The Crowd Roars is a 1932 film directed by Howard Hawks.
It's a movie about race car drivers, starring James Cagney as Joe Greer, champion race car driver. As the film begins he's coming home in triumph after winning the Indianapolis 500. He has a lovely girlfriend, Lee (Ann Dvorak), but he refuses to marry Lee, or to introduce her to his family. Apparently the reason is because Lee puts out for him and Joe the hypocrite regards his girlfriend as too slutty to introduce to his father and brother.
So Lee is not around when Joe pays his first visit in several years to his father and his younger brother Eddie. Joe is surprised to discover that Eddie, who is barely of age, has built his own car and has been winning local races. Joe initially tries to discourage Eddie from joining him in auto racing, but eventually caves and hires Eddie as a member of his team. Having Eddie around, living in his house, makes Joe decide to break up with Lee. A hurt, grieving Lee lashes out by encouraging her friend Anne (Joan Blondell) to seduce Eddie, to show Joe that his little brother isn't so morally pure. Joe grossly overreacts to this, which eventually leads to tragedy.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: An understated case, in that it doesn't directly affect his actions. But Joe is shown to take a drink before a race (and even carries the flask in his car!). He is also drunk when he comes back home for the nasty confrontation with Eddie after he finds out about Eddie's relationship with Anne. Later, after he has been brought low and become a hobo, he stops drinking.
- As You Know: The movie lets us know that Joe's train is pulling into his home town by having his partner Spud say "Getting near your old home town, eh Joe?"
- Beard of Sorrow: Spud's death in an accident Joe caused sends him into a spiral of despair. His racing career goes down the drain and he's left a hobo riding the rails. When he comes back to Indianapolis looking for work, he is dirty and unshaven.
- Big Game: The Indianapolis 500, even if no one actually calls it that. When Eddie is injured and can't finish, Joe jumps in as his relief driver, and together they win the race.
- The Cameo: Many real race car drivers appear as themselves towards the end of the film, when Joe comes to the Indianapolis 500, looking for a job in a pit crew.
- Creative Closing Credits: The opening title is played over the sound of car engines, and there's some stock footage of an auto race, and a crash, then the opening credits. Usually, Warner Brothers films of this era played Video Credits with musical accompaniment as the opening, not an action scene.
- Fatal Family Photo: It isn't a photo, but it's the same principle when Spud is shown putting his young son's baby booties in his car before a race, for good luck. Sure enough, in the next race, Spud takes off without the booties and is killed.
- Hit Me, Dammit!: Lee gets hysterical after Joe breaks up with her, slapping him across the face. Then she begs forgiveness as he stalks out the door, saying "Joe, you can hit me! Joe, please!"
- Hypocrite:
- Joe tries to discourage Eddie from becoming a race car driver, noting that it's dangerous and the pay is not very good and it's not conducive to having a family. Eddie makes the obvious comeback, asking Joe why he does it, and soon after Joe gives up.
- A darker example in Joe's really terrible treatment of his girlfriend Lee. She has been willing to have sex with him before they get married. Joe's pretty happy about the sex, but he's ashamed of his girlfriend, refusing to marry Lee or let her meet his family. It gets worse when Eddie moves out to Los Angeles to live with him and Joe dumps Lee.
- Leg Focus: Anne kicks up her legs and puts her feet on a table, which shows off her lovely calves, which Eddie can't help but gawk at. Joe does the same thing when he walks in. Then Joe starts acting like a judgmental asshole and slaps Anne's legs off the table when he throws a fit about Anne letting Eddie into the apartment and giving him a drink.
- Love Martyr: Lee for Joe. She's been content to stay at home and basically be his booty call. When he dumps her rather than introduce her to his brother, she slaps him, but then begs forgiveness and says that he can slap her. He treats her like crap, but when he goes away after the fatal accident, she is desperate to find him, and tells Anne that she'll support him no matter how he treats her. (Luckily the accident was Joe's Heel Realization moment.)Lee: Even if he doesn't need me, I need him.
- No Name Given: The big auto race at the end is in Indianapolis, and racers race for 500 miles. But at no time is it called the "Indianapolis 500."
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: Lee is hurt and angry after Joe the hypocrite breaks up with her. She sics her sexy friend Anne on Eddie, asking Anne to seduce Eddie to show Joe that his little brother isn't such a morally pure snowflake. Naturally, Anne falls in love with Eddie and they get married.
- Stock Footage: Stock footage of an auto crash over the opening credits, and some more stock footage of races and crowds in other action scenes.
- Title Drop: Joe tries to discourage Eddie from becoming a driver, saying "We can't take the roar of the crowd to the bank and cash in on it."
