“SEVENTH HEAVEN”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 258, 21 January 1928, Page 16

“SEVENTH HEAVEN”

A GREAT FOX PRODUCTION The William Fox version of the stage play “Seventh Heaven,” which has been booked for the Strand Theatre in the near future, is one of the most beautiful and singular films ever produced, with its main appeal being the wonderful simplicity with which the story is told, and the delicate beauty of thought and treatment. Austin Strong, the playwright who came into such prominence with “Seventh Heaven,” lias woven a story of much charm, and the poetical imagination which he has brought into so many of his works, was never better demonstrated than in this story. Strong, a former student at Wellington College, was a journalist and landscape artist in Auckland, but it is some years now since he departed for the United States, where he has found his niche as a playwright. The story of “Seventh Heaven” deals with a young sewer cleaner of Paris who aspires to the more exalted position of street-washer. He always lives with his eyes turned to the skies, although he has no faith in God, until Fate throws him up against a little street waif, Diane, whom he takes under his protection. In a humble attic, close to the stars, these young people find their “Seventh Heaven,” and the love scenes that follow are so natural and moving as to cause tears in the most sophisticated. Janet Gaynor, in the role of Diane, dominates the picture, and her acting is especially sincere and compelling. The scene in w'hich Chico, going through a form of marriage of his own devising in order to pledge himself to the girl he must leave within the hour, rises to great poetic heights. Throughout the whole production, the fine spiritual effect of “looking up” is stressed, and at the parting of the lovers, Diane, the girl who was a moral coward, proves herself full of courage, and fit to be described as a “very remarkable fellow.” They agree to commune with each other at eleven o’clock every day, and religiously they perform this rite through four years of pain and separation. From this point onward, the film works up to a dramatic climax, with the actors giving of their best in the scenes. Photographic colour of rare beauty plays an important part in “Ben Hur,” the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production founded on the famous novel of General Lew Wallace, and directed by Fred Niblo. An improved technicolour process was used in several scenes, which imparts a rich warmth comparable to a painting by an old master. Ramon Novarro plays the part of Ben Hur, and May McAvoy, Francis X. Bushman, Carmel Myers, and Nigel de Brulier have important roles. # * * Tim McCoy, the famous star of many outdoor pictures, gives the best performance of his career in the role of an army officer in “Foreign Devils,” his latest production for Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer. The new picture is a vivid story of the famous Boxer Rebellion in China, and is packed with thrills and action. Claire Windsor plays the leading feminine role, and Cyril Chadwick, Frank Currier, Emily Fitzroy, So jin and Lawson Butt are included in the cast.