Sunrise (1927)  (AFI: 82)  [A Song of Two Humans]  (currently for information only) Rated:  NR  Starring: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing, J. Farrell MacDonald. Director: F.W. Murnau Genre: Drama | Romance | Crime Not Released as of: 12/23/2018 Not yet released. A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife. An attractive woman from the city, on vacation, stays in a small farming community and dazzles a young married farmer. The wicked woman suggests that the man's deceptively dowdy-looking wife might "accidentally" drown. Can he, will he go through with it? The scene changes; in unexpected company, the man gets a kaleidoscopic taste of what the actual city is like. The dramatic climax comes in a fearsome storm and its aftermath... Cast Notes: 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). User Comment: (reyn1071@mlb.com) from Los Angeles, CA, 18 March 1999 • Put simply, not only the greatest silent film ever made, but one of the 10-15 perfect films. Sunrise, to me, is the definitive moment in silent cinema. Not only is sound unnecessary, but so are words -- indeed, there are remarkably few title cards. Instead, Murnau trusts in the ability of his images to convey his story; he doesn't need words. The story itself is simple, archetypal. It functions primarily as a frame onto which Murnau fastens scene after scene of breathtaking splendor. In particular, the first shots of the City are dizzyingly complex and layered. Additionally, it's impossible to come away unimpressed by the Storm which tosses the characters during their return journey. Murnau is one of the few filmmakers, and perhaps the first, to truly embrace the possibilities of film as its own medium, rather than as a novelty or, alternatively, a convenient way to preserve a stage play. Though he is better remembered for other films, most particularly Nosferatu, Sunrise is his crowning achievement. Summary: Sublime, beautiful silent romance. Trivia: The original negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire in 1937. Fox studio's first ever feature film with a recorded score. Was the first and only film to win the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) 'Best Picture' award in the category of "Artistic Quality of Production" (or "Unique and Artistic Picture"). This was the only year that this award was ever given out. The scenes in the city were not filmed on location. They were filmed on a vast and expensive set, built especially for the movie. Many of the superimpositions throughout the film were created "in the camera". The camera would shoot one image at the side of the frame, blacking out the rest of the shot, then expose the film. They would put the exposed film back into the camera and shoot again, blocking out the area that already had an image on it. 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. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #82 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list. ------------ IMDb Rating (08/16/07): 8.2/10 from 4,953 users Additional information Copyright:  1927,  20th Century Fox Features:  • Subtitles:  Silent Film Onscreen Intertitles - English Video:  Narrow-Standard 1.20:1 B&W Audio:  Mono (musical score and sound effects) Time:  1:35 DVD:  -- # Shows: 1 D-Box:  No Other:  Writers: Hermann Sudermann (novel), Carl Mayer (scenario); running time of 95 minutes (Germany: 106 min); Awards: Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination. One of the American Film Institute's Top 100 American Films (AFI: n/a-82).