Master German expressionist F.W. Murnau had already sealed his place in film history in his native industry with his seminal interpretations of "Nosferatu" and "Faust" when Hollywood came calling. William Fox himself commissioned Murnau to bring his singularly stylized sensibility to this poetic romantic melodrama of love taken for granted and finally regained, and the result was unlike anything the industry had seen before. Arguably Hollywood's first arthouse film, it won the Oscar for "Best Unique and Artistic Production" (then deemed equal to Best Picture) and hasn't lost any of its stature over the years, placing fifth in Sight & Sound's Greatest Films of All Time poll last year.