Widely considered the single greatest achievement of the silent era. F.W. Murnau's first American film tells the simplest of stories — a farmer, tempted by a seductive city woman to murder his wife, finds redemption through a day spent rediscovering love — and transforms it into a transcendent visual poem about marriage, forgiveness, and the eternal tension between rural innocence and urban corruption. Every frame is a painting: Murnau's camera glides through fog-shrouded marshes, dazzling city streets, and luminous studio sets with a fluidity that was revolutionary in 1927. The performances by George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor (who won the first-ever Best Actress Oscar partly for this role) move from primal terror through gentle comedy to devastating emotion. A film that contains the entire range of human experience in ninety-five perfect minutes.
Widely considered the single greatest achievement of the silent era. F.W. Murnau's first American film tells the simplest of stories — a farmer, tempted by a seductive city woman to murder his wife, finds redemption through a day spent rediscovering love — and transforms it into a transcendent visual poem about marriage, forgiveness, and the eternal tension between rural innocence and urban corruption. Every frame is a painting: Murnau's camera glides through fog-shrouded marshes, dazzling city streets, and luminous studio sets with a fluidity that was revolutionary in 1927. The performances by George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor (who won the first-ever Best Actress Oscar partly for this role) move from primal terror through gentle comedy to devastating emotion. A film that contains the entire range of human experience in ninety-five perfect minutes.
Notes from Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film, Museum of Modern Art
Open Culture article, with video
Roger Ebert's review (2004)
By Mordaunt Hall. Sept. 24, 1927
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
Ralph Sipperly
The Barber
Jane Winton
The Manicure Girl
Arthur Housman
The Obtrusive Gentleman
Eddie Boland
The Obliging Gentleman
Herman Bing
Streetcar Conductor (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
Dance Hall Manager (uncredited)
Gino Corrado
Manager of Hair Salon (uncredited)
Vondell Darr
(uncredited)
Sally Eilers
Woman in Dance Hall (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland
Angry Driver (uncredited)
