The reviews are unanimous. Every critic writing on 7th Heaven approves of it, and the praise gathers around Frank Borzage’s direction, which most describe as tender, imaginative and unashamedly sentimental. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are credited with making the romance between a Paris street waif and a sewer worker feel real rather than mawkish, and several critics note that the war scenes are handled with more skill than the story strictly requires.
The spread is narrow, from approving to enthusiastic, and nobody dissents. What varies is emphasis. The contemporary reviews concentrate on the performances and the grip of the story; later critics are more interested in the pictures. Slant Magazine calls this Borzage’s most distinctive film, Eye for Film singles out the single-take elevator shot up to the lovers’ flat, and Collider picks out a cross-fade prayer sequence and Gaynor’s small facial movements. The word sentimental appears throughout, always as a description, never as a complaint.