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City Girl

Play trailer Poster for City Girl 1930 1h 8m Drama Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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63% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A wheat farmer (David Torrence) predicts his son's (Charles Farrell) lover will be unfaithful.

Critics Reviews

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Geoff Andrew Time Out 06/24/2006
Murnau's final Hollywood film is widely underrated. Go to Full Review
John Monaghan Detroit Free Press 03/04/2005
3/4
A solid, emotionally charged picture that bridges a gap between German expressionism and poetic realism. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 01/01/2000
Some of Murnau's genius remains in the lighting of individual shots, and particularly in a lyrical sequence in which a man (Charles Farrell), a woman (Mary Duncan), and Murnau's camera dance through a sunlit field. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 01/08/2022
Murnau's sense of evocative image and editorial rhythm greatly elevates it. Go to Full Review
Film Daily Staff The Film Daily 03/13/2021
It has one of those stories that are aimed at the sentimentality in a person but never quite reach their mark. Go to Full Review
Shadow Stage Photoplay 03/13/2021
Its first part is a beautiful, powerful story of the love of a city waitress and a son of the wheatlands... Finished as a talkie, it lost all its steam. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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01/29/2021 The last great silent movie. Very touching romance film. See more bill t 05/31/2017 Despite a very weak ending, this is a very good film featuring what happens when a farm boy meets a city girl, they get married, and he takes her back to his farm. It could have entered into Crocodile Dundee humor, but it's interesting when the girl, probably from being brought up in the city, takes bullshit from noone. Very crisply acted (It does help that Charles Turrell is easy on the eyes) and expertly lit.. Check out those night shots! This is an interesting film. See more 05/01/2017 Ignore the naysayers, whatever the hell they know about movies. This is magnificent movie making. I rarely use the word 'literally', but this film is literally breathtaking. I loved it from the start with perfect casting and moment-capturing. Great cinematic storytelling. A silent movie to begin anyone's journey into silent movies. Can't rate it highly enough. I laughed. I gasped. I hung on every moment, and, being a silent in the last days before the advent of the dull talkies, there were many of them. Terrific joy in a pure wonder where even the smallest characters have presence. See more 11/28/2014 There is true beauty to behold in Murnau's pictorial view of Minnesotan farmland - amber waves of grain and all that. But I think some of the scenes in the Windy City, especially when Kate looks out of her apartment window and the passing El train creates flashes of light on her face, are equally stunning. You can see how this may have influenced Malick's Days of Heaven. However, the plot, elemental though it is, feels too rickety to support all these perfect images. Apparently, a producer tampered with the end product after Murnau walked away. So, we have Country Boy meets City Girl, marries her and brings her back to Minnesota where his Old Man does not approve. Their relationship is strained until the Old Man finally relents (after some lascivious farmhands show him his stupidity). No match for Sunrise (to which the plot, but not the images, bears some similarity) -if you are new to Murnau, start there (or Faust or The Last Laugh). See more 08/24/2014 A waitress in a big city diner falls in love with a country guy visiting the city. They quickly get married and move to the country where she faces his stern father. As I was watching, I thought this is kind of lightweight for a Murnau film. I mean, the director of "Nosferatu" and "Sunrise"? But then as it progressed, I saw that it has gotten more complex and darker. It pretty much turned into somewhat of a companion piece of "Sunrise". It's not quite as great as that film. He uses some of the same notes but it's still a wonderful film worth checking out since hey, it's a Murnau film. See more 01/18/2014 With a glowing performance from Mary Duncan, a suiting sweet original score by Arthur Kay, and impressive beautiful cinematography by Ernest Palmer, City Girl might not be F.W. Murnau's finest effort, but adds as an impressive piece of work. See more Read all reviews
City Girl

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A wheat farmer (David Torrence) predicts his son's (Charles Farrell) lover will be unfaithful.
Director
F.W. Murnau
Screenwriter
Marion Orth
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
United Artists
Genre
Drama, Romance
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 30, 1930, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 17, 2009
Runtime
1h 8m