Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 USA Black / White 95 minutes
Release date: September 23, 1927
The entire film was shot in Hollywood studios and at Lake Arrowhead, California (USA).
Oscar won:
Best Actress -> Janet Gaynor
Best Cinematography
Best Picture
Oscar nominations:
Best Art Direction
Sunrise was distributed with a Movitone soundtrack that included a musical score and some sound effects.
The man and the wife are named Ansass and Indre.
Released just a few days before the advent of the talkie The jazz singer (October 6, 1927), Sunrise proved a commercial flop.
The movie is based on a short story Die Reise Nach Tilsit (A Trip To Tilsit)
The original negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire in 1937.
Nosferatu was not an immediate success due to copyright issues. All prints of the film were ordered destroyed, but bootleg prints were stored and preserved over time.
December 28, 1888
Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe
March 11, 1931
During World War I Murnau served as a combat pilot and made propaganda films. He directed his first feature in 1919 Der Knabe in Blau, The Blue boy but won international acclaim for Nosferatu (1922), and Der letzte Mann,The last laugh in 1924. It was this film that got the attention of the early Hollywood film moguls such as William Fox.
In 1927 Murnau moved to Hollywood, where he made films such as Sunrise (1927) and City girl (1930). But Murnau was frustrated by the lack of control he now had over his artistry. He eventually broke his contract with Fox.
Paramount Pictures were pleased by Murnau's work and offered him a contract for 10 years. But his first film Tabu (1931) would be his last film as he died in an automobile accident in 1931.
1929 Best Picture for Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)