FW Murnau returns to his urban evil versus rural good theme in this visually striking but lean story involving a Minnesota farmer, a Chicago waitress and the external conflict created by their union.
Hayseed Lem Tustine (Charles Farrell) is sent by his dad (David Torrence) to Chicago to sell his wheat crop at a set price. Fending off flirtation on the train he meets kate a waitress in a chaotic restaurant while the wheat price dips. After a whirlwind courtship they marry and he returns home with the a wife and bad news about the wheat. Seeing his son as a rube who lost money and now being exploited by a city girl he explodes chides and emasculates the son. When the help shows up to harvest the wheat they get an eyeful of Lem's wife and like what they see. Things really take a turn for the worse when the crop is threatened and the bunk house boys rebel.
Given their similar theme and settings City Girl cannot avoid comparison to Murnau's classic Sunrise and while it does not rise to its stature, it retains his outstanding use of film language. Once again we have one of cinema's great visual storytellers unfold in image after image scenes of magnificent panorama and intense emotional close-up conveyed without utterance of a word. Scenes such as the camera riding on the wagon with the reapers and in a moment that teems with ironic beauty the arrival of the newlyweds in the wheat field at the farm glow with vitality and movement under the masterly hand of Murnau..
Mary Duncan as Kate is a restrained Swanson who has her best scenes with the stern, violent father played by David Torrence in a restrained version of his bro Ernest. Edith Yorke cowers and frets as ma while Richard Alexander as Mac excels as a harboring menace. Charles Farrell is mealy and spineless in a reprise of his Sunrise character in the throes of moral dilemma but without that dark side his performance annoys.
Flaws exist with some slow moments midway, the improbable actions of the hired hands and the father's stifling character limits the stories growth but Murnau for the most part provides us with more than a few gripping moments while deepening the cynicism and lasciviousness of his cast with expressive and informative closeups with little reliance on title cards. It is a thin story lushly told by a master.
Hayseed Lem Tustine (Charles Farrell) is sent by his dad (David Torrence) to Chicago to sell his wheat crop at a set price. Fending off flirtation on the train he meets kate a waitress in a chaotic restaurant while the wheat price dips. After a whirlwind courtship they marry and he returns home with the a wife and bad news about the wheat. Seeing his son as a rube who lost money and now being exploited by a city girl he explodes chides and emasculates the son. When the help shows up to harvest the wheat they get an eyeful of Lem's wife and like what they see. Things really take a turn for the worse when the crop is threatened and the bunk house boys rebel.
Given their similar theme and settings City Girl cannot avoid comparison to Murnau's classic Sunrise and while it does not rise to its stature, it retains his outstanding use of film language. Once again we have one of cinema's great visual storytellers unfold in image after image scenes of magnificent panorama and intense emotional close-up conveyed without utterance of a word. Scenes such as the camera riding on the wagon with the reapers and in a moment that teems with ironic beauty the arrival of the newlyweds in the wheat field at the farm glow with vitality and movement under the masterly hand of Murnau..
Mary Duncan as Kate is a restrained Swanson who has her best scenes with the stern, violent father played by David Torrence in a restrained version of his bro Ernest. Edith Yorke cowers and frets as ma while Richard Alexander as Mac excels as a harboring menace. Charles Farrell is mealy and spineless in a reprise of his Sunrise character in the throes of moral dilemma but without that dark side his performance annoys.
Flaws exist with some slow moments midway, the improbable actions of the hired hands and the father's stifling character limits the stories growth but Murnau for the most part provides us with more than a few gripping moments while deepening the cynicism and lasciviousness of his cast with expressive and informative closeups with little reliance on title cards. It is a thin story lushly told by a master.