History Film / TheCrowd

* {{Sidekick}}: Subverted. Fat, jolly Bert seems like the prototypical sidekick to handsome protagonist John, but Bert actually works hard at his job and winds up far more successful in life than John does.

-> "The crowd laughs with you always--but it will cry with you only for a day."

''The Crowd'' was recognized as brilliant at the time, earning nominations at the first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward ceremony for Best Director and Unique and Artistic Production (the latter being an alternate Best Picture award that was never given again). The years have not lessened its critical standing. In 1989 it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry. In 1934 Vidor made a sequel, ''Film/OurDailyBread'', with different actors playing John and Mary Sims.

''The Crowd'' was one of the most daring, groundbreaking films made in Hollywood in the 1920s--or ever, possibly. Directed by one of the great filmmakers of the era, Creator/KingVidor, ''The Crowd'' stars James Murray as John Sims, a young man blissfully confident that he'll be a great success when he comes to the big city. The only problem is that he thinks he'll succeed by thinking up corny advertising slogans or finding some big idea rather than actually working hard or applying himself. Eleanor Boardman plays his loving, supportive wife Mary.

->- "The crowd laughs with you always--but it will cry with you only for a day."

'''''The Crowd''''' was one of the most daring, groundbreaking films made in Hollywood in the 1920s--or ever, possibly. Directed by one of the great filmmakers of the era, Creator/KingVidor, ''The Crowd'' stars James Murray as John Sims, a young man blissfully confident that he'll be a great success when he comes to the big city. The only problem is that he thinks he'll succeed by thinking up corny advertising slogans or finding some big idea rather than actually working hard or applying himself. Eleanor Boardman plays his loving, supportive wife Mary.

* CallBack: To the clown.

* BigApplesauce: Inculudes a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ivu5bhZ6jY&feature=related memorable sequence]] when the protagonist first arrives which highlights the film's theme of urban alienation.

* AmericanDream: Flavor 2, big-time. This was extremely unconventional for 1928.

* BittersweetEnding: A HappyEnding at first glance, as John gets a job, reconciles with Mary, and gets a little money when one of his advertising slogans wins a contest. But the bone-chilling final shot reminds us that he is still a nobody.

''The Crowd'' was one of the most daring, groundbreaking films made in Hollywood in the 1920s--or ever, possibly. Directed by one of the great filmmakers of the era, Creator/KingVidor, ''The Crowd'' stars James Murray as John Sims, a young man blissfully confident that he'll be a great success when he comes to the big city. The only problem is that he thinks he'll succeed by thinking up corny advertising slogans or finding some big idea rather than actually working hard or applying himself. Eleanor Boardman plays his loving, supportive wife Mary.

* IronicEcho: While on his first date with Mary, John spies a man juggling balls while dressed as a clown and wearing a sandwich-board advertisement. Laughing and pointing, he says: "The poor sap! And I bet his father thought he would be President!" (In the opening scene, John's father told the doctor attending his birth, "There's a little man the world is going to hear from all right.")
** Doubly ironic, in that John winds up taking the very same juggling job toward the end of the film.

* AmusementPark

* TheEveryman

* InfantImmortality: Don't count on it.

* NiagaraFalls
* NonIronicClown: Not at first.

* TitleDrop

''The Crowd'' was one of the most daring, groundbreaking films made in Hollywood in the 1920s--or ever, possibly. Directed by one of the great filmmakers of the era, King Vidor, ''The Crowd'' stars James Murray as John Sims, a young man blissfully confident that he'll be a great success when he comes to the big city. The only problem is that he thinks he'll succeed by thinking up corny advertising slogans or finding some big idea rather than actually working hard or applying himself. Eleanor Boardman plays his loving, supportive wife Mary.

''The Crowd'' was recognized as brilliant at the time, earning nominations at the first AcademyAward ceremony for Best Director and Unique and Artistic Production (the latter being an alternate Best Picture award that was never given again). The years have not lessened its critical standing. In 1989 it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry. In 1934 Vidor made a sequel, ''Film/OurDailyBread'', with different actors playing John and Mary Sims.

* BigApplesauce

''The Crowd'' was recognized as brilliant at the time, earning nominations at the first AcademyAward ceremony for Best Director and Unique and Artistic Production (the latter being an alternate Best Picture award that was never given again). The years have not lessened its critical standing. In 1989 it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Happily averted. MGM boss Louis B. Mayer hated the movie and tried to impose a happy ending but King Vidor got his way.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Not available on home video since a VHS version was released in the 1990s.

* RealLifeRelative: Eleanor Boardman was married to King Vidor at the time.

* HappilyFailedSuicide

* IronicEcho: While on his first date with Mary, John spies a man juggling balls while dressed in a clown suit and wearing a sandwich-board advertisement. Laughing and pointing, he says: "The poor sap! And I bet his father thought he would be President!" (In the opening scene, John's father told the doctor attending his birth, "There's a little man the world is going to hear from all right.")

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Initially played straight, as a marriage that had descended into angry sniping finds new life after Mary tells John she's pregnant. Later brutally subverted.

* BittersweetEnding: A HappyEnding at first glance, as John gets a job, reconciles with Mary, and gets a little money when one of his advertising slogans wins a contest. But the bone-chilling last shot reminds us that he is still a nobody.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Originally played straight, as a marriage that had descended into angry sniping found new life after Mary tells John she's pregnant. Later subverted.

* ToiletSeatDivorce: At one point John and Mary seem to be headed in this direction, complete with bickering about the broken toilet. (This is in fact the first known appearance of a toilet in an American film. With the imposition of the HaysCode in the 1930s, toilets would disappear from American movies again, not to reappear until 1960 with ''Film/{{Psycho}}'').