Heaven on Earth is a 1931 American dramatic film directed by Russell Mack, based on the 1929 novel, Mississippi, by author Ben Lucien Burman.
States confirms this fact with court records, and after leaving Captain Lilly, becomes a boarder on Aunt Vergie's (Elizabeth Patterson) houseboat.
Vergie's daughter Towhead (Anita Louise), falls in love with States and, understanding that he's homesick, sneaks onto Captain Lilly's steamboat and takes his dog, Shoo-Fly.
In the meantime, the Mississippi River has begun to flood dangerously, and people from the nearby town have been trying to burn down the shantytown, prompting the shanty-boaters to release their boats from their moorings.
Upon its 1931 release, Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times noted that it was "a worthy and earnest pictorial version of Ben Lucien Burman's novel, Mississippi," stating that the film "is imbued with an impressive atmosphere, which is heightened by the sincerity of the portrayals of all concerned, especially Lew Ayres, Anita Louise, Harry Beresford and Elizabeth Patterson.