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Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

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Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a 1927 American film directed by the German filmmaker F. W. Murnau in his American debut, starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor and Margaret Livingston. Adapted by Carl Mayer from Hermann Sudermann's 1917 short story The Excursion to Tilsit, it follows a married farmer who becomes entangled with a visiting city woman who urges him to kill his wife so they can be together. Though it contains no spoken dialogue, the film used the Fox Movietone sound-on-film process to add a synchronized musical score and sound effects, making it one of the first feature films with recorded sound, and it won Academy Awards for Best Unique and Artistic Picture, Best Actress for Gaynor and Best Cinematography, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.

Facts
Year Created
1927 1
Medium
Silent film released with a synchronized Movietone sound-on-film musical score 1
Classification
Genre
Film 1
Connections

In Form

Film, Art Forms

Silent film by F.W. Murnau.

Sources
1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Wikipedia, lead section
    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (also known as Sunrise) is a 1927 American synchronized sound romantic drama directed by German director F. W. Murnau (in his American film debut) and starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, and Margaret Livingston.
  • Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Wikipedia, lead section, sound para
    While the film has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Movietone sound-on-film process.
  • Genre reference
    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a 1927 American film directed by the German filmmaker F.
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