Four-Star Films : ‘Sunrise’

F.W. Murnau’s sublime 1927 film poem of love and death in the American countryside, centering on a trip to a big city. Shot in an American studio (Fox), directed and written by expatriates Murnau and Carl Mayer, it’s an astonishing outgrowth of the whole ‘20s tradition of German film Expressionism. The sets are impossibly vast, the acting (Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien, pictured) dance-like, the plot (the country couple menaced by a city temptress) fable-like (AMC Monday at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday at 10:30 p.m.).

Other four-star films airing this week:

Easy Rider / TMC, early Monday, 12:55 a.m.

Patton / TMC, Monday, 4:20 p.m., Friday, 6:45 a.m.

In Cold Blood / TMC, Monday, 10:45 p.m., Friday, 4:25 p.m.

Laura / AMC, Wednesday, 8 a.m.

Little Women / Cinemax, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

Ride the High Country / TNT, Thursday, 1 p.m.