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

The first American film to show a toilet.

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Quotes

Title Card: The crowd laughs with you always... but it will cry with you for only a day.

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Connections

Followed by Our Daily Bread (1934)

User Reviews

The Best

This has to be w/ out a doubt my favorite film of all time (althought Metropolis is a very close second). What King Vidor brought to the silver screen when he made this film was pure genius. Few films compare to this one. The Techniques used are way ahead of their time and reminiscent of few directors before him. Not even Griffith could obtain such amazing crowd footage as Vidor did. The story line is one that we can still relate to today, wanting to achieve our dreams but just falling short. Today it's called depression or something of the sort but then in an age of new development it was different. Not being able to achieve greatness wasn't uncommon but it felt that way. And the character in this film is no exception, I truly recommend this film to anyone who doesn't mind a good drama and to anyone who wants to see what life was like in the late 1920's.