(Fox Superspecial; 8,729 ft.)
By P.S. Harrison (1927)
It is a marvellous production. It is really a study of the human mind- at its best and at its worst. There is always a contrast to every action. For instance, when the hero lures his wife into the row boat with the intention of drowning her to satisfy the woman he was infatuated with, his intention being to make it appear as if she had drowned by accident, he is shown in a fearful state of mind. This state of mind is naturally contrasted by the spectator to the state of mind the hero is in when he later returns over the same route; the hero's desire to kill his wife had gone, because the grip of his fascination for the other woman had gone, and he was frantic when after the storm, during which the boat capsized, he sought his wife everywhere. His despondency is indescribable when he is unable to find her and takes it for granted that she had drowned. What a change in the state of his mind again when some one finds his wife and brings her safe to him! The contrast between the state of the hero's mind when he was leaving the tram car after his unsuccessful attempt to kill his wife and that he was in when he was returning with her, in the same train car, full of happiness and cheer, because his old love for her had come back to him, is another piece of direction and acting that stamp Mr. Murnau as an artist of the first rank. The picture is full of such contrasts. The characters are more lifelike, more vivid than even real human beings. Their thoughts, their emotions, appear on their faces crystal-clear. The face of the heroine at the time she guesses the purpose for which her husband had asked her to take the boat trip with him is such that her thoughts could not have been described more clearly even if she had used words. It is a revelation of deep psychology to the highest degree.
Miss Gaynor, as the young heroine, has never done as good work; in fact, it is unlikely that any outsider would ever have thought that she could act that way. The same thing may be said of George O'Brien. The plot has been founded on Herman Sudermann's "Trip to Tilsit." The action unfolds somewhere in Europe, perhaps in East Prussia, the locale of the original story. Very few sub-titles are used; the understanding of the action depends chiefly on the acting of the players, which acting is the result of Mr. Murnau's guiding.
Like The Last Laugh, Sunrise is a masterpiece. And it has cost a fortune, because the director had to build an entire summer resort like Coney Island, and other big sets.
The picture should draw. But whether it will or not, it remains to be seen.
P.S. Harrison, "Sunrise," Harrison's Reports, October 1, 1927, page 158.
© 1997, David Pierce, on editing and revisions (if any)
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