Street Angel (1928 film)

Street Angel
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Borzage
Produced by	William Fox
Written by	Philip Klein Henry Roberts Symonds Monckton Hoffe (play)
Starring	Janet Gaynor Charles Farrell Alberto Rabagliati
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	April 9, 1928 (1928-04-09)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles
Box office	$1.7 million

Street Angel is a 1928 silent film with a Movietone soundtrack, 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.

Street Angel was one of three movies for which Janet Gaynor received an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929; the others were F. W. Murnau's Sunrise and Borzage's 7th Heaven. Street Angel was also nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.

The acting award was given in 1929 and the other two in 1930, which accords the movie the distinction of being the only film to ever receive an Oscar nomination in two different years that was not a foreign language film.

A spirited young woman (Gaynor) finds herself involved in illegal ways of gaining money to help pay for her ill mother's medicine. She is caught in the act, runs away from punishment, and finds her mother dead. Destitute and on the streets, she joins a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter (Farrell). Though they fall in love, her past will not leave her alone.

The film was thought lost for years, but it is now part of a 12 film collection by Fox that was released in 2008.