Sunrise

Name: Sunrise
Director: F W Murnau
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1927
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Bodil Rosing, Margaret Livingston, J Farrell MacDonald

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Drama
Romance

1927
F W Murnau
90 mins
U

Summary

Classic silent romantic drama. A young married farmer falls under the spell of an alluring woman from the city who plants murderous thoughts in his head.

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Tony Sloman

Janet Gaynor won the first ever best actress Oscar for her work in this exquisite silent feature, subtitled A Song of Two Humans. Emigré director FW Murnau, best known for Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horrors, has reduced a tale of threatened marriage to its bare essentials, as George O'Brien's farmer falls for visiting city girl Margaret Livingston. It is hard to convey briefly the wonder of imagery on display here, as Murnau both wittily and stylistically uses every aspect of visual storytelling, even making imaginative use of the back projection itself. Perspective design and stunning photography (by Charles Rosher and Karl Struss) help immeasurably. The tale is timeless, the setting nameless and the mood resolutely central European, though it was filmed in America at great expense. O'Brien brings a distinctively American presence to the romantically tortured hero, and Gaynor is simply perfection as his wife. This is pure cinema: emotionally uplifting, utterly absorbing, sublimely refreshing. Cynics be warned, it will melt your heart.

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Credits

Cast

rolenameThe ManGeorge O'BrienThe WifeJanet GaynorMaidBodil RosingWoman from the cityMargaret LivingstonPhotographerJ Farrell MacDonaldBarberRalph SipperlyManicure girlJane WintonObtrusive gentlemanArthur Housman