Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a 1927 American silent romantic drama directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, and Margaret Livingston. The story was adapted by Carl Mayer from the short story "The Excursion to Tilsit", from the 1917 collection with the same title by Hermann Sudermann. The film is widely considered by film critics and historians to be one of the greatest films ever made.
The film's use of sound marks its transitional status. While it utilizes a synchronous soundtrack, it fulfills the nineteenth-century melodramatic ideal of reducing dialogue in favor of music and pictorial mise en scène, adding only a few expressive sound effects.
The film tells the story of a man and his wife who live in the countryside. The man is tempted by a woman from the city, who is portrayed as the temptress and succubus. The film asks us to put all the blame on the evil woman and redeem the man, even though he has been unfaithful and attempted to kill two different women before stopping.
The film is essential because it represents the artistic pinnacle of cinema as a purely visual medium before the sound revolution changed the way films were made. It is a textbook illustration not only of what the silent film could achieve despite the lack of dialogue but, on the contrary, what it could achieve because of it.
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Cast
- George O'Brien as Anses (The Man)
- Janet Gaynor as Indre (The Wife)
- Margaret Livingston as The Woman From the City
- Bodil Rosing as The Maid
- J. Farrell MacDonald as The Photographer
- Ralph Sipperly as The Barber
- Jane Winton as The Manicure Girl
- Arthur Housman as The Obtrusive Gentleman
- Eddie Boland as The Obliging Gentleman
Other uncredited cast members include:
- Sidney Bracey as Streetcar Conductor
- Gino Corrado as Manager of Hair Salon
- Vondell Darr as Little Girl
- Sally Eilers as Woman in Dance Hall
- Gibson Gowland as Angry Driver
- Fletcher Henderson as Performer - Song: 'Tozo'
- Leon Janney as Boy
- Thomas Jefferson as Old Seaman
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writer: Hermann Sudermann, Carl Mayer, Katherine Hilliker, H.H. Caldwell
Box Office Gross: $121,107
Distributor: Critics' Choice Video, Fox
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 1927
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2015