Sunrise (1927)

An allegorical tale about a man fighting the good and evil within him. Both sides are made flesh - one a sophisticated woman he is attracted to and the other his wife.

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

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

Stars:

George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston

Top Rated Movies #183 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

In this fable-morality subtitled "A Song of Two Humans", the "evil" temptress is a city woman who bewitches farmer Anses and tries to convince him to murder his neglected wife, Indre.

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Plot Keywords:

murder plot | troubled marriage | extramarital affair | city country contrast | national film registry | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sunrise

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director F.W. Murnau wanted Camilla Horn (with whom he had worked in Germany on Faust (1926)) for the part of "The Wife", but she was under contract to the German studio UFA at the time and they refused to loan her out, so the part went to Janet Gaynor.

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Goofs

When the Farmer is holding his son, he sets him on his Wife's lap twice.

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Quotes

The Maid: They used to be like children, carefree... always happy and laughing... Now he ruins himself for that woman from the city - Money-lenders strip the farm - and his wife sits alone.

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Alternate Versions

Two major versions of the film exist - the version for the American market, and the version for the Czech market. While obviously the same basic film, the Czech version is about 15 minutes shorter and features alternate angles/takes for much of the movie - this was not uncommon in the days of silent films when marketing them abroad.

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Connections

Referenced in Lost Emulsion (2016)

User Reviews

Simply the best

While some film critics disagreed in the late fifties, giving the nod to Murnau's equally brilliant "Last Laugh," this in my view is the crowning achievement of the German genius. Many polls rank it as the greatest silent film ever made and many rank it very high on the all time list of great movies.

The plot is melodramatic, the acting in places heavy handed, and the action seemingly non-existent, at least in the eyes of the "Terminator 3" generation,yet "Sunrise" is so captivating a film that it can be watched over and over again and deliver the same punch every time. In fact, like the other greats,including "Citizen Kane," you can probably get something new out of "Sunrise" every time you watch it, no matter how many times you watch.

Murnau takes barren sets and dark, hallow rooms and turns them into treasure troves of lighting and nuance. He creates something as simple as a railway depot or a big traffic intersection and makes it a story all by itself.

"Sunrise" stands today as one of the most visually fascinating films ever made. Murnau's cinematographers, Charles Rosher and Karl Struss, got an Oscar for their work and surely deserved it. Janet Gaynor won the Best Actress award for her body of work that also included "Seventh Heaven" and also richly deserved the prize. Her face expresses her inner emotions so perfectly that some of her scenes are achingly beautiful.

And the film itself received an academy award for "Most unique and artistic production," an award never given out again, maybe because no picture could live up to the standard set by "Sunrise."

The new DVD version being marketed on the quiet by Fox is marvelous, with a wonderfully restored print that seems just as bright today as it must have in late 1927 when the film was released. The DVD includes an interesting commentary option by cinematographer John Baily and no film is better suited for this, since it tells its story brilliantly with pictures alone, so the commentary option is not a distraction.

One of the great tragedies of the cinema in my view is that few people alive today have seen "Sunrise." They have no idea what they are missing.

This one ranks among the five best films ever made.