Years before they moved to Hollywood, four young German filmmakers—later noir masters Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer, and future Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Fred Zinneman—collaborated for People on Sunday an effervescent, sunlit silent about city dwellers enjoying a weekend outing in Weimar-era Berlin. Combining documentary footage with dramatic storytelling, this experimental film became a mainstream hit, presaging both Italian neorealism and the French New Wave.
The movie is introduced by Noah Isenberg, George Christian Centennial Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film, University of Texas at Austin, and Editor of Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era.