relative, Diane’s tyrannical sister tries to kill her. Diane is rescued by Chico, a sewer-worker who dreams of becoming a street cleaner. He takes her in, and, after being mistaken for a couple and Chico receiving a promotion as a result, the pair decide to live together to reap the benefits of their fake marriage – one being Diane’s assumed protection, and the second being Chico’s new job. In true cinematic conventions, here begins a pretty sweet love story as the two fall for each other in spite of social standing, war and tragedy.

The film is wonderfully directed by Frank Borzage, and the cinematography is really world-building and all-encompassing (keep an eye out for some of the staircase scenes and the rooftop one early in the film – at the risk of sounding horribly cliché, both are visual feasts). Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are kind of glorious together as Diane and Chico. The chemistry is tangible and when they fall in love, you believe it, which is a feat for a film in any age. Plus, as a couple aesthetically, they look great (I mean, really, speaking of visual feasts).

Farrell is strong as Chico too – he walks a fine line between charming and obnoxious, but always manages to fall on the best side of it. That said, Gaynor is the star of this film, as she is in Sunrise – she builds a character that’s blossoming under Chico’s kindness. Her fragility at the start of the film, a battered woman, is so beautifully portrayed, which makes her strength and her growth throughout the narrative a joy to watch and to be a part of.

7^th Heaven probably isn’t for everyone – it’s heavily romantic, even though the First World War features greatly towards the end. It is though a beautiful piece of cinema, and very character-oriented, and, actually, very much about female strength and growth, which isn’t something regularly featured in late twenties cinema.

Rating: 8 / 10

Director: Frank Borzage

Writers: Austin Strong, Benjamin Glazer

Cast: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell & Ben Bard

Nominations: Outstanding Picture, Production, Best Director, Dramatic Picture (won), Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), Best Writing, Adapted Story (won), Best Art Direction

The Crowd (1928)

A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Film. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

This was actually the first film I watched from this year’s Oscars, and I guess was in some ways the film that started me off on this whole thing. It was probably a good thing all in all too – The Crowd is largely regarded as one of the triumphs of silent cinema and, watching it back now, it really still stacks up.

The film wastes no time introducing us to John Sims, who we watch grow from infant to boy to man. As a boy, his father praises him without restraint, telling him that he’ll be something in life, whilst John preens under the praise and yet shows little skill at anything in particular. John’s father dies abruptly when John’s a boy, and the film flashes forwards to John as a young man moving to the city, equally idealistic and full of self-importance. He meets and marries Mary in the space of a few days, and together they have two children whilst John works at a menial job without promotion or recognition.

The film’s focus lies in John, but also in Mary, covering milestones across their lives together and the unravelling of his character from ambitious, big-dreamed and egocentric to ultimately another lost soul in a big city. It’s interesting because for a film pushing 85, it’s thematically still totally relevant. John’s desire to separate himself from the masses and his expectation that this would come to him without ever having to work for it is hugely reflective of society in any age. It embodies the average developed-world man who grows up being told he’s special only to realise, ultimately, that he’s not. Of course it’s not just that. The film is a study in loss and grief, of the turbulence of a marriage built on unsteady foundations; it’s about shifting self-image and changing self-worth, and in all of these ways thematically it succeeds.

It’s melodramatic, sure, but it’s got a lot going for it that kind of lets you forgive that. The cinematography for one is gorgeous and photographic; the performances all wonderful, and the score (created in 1981 by composer, Carl Davis) does wonderful things at capturing the shifting moods of the film. This one is definitely worth the watch.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Director: King Vidor

Writers: King Vidor & John V.A. Weaver

Cast: Eleanor Boardman, James Murray & Bert Roach

Nominations: Best Director, Dramatic Picture & Best Picture, Unique & Artistic Production.