Seventh heaven

   Produced by John Golden at Booth Theatre, this three-act Austin Strong drama was a major hit despite complaints regarding its sentimentality. Opening on 30 October 1922, Seventh Heaven ran for a phenomenal 704 performances. Helen Menken, whose touching performance was admired by critics, played Diane, a street urchin saved from prostitution by Chico, a street sweeper. He falls in love with Diane and takes her to his seventh-floor garret that becomes their "seventh heaven." Deeply in love, Diane and Chico are parted when he is sent to war. When Diane learns that Chico has been killed, she despondently falls into the arms of another man, Brissac. However, a blinded Chico returns and cannot see Brissac, so he and Diane are reunited. The play was as successful on tour as on Broadway, and Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell starred in a hugely popular 1927 motion picture version, remade in 1937 with Simone Simon and James Stewart. A 1955 Broadway musical adaptation failed.