Seventh Heaven- A 1937 Film Directed by Harry King- Set in the Slums of Paris during WW One-Starring Simone Simon and James Stewart

This is part of my Participation in Paris in July 2023 - Hosted by Words and Peace 

Wordsandpeace.com 

Available on YouTube 

Running time 1 hour and 42 minutes 

I found Seventh Heaven a wonderful deeply moving work.  Set in the Slums of Paris during WW One, the lead character, played perfectly by Jimmy Stewart, works as a sewar cleaner, he is an atheist, openly mocking religious beliefs, he has no family. Because of his extremely low status job, everyone looks down on him.  His biggest hope is to be promoted to a street cleaner. 

It is an antiwar movie, as one would expect in 1937, Germans are cast in an evil light.

Chico, Jimmy Stewart, rescues Diane (Simon), a young woman being beaten by her sister. Chico and Diane fall in love and move into a small apartment on the seventh floor, which Diane describes as heaven. However, their happiness is short-lived when Chico is called away to fight in World War I. At first Chico just takes her in out of a sense of duty. We see Diane is afraid of the heights of the seven story apartment and is terrified of the many cats in the building. Soon she is feeding the cats and thinks nothing of the height.

Diane has a strong religious faith, praying for the safe return of Chico.

Diane is left alone to fend for herself, and she eventually gives birth to a son. She struggles to survive, but she is helped by Father Chevillon (Hersholt), a priest who befriends her.

At the ending the war is over, the men of the building are returning. The close of the film is emotionally complex, deeply moving.

I extend my thanks to Emma of Words and Peace for hosting Paris in July

I will next post on So This is Paris, a silent film by Ernst Lubitsch

Mel Ulm