Sunrise / Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927
*****
Director: F.W. Murnau
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing, J. Farrell MacDonald, Ralph Sipperly, Jane Winton, Arthur Housman, Eddie Boland, Sally Eilers
A farmer becomes infatuated with a wicked city woman, who tries to persuade him to drown his wife, but he comes to his senses and rediscovers his feelings for his wife. F.W. Murnau's unique and visually stunning silent classic tells a dreamy and deeply moving love story, which is based on Hermann Sudermann's 1917 short story "The Excursion to Tilsit". At the very first Academy Awards, the film won Oscars for best cinematography (Charles Rosher and Karl Struss), best actress (Janet Gaynor), and Best Unique and Artistic Picture.
