Sunrise (1927) Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (original title)

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Carl Mayer (scenario)
Hermann Sudermann (from an original theme by)
(more)

Release Date:

4 November 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

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:

City | Farmer | Love | Murder | Fireworks

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

George O'Brien	...	The Man
Janet Gaynor	...	The Wife
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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herman Bing	...	Streetcar Conductor (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Dance Hall Manager (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Manager of Hair Salon (uncredited)
Sally Eilers	...	Woman in Dance Hall (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Angry Driver (uncredited)
Fletcher Henderson	...	Performer - Song: 'Tozo' (uncredited)
Thomas Jefferson	...	Old Seaman (uncredited)
Bob Kortman	...	Villager (uncredited)
F.W. Murnau	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Barry Norton	...	Ballroom Dancer / Kissing Couple (uncredited)
Robert Parrish	...	Boy (uncredited)
Sally Phipps	...	Ballroom Dancer / Kissing Couple (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Carnival Gallery Man with Pig (uncredited)
Phillips Smalley	...	Head Waiter (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Barber (uncredited)
Clarence Wilson	...	Money Lender (uncredited)

Directed by
F.W. Murnau

Writing credits
Carl Mayer		(scenario)
Hermann Sudermann		(from an original theme by)
Katherine Hilliker		(titles) and
H.H. Caldwell		(titles)

Produced by
William Fox	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Sheldon Mirowitz		(2011)
Willy Schmidt-Gentner
R.H. Bassett		(Los Angeles premiere) (uncredited)
Carli Elinor		(Los Angeles premiere) (uncredited)
Erno Rapee		(New York premiere) (uncredited)
Hugo Riesenfeld		(1928) (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Rosher		(photography)
Karl Struss		(photography)

Film Editing by
Harold D. Schuster		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Rochus Gliese		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Charlie Dudley	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herman Bing	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Don B. Greenwood	....	property master (uncredited)
Alfred Metscher	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Edgar G. Ulmer	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Gordon Wiles	....	art department head (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Frank Williams	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Hal Carney	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Frank Powolny	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Stuart Thompson	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Maurice Baron	....	orchestrator: Erno Rapee score (uncredited)

Other crew
William Fox	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Fox Film Corporation (1927) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (1982) (Spain) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• BIM Distribuzione (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Deutsche Vereins-Film AG (Defa-Deutsche Fox) (1927) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Fox Film (1927) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• NFM Distributie (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Television (????) (USA) (TV)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Eureka Entertainment (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Eureka Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" - USA (original title)

Runtime:

94 min | Germany:106 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Movietone) (musical score and sound effects) | Silent (alternate version)

Certification:

Germany:6 | Portugal:17 (director's cut) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:U (video re-rating) | UK:A (original rating) | South Korea:15 (2004) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The first feature film released using the Fox Movietone system, it was the first professionally produced feature film with an actual sound track.

Goofs:

Continuity: The number of bottles left on the table after the piglet bumps it changes between shots. There are five bottles when the piglet bumps it, but when the Man comes in and grabs the piglet there are seven bottles on it.

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:

Featured in Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)

A movie of redemption.

This Murnau work comes from the end of the silent era,and the miracle is that it needs nothing:it has everything.There are hardly a dozen of subtitles for a ninety- minute movie,and that's enough.The rest is the actors'sublime performances and Murnau's flawless directing. George O' Brien and Janet Gaynor do not speak,and however,we can hear them,with all our heart ,with all our soul.Their faces reflect what they endure,suffer and enjoy.Because this is not only a drama.Sometimes it turns to a true comedy.For me the scene in the church climaxes the work:the husband,desperate to a fault,and his wife ,who saw her sincere love atrociously betrayed ,"get marry" again and the priest's words will drive you to tears.

Unlike "Nosferatu",which took place in dark places ,and before "tabu" which would be an hymn to the nature -in every sense of the word,and probably the key to WF Murnau's entire canon"-,"Sunrise" is a diurnal movie,beginning with a meeting with the husband and his mistress at the break of dawn,and ending in the deep of the night,but the very last picture brings back sunrise,which epitomizes a new beginning, a new christening,a redemption.And the man ,crying and begging for pardon,it might be Murnau who thought his homosexuality was a crime -Nosferatu might be a metaphor as well,as the hero who abducts a priestess he's in love with in "tabu" -A true auteur opens up in his movies,if we can read between the lines.

Murnau was,along with Fritz Lang,one of the two most influential forces of the expressionism .