Janet Gaynor was an American film, stage and television actress as well as an accomplished oil painter.
7th Heaven is a 1927 American synchronized sound romantic drama directed by Frank Borzage, and starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Movietone sound system. The film is based upon the 1922 play Seventh Heaven, by Austin Strong and was adapted for the screen by Benjamin Glazer. 7th Heaven was initially released as a standard silent film in May 1927. On September 10, 1927, Fox Film Corporation re-released the film with a synchronized Movietone soundtrack with a musical score and sound effects.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a 1927 American synchronized sound romantic drama directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, and Margaret Livingston. The film's plot follows a married farmer (O'Brien) who falls for a woman vacationing from the city (Livingston), who tries to convince him to murder his wife (Gaynor) in order to be with her. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Movietone sound-on-film process. The story was adapted by Carl Mayer from the short story "The Excursion to Tilsit", from the 1917 collection with the same title by Hermann Sudermann.
Street Angel is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. The film was directed by Frank Borzage, adapted by Harry H. Caldwell (titles), Katherine Hilliker (titles), Philip Klein, Marion Orth and Henry Roberts Symonds from the play Lady Cristilinda by Monckton Hoffe. As one of the early, transitional sound film releases, it did not include recorded dialogue, but used intertitles along with recorded sound effects and musical selections.
Frank Borzage was an American film director and actor. He was the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Director for his film 7th Heaven (1927) at the 1st Academy Awards.
Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" because he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball. At the height of his movie career, he was frequently billed above the title simply as Big Boy Williams or as "Big Boy" Guinn Williams on posters and in the film itself.
Charles David Farrell was an American film actor whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s and the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs.
Delicious (1931) is an American pre-Code Gershwin musical romantic comedy film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, directed by David Butler, with color sequences in Multicolor.
Merely Mary Ann a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy drama film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together, including Frank Borzage's classics 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Lucky Star (1929); Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for the first two and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. The film, involving an orphan (Gaynor) and a flat-broke composer (Farrell), was written by Jules Furthman based upon Israel Zangwill's play of the same name and directed by Henry King.
Change of Heart is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, James Dunn, and Ginger Rogers. The movie, about a quartet of college chums who all move to 1934 New York City, was written by James Gleason and Sonya Levien from Kathleen Norris's novel, Manhattan Love Song and directed by John G. Blystone.
The Man Who Came Back is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was adapted to screen by Edwin J. Burke from the play by Jules Eckert Goodman.
High Society Blues is a 1930 American pre-Code film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was written by Howard J. Green from the story by Dana Burnett, and directed by David Butler.
The First Year is a 1932 American pre-Code film based on a 1920 play of the same name that originally ran on Broadway at the Little Theatre. The play was written by Frank Craven and produced by John Golden. It closed in 1922 after 760 performances.
Christina is a lost 1929 sound part talkie starring Janet Gaynor and directed by William K. Howard. The supporting cast includes Charles Morton, Rudolph Schildkraut, Harry Cording, and Lucy Doraine. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Movietone sound-on-film system.
4 Devils is a lost 1928 American synchronized sound drama film directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring Janet Gaynor. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process.
The River is a 1929 sound part-talkie drama film directed by Frank Borzage, and starring Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Movietone sound-on-film system. Much of the film has been lost. A reconstructed version with the about 45 minutes of surviving film, using still images and explanatory titlecards to bridge the missing scenes, was produced by the Munich Filmmuseum, in collaboration with the cinémathèques of Switzerland and Luxembourg. This version was screened in 2006 by the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. Borzage also directed Farrell, opposite Janet Gaynor, in Seventh Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Lucky Star (1929) during this period.
Tess of the Storm Country is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by directed by Alfred Santell and starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, and Dudley Digges. It was released by Fox Film Corporation. It is based on the novel of the same name by Grace Miller White and its adaptation for the stage by Rupert Hughes.
City Girl is a 1930 American part-talkie sound film directed by F. W. Murnau, and starring Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan. It is based upon the play "The Mud Turtle" by Elliot Lester. Though shot as a silent feature, the film was refitted with some sound elements and released in 1930 as a sound film due to the public apathy to silent films. While the film has a few talking sequences, the majority of the film featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is credited as being the primary inspiration for Terrence Malick's film Days of Heaven (1978).
Liliom is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Borzage and written by S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien. The film stars Charles Farrell, Rose Hobart, Estelle Taylor, H. B. Warner, Lee Tracy and Walter Abel. It was an adaptation of the 1909 play of the same name, serving as the first sound version of the film and the first of two sound adaptations of the play in the 1930s, with a 1934 adaptation being directed by Fritz Lang. The film was released on October 5, 1930, by Fox Film Corporation, who also handled the 1934 film. Alongside Just Imagine, also released by Fox, this was one of the first films to employ rear projection, which is done during a train sequence.
My Man is a 1928 black and white sound part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
