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DVD Review Seventh Heaven (1937) DVD Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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Seventh Heaven (1937) DVD Review

A decade after carrying home three Academy Awards for the silent classic Seventh Heaven at the first-ever Oscar ceremony, Fox decided to remake one of its greatest films with a new cast and with top-notch production values. The result, while not quite equaling the triumphant dramatic moments of the original movie, offers a fine film with some excellent performances and smooth direction by one of the studio’s stalwarts. Only one key piece of miscasting keeps the film from attaining its own status as a classic film.



Studio: Fox

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 480I/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1

Audio: English 2.0 DD

Subtitles: None

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 42 Min.

Package Includes: DVD

Amaray case

Disc Type: DVD-R

Region: 1

Release Date: 01/14/2015

MSRP: $19.98




The Production Rating: 3.5/5

Things start looking up for lowly Parisian sewer worker Chico (James Stewart) when the local priest (Jean Hersholt) puts in a good word for him to advance to street cleaner. Chico also meets and takes pity on prostitute Diane (Simone Simon), who’s been kicked out of the brothel where she works by her cruel sister Nana (Gale Sondergaard), by taking her home with him. Diane is completely bereft of pride or self-worth, but Chico has enough for the both of them and slowly brings her around to finding something in the world to live for. The two fall in love, but World War I intervenes before they can marry though the two promise to pledge their love to one another on religious medals each day at eleven.

The 1922 play by Austin Strong became one of the greatest successes of the silent cinema when it starred Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in the 1927 silent version of the Broadway hit (winning Oscars for Gaynor’s performance, Frank Borzage’s direction, and the adaptation by Benjamin Glazer). Melville Baker’s screenplay can’t quite be forthcoming about Diane’s line of work, and the two lovers never get to share a bed together before Chico gets called to war, but all of the emotional high points of the original story are pretty much present and accounted for (Chico’s atheism slowly melting away, Diane’s growing sense of pride and confidence, the tragedy before the ultimate triumph) accompanied by the famous romantic theme song which plays almost continuously once the love story begins to develop. While cinema purists may protest the stagebound sets (Paris outside Chico’s seventh story window is clearly a painted backdrop) and studio backlot locations, but director Henry King makes great use of the studio’s resources. He very economically stages scenes from World War I without spending a king’s ransom, (some of the combat montages were obviously taken from other Fox war films) while the Paris sewers and streets are rather impressive.

The film fails to match the original due to a crucial piece of poor casting: Simone Simon as Diane. She simply hasn’t the requisite skill to dig deeply within herself to make Diane’s transformation from a simpleton gamin, weak and pitiable under the brutal hand of her sadistic sister into a strong, confident woman afraid of no one and convinced in the purity and sanctity of her love. There are feeble glimmers of character that can be spotted occasionally, but opposite James Stewart’s force of nature performance as Chico, she’s basically blown off the screen. Stewart even at this relatively early stage of his film career shows his combination of strength and softness, bold at times and shyly retiring at others, that made him a cinema favorite for almost half a century. Jean Hersholt offers a gentle, knowing performance as Father Chevillon while Gale Sondergaard fresh off her Oscar victory in Anthony Adverse plays the evil Nana with fangs flashing and eyes blazing. J. Edward Bromberg as the interfering astrologer Aristide has one of those roles that is underdeveloped and could just have easily been cut. John Qualen is quite amiable as the sewer rat who’s Chico’s best friend. Famous faces like Gregory Ratoff and Sig Rumann can be found under mounds of hair and make-up and add lots of color to the proceedings.



Video Rating: 2.5/5  3D Rating: NA

The film is framed at its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Sharpness is never a problem, but the film has received no attention otherwise in terms of clean-up, so there are plenty of dust and dirt specks, scratches (along the right side of the frame especially), and spots and other age-related damage. Reel change markers are present and accounted for. The grayscale offers some nice white levels, but black levels are more medium gray through most of the film. The movie has been divided into chapters every ten minutes, so this film has 11 chapters.



Audio Rating: 2.5/5

The volume level is once again unnecessarily high and requires adjustment to prevent distortion and potential equipment damage. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix is decoded by Dolby Prologic into the center channel. There are problems with age-related hiss, crackle, and multiple pops throughout the presentation. Still, the dialogue is always discernible, and it has been nicely mixed with the background score and various sound effects which, in fact, sport some rather good fidelity especially in the war scenes and the later armistice celebrations.



Special Features Rating: 0/5

There are no bonus features on this made-on-demand disc.



Overall Rating: 3/5

The 1937 remake of Seventh Heaven is worth seeing especially for James Stewart’s wonderfully entertaining star performance. Too bad the original award-winning silent version of the story couldn’t have been included making this a two-pack release as comparisons between the two would be most interesting for those who don’t already own both versions of the story.


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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lionel59

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Apr 29, 2009
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Melbourne, Australia
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Michael Robert Lionel Evans
Thanks for the informative and insightful review Matt. The transfer sounds similar to the Spanish release, so I won't "upgrade".
 

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