City Girl (1930)

Lem goes to Chicago to sell the wheat his family has grown on their farm in Minnesota. There he meets the waitress Kate. They fall in love and get married before going back to the farm. ... See full summary »

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

H.H. Caldwell (titles), Katherine Hilliker (titles),

Stars:

Charles Farrell, Mary Duncan, David Torrence

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Farrell	...	Lem Tustine
Mary Duncan	...	Kate
David Torrence	...	Lem's father
Edith Yorke	...	Lem's mother
Anne Shirley	...	Marie Tustine (as Dawn O'Day)
Tom McGuire	...	Matey
Richard Alexander	...	Mac
Patrick Rooney	...	Butch (as Pat Rooney)
Ed Brady	...	Reaper
Roscoe Ates	...	Reaper
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Boland
Mark Hamilton	...	Hungry reaper
Ivan Linow	...	Taxi driver
Arnold Lucy	...	Cafe patron
Helen Lynch	...	Girl on train

Storyline

Lem goes to Chicago to sell the wheat his family has grown on their farm in Minnesota. There he meets the waitress Kate. They fall in love and get married before going back to the farm. Kate is accepted by Lem's mother and kid sister but is rejected by his father, who believes she married for the money. (And the fact that Lem didn't get a fair price for the wheat is her fault too). The reapers arrive and quickly they make things even more complicated by making their move on Kate. Lem misunderstands the situation and believes Kate is actually interested. In despair Kate leaves the farm and Lem goes looking for her.

---

Plot Keywords:

farm | wheat | waitress | marital crisis | countryside | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1930 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Our Daily Bread

Filming Locations:

Athena, Oregon, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 90 min (silent)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.19 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director F.W. Murnau wanted the title of the film to be "Our Daily Bread", but the studio refused. In addition, the film, which had been shot silent, was scheduled by the studio to have parts of it reshot with sound. Murnau refused, wanting nothing to do with "talkies", and after this and other clashes with the studio he left the picture before it was completed. An assistant director finished it.

---

Goofs

Each time when Lem's father, Kate, and Mac storm out of the farmhouse after Kate bandages Mac's hand, the shadow of the screen door moves across the "sky" backdrop in the background.

---

Connections

Featured in Murnau, Borzage and Fox (2008)

User Reviews

Realistic Yet Spiritual Masterpiece

Murnau had the knack of taking what looks like a simple relationship between a man and a woman (here a farm boy falling in love with a city girl who is a waitress) and depicting it in such a dramatic, physical, and spiritual fashion that you are spellbound throughout the whole picture. I must confess his early horror films do nothing for me; it is the romantic pictures like Sunrise and City Girl that show his real talents. These films transcend time itself.

Murnau is not afraid to depict characters who have a spiritual aspect to them....a quality totally lacking in today's pathetic, heathen filmmakers. For instance, Murnau in City Girl actually shows the main character (Charles Farrell) praying over his food in a public diner! When was the last time you saw that in a major motion picture? Refreshing!

Mary Duncan does well as Kate, the city girl. She had such soulful eyes and such a striking manner. She is totally believable as the woman struggling to survive a tough situation on a family farm run by a madman. Too bad this is the only silent film work of hers that has survived. Charles Farrell shows much depth in his silent film portrayals, much more so than in his early talkies, and City Girl is another fine example of his work.

If you are a fan of silents or of Murnau's work, don't neglect seeing this gem.