Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Hermann Sudermann (novel)
Carl Mayer (scenario)

Release Date:

23 September 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Crime

Plot:

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Fireworks | Dog | Rowboat | Vamp | Drowning

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

George O'Brien	...	The Man - Anses
Janet Gaynor	...	The Wife - Indre
Margaret Livingston	...	The Woman From the City
Bodil Rosing	...	The Maid
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	The Photographer (as J. Farrell McDonald)
Ralph Sipperly	...	The Barber
Jane Winton	...	The Manicure Girl
Arthur Housman	...	The Obtrusive Gentleman
Eddie Boland	...	The Obliging Gentleman

Also Known As:

Sunrise (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:106 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (musical score and sound effects)

Certification:

South Korea:15 (2004) | Germany:6 | Portugal:17 (director's cut) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:U (video re-rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire in 1937.

Quotes:

[opening title cards]
Title Card: This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere, at any time.
Title Card: For wherever the sun rises and sets, in the city's turmoil or under the open sky on the farm, life is much the same; sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet.

Movie Connections:

References Letzte Mann, Der (1924)

Sunrise of cinema

I have no words. This is cinema. This is not a story, this is not a plot. This is THE STORY, this is THE PLOT. Murnau can describe the human beings, the men, the women and the fast blind society. The woman of the city seems to be a post-modern nosferatu. She is a vampire, she moves like Dracula, she is like a witch around a tree. This film holds the tragedy and the comedy, the laughing and the crying. "Sunrise" doesn't belong to the past, but It belongs to the story, to the time. Sunrise, yes...the sunrise of the modern cinema waiting for "Citizen Kane".