The Crowd (1928)

The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles and downfalls.

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

King Vidor (screenplay), John V.A. Weaver (screenplay),

Stars:

Eleanor Boardman, James Murray, Bert Roach

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Eleanor Boardman	...	Mary
James Murray	...	John
Bert Roach	...	Bert
Estelle Clark	...	Jane
Daniel G. Tomlinson	...	Jim
Dell Henderson	...	Dick
Lucy Beaumont	...	Mary's Mother
Freddie Burke Frederick	...	Junior
Alice Mildred Puter	...	Daughter

Storyline

Born on the fourth of July, 1900, the future holds unlimited potential for newborn John Sims. But dreams soon fade with the death of his father when John is but a lad. Like many before him, John sets out to make his mark in New York City, but ends up a faceless worker (#137) in a large office of a large business. Still he is happy with his fate and soon meets a young woman named Mary on a blind double date. Things take their course and they soon marry and live in a small apartment. Soon John is bickering with Mary and finds that he has no love for the in-laws. When the marriage looks like a bust, he finds that Mary is with child and he stays. After 5 years, he has a son and a daughter and the same dead end job. When tragedy strikes, John must find the conviction to continue or lose what little he has left.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | 1900s | tragedy | date | fourth of july | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

3 March 1928 (USA)

Also Known As:

One of the Mob

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 98 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1989, this was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

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Quotes

John 'Johnny' Sims: Marriage is not a word, it's a *sentence*!

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Connections

Referenced in Bicycle Thieves (1948)

User Reviews

One of the greatest of all American films.

"The Crowd" is King Vidor's experimental triumph, a snapshot of the common man that perfectly captured not only the exhilarating whir and unbridled optimism of the Roaring Twenties but also the cruel realities of life without a social safety net. Vidor conned his studio bosses into letting him make this little movie, with a comparatively small budget, in exchange for Vidor's future commitments to commercial, big-budget pictures that were MGM's bread and butter.

Vidor cast his wife, the beautiful Eleanor Boardman, as the plain Jane female lead Mary. Reports say Boardman was nonplussed at having to look so ordinary on screen, especially since she was the prototypical movie star -- snooty and obsessed with clothes and all issues of personal style.

For the hero, John, Vidor literally picked a face from "the crowd" -- a little-known actor named James Murray whose own life and ultimate fate eerily mirrored those of the character he played. A few years after "The Crowd," the troubled Murray was a suicide, jumping to his drowning death. While his character in the film doesn't kill himself, he does come awfully close -- his suicidal impulse to jump from a railroad trestle is aborted only for the love of an adoring son.

I would love this movie if for no other reason than the gorgeous tracking shot up the side of the skyscraper at the beginning, where we meet John at work, a faceless functionary at a giant, depersonalized corporation that seems to be model for modern corporate America.

This movie is worth seeing, even with the happy ending Vidor chose from seven he shot. Actually, I kind of like the ending -- John, Mary and son fade back into "the crowd"; it seems like the most logical and happiest fate they could hope to attain.

This is truly a great film.