City Girl

1930

Action / Drama / Romance

18
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 63% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 83% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.7/10 10 4119 4.1K

waitress countryside marriage crisis pre-code wheat

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Plot summary

A waitress from Chicago falls in love with a man from rural Minnesota and marries him, with the intent of living a better life - but life on the farm has its own challenges.

Director

F.W. Murnau Photo
F.W. Murnau

Top cast

Mark Hamilton Photo
Mark Hamilton as Hungry reaper
David Rollins Photo
David Rollins as
David Torrence Photo
David Torrence as Lem's father
Arnold Lucy Photo
Arnold Lucy as Cafe patron
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
813.01 MB
854*720
English 2.0
Passed
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 28 min
Seeds ...
1.63 GB
1280*1080
English 5.1
Passed
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 28 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

This is one of those films that you

This is one of those films that you can just sit back and let wash over you... The plot is simple, as are the characterisations involved - but that's what makes it effective. "Lem" (Charles Farrell) is a young man sent by his overbearing father to Chicago to sell their annual wheat crop. He frequents a diner where he meets the young waitress "Kate" (Mary Duncan) and the pair are soon an item. Meantime, though, the price of wheat is dropping so he must quickly secure a deal before he and his gal return home to rural Minnesota. His father "Tustine" (David Torrence) is less than impressed with both the deal he got for his crop and with his new daughter-in-law, and a period of unpleasantness culminates in some deliberate and selfish actions by the father as the harvesting is going on, that could spell ruin for everyone. The camera simply loves Farrell and Duncan - and the accompanying score helps them to convey their love and frustrations expertly. The ending is maybe just a little twee - but it does offer some redemption that illustrates how difficult it could be for a father to show affection for his son, and also of the somewhat trivial roles accorded to women at the time - many of whom were far more competent than their men folks! It is based on Elliott Lester's play 'The Mud Turtle", which like this film, I suspect, doesn't get out much nowadays - but this flows smoothly and effortlessly and really is quite a joy to watch.
Reviewed by ducdebrabant 9 / 10

Fascinating, especially as a social document

True, it isn't "Sunrise" (what is?) and it isn't even the complete silent version as Murnau envisioned it, but it's still a beautifully expressive film from one of the great masters. What's more, it's the only film I've ever seen which pinpoints a pivotal moment in American history (it seems to be set before the Crash). One thing that precipitated the Great Depression was the squeeze on farmers, who had no profit margin at all, and whose only recourse was to plant more and more, unwittingly worsening their own situation. One of the conflicts is that Charles Farrell is sent to the city to sell the wheat crop at the most advantageous price (and this is a desperate necessity), and not only fails to do so but comes home with a (perhaps unsuitable) new wife. The family patriarch has planted the farm in wheat right up to the front door, and even reprimands his little girl for picking a stalk of it to play with. They are drowning in a product everybody needs but which barely supports them, and on which they are completely dependent. The contrast between an agricultural America far from idyllic and a motorized city whose drudgery for most is at least as bad is redeemed by the awakening of human feelings and re-ordered priorities. Nothing will save these people but love and family.
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