saturday night i watched one of my favorite silent movies - and - gasp - chaplin isn't in it!
made in 1927 and directed by f.w. murnau (
nosferatu, faust) it won oscars for best cinematography. janet gaynor also won best actress in leading role, as the wife to her farmer husband, played by george o'brien.
it really is a beautiful little film, very intimidating in places, sweet in others - and sometimes downright creepy. o'brien and gaynor are both beautiful on screen as husband and wife on a little farm with their baby. they used to be happy until the farmer meets the girl from the city, out to snag her a farm boy.
he is under her spell and you see him sneak out to meet her early in the story. gaynor, as the farmer's wife, realizes what is going on and is devastated.
it is easy to see why
sunrise won an award for its cinematography. some shots are just stunning. anyway, the city girl convinces the farmer to drown his wife and move to the city to live with her. nice chick.
the farmer is almost crazed at the thought of murdering his wife, but he cannot shake himself from this woman's allure. he collects bulrushes from the shore of the lake and bundles them, putting them into their small rowboat so he will have something to use as a life preserver for himself after he dumps wifey in the water. then he can shout for help and claim the whole thing was an accident. BAM.
i don't know much else about george o'brien aside from his role as the farmer in
sunrise. but i was struck at how beautiful he could look - that
smile, woof - to how
frightening he could appear to be - in some scenes he moves just like a monster and looks quite scary.
after a tearful night alone, the wife is thrilled to learn her husband wants to take her on a boat trip. she tells the woman who appears to be a nanny of sorts about it and excitedly hugs her baby before leaving. but it doesn't take long before she realizes something not quite right is going on. hmmm, wonder what it is?
she realizes her darling, hunky husband is about to feed her to the fishes - and her innocence - her helplessness in her fear is just
drenching. the farmer realizes what the hell he is about to do and knows he can't go through with it. but the damage is done - his wife is terrified and freaked out, understandably. she leaps out of the boat when they make land and beats cheeks to a passing trolley. he jumps on before it disappears and helplessly stares at her cowering next to him, appalled at what he had almost done.
what follows next just baffled me the first time i watched
sunrise. they get off the trolley into the bustling city, the farmer following his weeping wife, unsure of how to fix everything - just blurting out, "don't be afraid of me!" every so often. gaynor resembled a trembling little bird in her fright; unable to look at him and only clutch the flowers he gave her (pfft, typical) in effort to apologize. sure, nothing says i'm sorry for trying to kill you better than flowers.
but he eventually realizes how terrible his near act of murder really was when they wander (uninvited) into a church while a wedding is in progress. while listening to the preacher tell the groom to love and protect his bride, the farmer breaks down in sobs, begging her for forgiveness. which she does.
then they are happy! everything is great again. it seems crazy to think everything would be cool after what went down in the boat, but amazingly, it is. they recapture the love they once had for each other and you can't help but believe it, even in this cynical age.
then you just watch them meander about the city together - they decide to have their picture made, so they go to a salon first where the farmer gets a shave. it's weird - the farmer can be loving, sweet and giddy as his wife, but man, don't cross him. he suddenly appears to be that hulking monster again when he sees a man trying to make a move on his wife while he's getting a shave.
they go back to have their picture taken by a very over-the-top photographer that comes off (to me) a little creepy. but they add a little light comedy here, when, during some playfulness between the husband and wife, they disrupt a statue. they look for its missing head and make a last minute substitution before grabbing their picture and leaving -
i don't know what city this is they are visiting, but it's almost frantic in its activity. i love that about silent movies. i won't ruin this part, but look for the scene with the drunken pig. you read right.
after a little dinner and dancing, the couple decide it's time to return to their boat and sail home in the moonlight. it's all lovely and sweet until a storm whips up. you see many, many shots of it in town of the rain and wind and people taking cover. in the boat, the wife has fallen asleep and is apparently a deep sleeper, for she stays asleep quite a while as her husband fights the storm. but she wakes up and they cling to each other, terrified as the storm reaches its peak. for 1927, it was some decent special effects. before the boat is turns over, the man ties the bulrushes to his wife.
he wakes up later on the shore, alone. terrified, he screams for his wife, who is missing. while a search party is organized, the city girl wakes up and realizes their plan has been put into action. she dresses and sneaks out to hide behind the scene. the farmer and other men spot some stray bulrushes floating in the calm water, but no sign of his wife. they all realize she has been lost to the water and the farmer is crazed with grief.
the city girl makes a bad decision in trying to get his attention as he weeps on the bed he shared with his wife, from outside. he again turns into that monster as he stumbles after her and begins to choke her. just before he can kill her, he hears the shouts from the housekeeper - his wife has been found. he drops the city girl and takes off.
the wife is put on the bed and weakly strokes her husband's head as he weeps with relief over her. as the sun rises the next morning, you see the city girl riding in a wagon, taking her back to the city. and in the house, the wife wakes up, smiling at her husband. janet gaynor was at her most beautiful at this shot - her hair is down and she just looks glorious.