Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator

If the stylistic flair of Alfred Santell's work in This Is Heaven left an impression, the juxtaposition of stylistic flair and narrative makes it a Romance outlier. Experience the United States influence in these recommendations that echo This Is Heaven.
By merging stylistic flair with Romance tropes, it to elevate Romance to the level of high art.
This Is Heaven (1929) is an American Pre-Code film, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, released through United Artists, and directed by Alfred Santell.
Based on the unique stylistic flair of This Is Heaven, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of Romance cinema:
Dir: Henry Edwards
A millionaire bets £25,000 that he can earn his own living for six months.
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Dir: Raoul Walsh
Dave Henderson, an orphan who has become the beneficiary of a rich man's will, falls in with race-track crooks Martin Tydeman and Bokky Sharvan who bilk him out of his $100,000 inheritance. In retaliation, Dave steals the money from Tydeman's safe, but is caught and sentenced to five years in jail. In prison, Dave becomes friendly with Millman, who is about to be released, and reveals the money's hiding place to him, arranging to rendezvous at the end of Dave's term. Once released, Dave is hounded by members of Tydeman's gang as well as the police, who are waiting for him to retrieve his bounty. While taking refuge at the house of Capriano, an old bomb maker, Dave falls in love with the old man's daughter Teresa. However, Capriano sets a trap for Dave, who awakens in a drugged state to find the $100,000 missing. With the help of Millman and Teresa, Dave recovers the money, turns it over to the police and resolves to go straight.
Dir: Alfred Santell
A waitress in a small-town hotel rounds up a ring of German spies.
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Dir: Alfred Santell
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
Dir: Colin Campbell
Although separated at birth, Siamese twins Fabien and Louis de Franchi remain united emotionally. One day, Parisian Emilie de Lesparre arrives in their Corsican village with her father, and both brothers fall in love with her. Louis goes to Paris to study law and sees Emilie often, but Emilie loves Fabien who has remained in Corsica with their mother. While attending a dinner given by another admirer of Emilie's, M. Chateau Renaud, Louis is drawn into a duel with Renaud and killed. Back home, Fabien senses what has happened and journeys to Paris to avenge his brother's death. After he kills Renaud in a duel, Emilie finally confesses her love to Fabien.
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Dir: F. Martin Thornton
In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.
Dir: J. Gordon Edwards
William Farnum is Drag Harlan, a tough cowboy vigilante. After learning about a gold mine from a dying man, he seeks his daughter (Jackie Saunders) as well as the gold. He falls in love with her, but the same gang that shot the old man is after the gold.
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Dir: Alfred Santell
Two foreigners own a hardware and plumbing store. The Amalgamated Hardware Company, a trust, make Mike and Louie an offer on their place, which they refuse. Amid their denunciation of the trust Madge and her sweetheart, Jack Kennedy, enter. Jack has come to ask Madge's uncles for her hand, but they will give Jack no answer. That evening Madge is told the story of her life. Her father, while mining in the West, was killed by a blast and she has been raised by Mike and Louie, who are informed by John Andrews that her father passed away leaving nothing. Jack's father, "Boss" Kennedy, is the silent partner with John Andrews, none other than the former partner to Madge's father, in the Amalgamated Hardware Company. Though a crook, Kennedy endeavors to keep his actions from his boy. Andrews and Kennedy decide to squash the two Dutchmen by opening a store across the street and underselling them. Eventually the trust forces the foreigners out of business. Madge gets a position in a laundry where an alkaline tank explodes and blinds her. Andrews and Kennedy argue and vow "to get" each other. Mike and Louie read that a specialist has come to town, who can perform an operation upon the blind which will enable them to see, but charges $300 for his service. Mike and Louie offer to sell their store to Kennedy, who refuses them. He refers them to Andrews if they are in search of charity. Leaving Jack in charge of the store, Mike and Louie visit Andrews. Introducing Madge as Miss Morton, the Dutchmen do not notice that Andrews is surprised. He informs them that he will think about it. Madge's name causes visions of the past and Andrews sees his old partner as he died begging Andrews to take care of his child, for which he wills him one-half interest in his mine. After Morton's death the mine paid enormously and Andrews took no further interest in Madge other than to inform her guardians that she had been left nothing by her father. Andrews is informed that Kennedy is double-crossing him and that Jack is caring for the store across the street. Andrews buys the store for $500. Crooks learn that Mike and Louie have $500 and that night rob them of their money. The crooks are captured and in the night court Mike and Louie accuse them. The crooks send for Kennedy who arrives with Jack, and the "Boss" has his henchmen released and Mike and Louie get the worst end of it. Jack, realizing his father's actions, demands an explanation, which results in an argument and the boy leaves his father's house. Intent upon revenge, Mike and Louie steal into Kennedy's house and rob him of $500, which pays for Madge's operation. Inspired by their success, they go out to make another haul and accidentally get into Andrews' home, where they rob his private safe and get a tin box which they take home. On opening it, they find evidence to prove Andrews' guilt and resolve on revenge. Madge is released from the hospital, able to see again. Andrews in attempting to get even with Kennedy, frames circumstantial evidence proving Jack guilty of stealing the tin box. In the court trial everything is going against Jack when Mike and Louie jump up and confess. Andrews makes a get-away, but Mike and Louie are sentenced to two years in State prison. For one year they are remorseful but later are shown as trusted trusties. They speak to their fellow convicts and impress upon them the folly of wrong-doing; they avert a break in the prison, and are in truth "beloved rogues." One day they are called to the warden's house to set a banquet table, where they are interrupted by the entrance of Madge, Jack Kennedy, the Governor of the State, and a clergyman, and invited to the wedding of Madge, having been released by the Governor.
Dir: Jacques Jaccard
Douglas MacLeod of the Royal North West Mounted Police is in love with Suzanne Foucharde, who has adopted an abandoned Indian baby, the illegitimate child of Louis La Rocque and Na Fa Kowa. When La Rocque insinuates that the baby is Suzanne's, her brother Henry defends his sister's honor and kills the villain. In spite of his love for Suzanne, it is Douglas' duty to arrest Henry. He does so, but later allows him to escape, taking the bullet himself that was fired after Henry by Constable Burke. Meanwhile, the dead body of Na Fa Kowa is found, accompanied by a note proving that the Indian was the baby's mother. In the spring, when Douglas recovers from his wounds, he and Suzanne are married.
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Dir: Richard Smith
Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to This Is Heaven
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss | Gritty | Linear | 86% Match |
| From Now On | Ethereal | High | 89% Match |
| Some Job | Gritty | Abstract | 88% Match |
| Main 1-2-3 | Surreal | Abstract | 96% Match |
| The Corsican Brothers | Tense | Linear | 92% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Alfred Santell's archive. Last updated: 5/14/2026.
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