This timeless and eloquent story of love, betrayal, remorse, and redemption is a knockout classic and essential viewing for anyone who loves great cinema, great stories, or both. Following the success of "Nosferatu" and "The Last Laugh" in his native Germany, expressionist director F. W. Murnau’s first film in America, "Sunrise" earned three top prizes from the Motion Picture Academy in the maiden year of the awards, before they were known as Oscars. In a newly re-mastered print of this black and white silent, the strong images of bustling cityscapes, the tranquil countryside, and lingering close ups, all beautifully composed, tell the story. With minimal and elegant use of words, even the intertitles take on shape and texture to further the story with devices such as the text stretching or melting away. Powerful images of trains, boats, automobiles, crowds and faces, sometimes superimposed upon each other, immerse the viewer in an ethereal completeness.

The young husband and wife (Janet Gaynor took home an Oscar for her performance) have their lives capsized by the woman from the city who comes for a summer holiday and stays on after beginning an affair with the handsome young farmer. His homespun wife is no match for the city woman’s bobbed hair, fancy satin clothing, and wild allure. Her reckless city ways and frenzied dance of seduction prove irresistible as she schemes to whisk him away. The ensuing drama takes the young couple to the city where they endure unbearable grief and exquisite joy. Their adventures include a day of pure pleasure as they visit such alien places as a hair salon, a photographer’s studio, and a dance hall where they unexpectedly become belles of the ball. Nevertheless, before the sunrises again, they face more devastating trials in addition to the woman from the city.

In another historic first, this was the first film released with its sound track on film – the earliest synchronized movie score. Unfortunately, its release came just days before the highly anticipated "Jazz Singer", and "Sunrise" was slighted at the box office. This fine new digital print gives today’s audiences a chance to see what too many missed in 1927. Furthermore, it has not been frequently shown on the big screen over the years either, in spite of perennially winding up on many all time best lists. One of the simple pleasures of this early era of filmmaking is the uncomplicated credits. The characters are nameless and we don’t need a scorecard to follow the players as is typical today. They are simply the man, the wife, the woman from the city, and such outstanding supporting characters as "The Obtrusive Gentleman", "The Obliging Gentleman", and "The Photographer."

The luminescent play of light and shadow characteristic of the expressionist style, emotion-filled score, deft performances, and the careful screenplay add up to create a mood that makes for the very best of cinema. Considered by no less than François Truffaut and Orson Wells to be the best film ever made (up to that point, in the early 1960’s) "Sunrise" opens at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago July 30.