The Crowd (1928)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

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

Release Date:

18 February 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

New York City | 1900s | Fourth Of July | Marriage | Date

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Eleanor Boardman	...	Mary
James Murray	...	John 'Johnny' Sims
Bert Roach	...	Bert
Estelle Clark	...	Jane
Daniel G. Tomlinson	...	Jim
Dell Henderson	...	Dick
Lucy Beaumont	...	Mary's Mother
Freddie Burke Frederick	...	'Junior' (John Sims Jr.)
Alice Mildred Puter	...	Daughter

Also Known As:

One of the Mob (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:17 (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

King Vidor filmed many scenes in New York City streets using real crowds instead of extras, real buses and trains, and even real traffic cops. In one scene, a police officer is looking toward the camera, admonishing someone to "move along". In fact, he was actually addressing Vidor and his disguised film crew. Vidor cleverly incorporated it into the scene.

Quotes:

Title Card: We do not know how big the crowd is, and what opposition it is... until we get out of step with it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Edge of Outside (2006)

If you watched in your life only one silent movie, this would have to be it

Many movies from the silent age are beautiful to look at but we always feel that they belong to a different age, and it is hard to relate to them. On the other hand this one, although it cannot be said that it is as if it was shot yesterday, is almost incredibly fresh and up-to-date.

This is the story of a perfectly ordinary man with no special talent, who thinks he can succeed and "beat the crowd" and is defeated. Sounds familiar? King Vidor didn't want big stars in this movie, and his concern was to portray the life of ordinary people trapped in their circumstances. We are quite used to this kind of story these days, but at the time it was revolutionary. The shots of everyday New York life were something new (also, this is the first movie in which a toilet appears). Thanks to this commitment to realism, the acting is far more natural than it was usual for the age. James Murray, Eleanor Boardman and Bert Roach are all excellent. The protagonist John is certainly a pathetic creature but in the movie he is invested with tragic dignity.

Most people seem to be particularly taken by the expressionistic scene near the beginning in which the camera examines the city and the crowd and then picks up John in the middle of what seems to be a sea of desks. I myself prefer the ending, in which it seems that John has a shot at achieving success, but such success would be as a writer of pathetic publicity slogans. Then him and Mary dissolve back into the crowd, in the middle of a theater crammed with laughing idiots.