The Crowd
Encyclopedia
The Crowd is a 1928 American silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 directed by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...

. It is notable for its dramatization of the concerns and dangers of urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....

 and modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...

.

The picture is an influential and acclaimed feature and was nominated for the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production.

In 1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...

 by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

The film centers on ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker John Sims (played by James Murray
James Murray (actor)
James Murray was an American movie actor.-Background:Born in The Bronx, New York, James Murray went to Hollywood in the 1920s to try to succeed as an actor. After several years of work, mostly as an extra, with little hope of a starring role, he was "discovered" by director King Vidor, who saw...

) who meets and marries Mary (Eleanor Boardman
Eleanor Boardman
Eleanor Boardman was an American film actress, popular during the era of silent movies.-Early life and career:...

).

They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.

Production

The Crowd was conceived and filmed under the artistic vision of famed director King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...

, who sought the film to be innovative in its story, acting, and cinematography. The film mixes striking visual styles and moving camera cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

, influenced by 1920s German cinema and F.W. Murnau in particular, with intense, intimate scenes of the family's poignant struggle. Vidor avoided casting big-name stars in the film to attain greater authenticity; Murray was a studio extra, and Boardman was a minor actress and Vidor's second wife.

Vidor's great financial success at MGM in the 1920s allowed him to sell the unusual scenario to production head Irving Thalberg
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...

 as an experimental film. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...

 reportedly disliked the film for its bleak subject matter and lack of a happy ending. In fact, several alternate upbeat endings were filmed and previewed at the studio's insistence, but Vidor persevered and the film was released with the original, logical conclusion.

Critical reception and influence

The Crowd was not a great success upon its initial release, but it has been consistently hailed as one of the greatest and most enduring American silent films. The Crowd was a remarkably groundbreaking film, but it was released just as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and the arrival of sound films combined to radically change filmmaking. Due to the limitations imposed by early sound filming techniques, the film's moving camera innovations would not be equaled for another decade. Likewise, Depression-era audiences sought escapist entertainment over the stark realism of The Crowd, which filmmakers would not embrace again until after the end of World War II. Director Jean Luc Godard was asked in the 1960s why more films were not made about ordinary people, and his response was "Why remake The Crowd? It has already been done".

Vidor used the John and Mary Sims characters again (with different actors) in his 1934 film Our Daily Bread
Our Daily Bread (1934 film)
Our Daily Bread is a 1934 film directed by King Vidor and starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene, and John Qualen. Vidor tried to interest Irving Thalberg of MGM in the project, but Thalberg rejected the idea...

. He also provided an insightful interview on the making of the film in a segment of the 1980 documentary Hollywood
Hollywood (documentary)
Hollywood is a 1980 documentary series produced by Thames Television which explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture....

by Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...

 and David Gill. Vidor wrote an unrealized screenplay based on the tragic life of The Crowd lead actor James Murray
James Murray (actor)
James Murray was an American movie actor.-Background:Born in The Bronx, New York, James Murray went to Hollywood in the 1920s to try to succeed as an actor. After several years of work, mostly as an extra, with little hope of a starring role, he was "discovered" by director King Vidor, who saw...

, who fell on hard times eerily similar to those of the character for which he is remembered.

The film also inspired some of the story and scenes from acclaimed Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu
was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...

 in his film, Tokyo Chorus
Tokyo Chorus
was a 1931 silent movie produced by Shochiku Company, directed by acclaimed and influential Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu and starring Tokihiko Okada and Emiko Yagumo. It was based on various stories in the Shoshimin-gai series and also shares influences with King Vidor's The Crowd...

.

The shot in Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

's The Apartment
The Apartment
The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder's follow-up to the enormously popular Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, was a commercial and critical hit, grossing $25...

, when the camera swoops in to show Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

 trapped in a horde of desk jockeys, is taken from a similar shot in The Crowd.

Availability

The Crowd was released on VHS as part of the MGM Silent Classics series in the 1980s, and can still be found for sale on the internet. Warner Bros. currently holds distribution rights to all of MGM's silent films, including The Crowd. It is currently not available on DVD. The Crowd had been shown a couple of times on TCM during their Silent Sunday Nights in 2009.

Cast

  • Eleanor Boardman
    Eleanor Boardman
    Eleanor Boardman was an American film actress, popular during the era of silent movies.-Early life and career:...

     as Mary
  • James Murray
    James Murray (actor)
    James Murray was an American movie actor.-Background:Born in The Bronx, New York, James Murray went to Hollywood in the 1920s to try to succeed as an actor. After several years of work, mostly as an extra, with little hope of a starring role, he was "discovered" by director King Vidor, who saw...

     as John 'Johnny' Sims
  • Bert Roach
    Bert Roach
    Bert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...

     as Bert
  • Estelle Clark as Jane
  • Daniel G. Tomlinson as Jim
  • Dell Henderson
    Dell Henderson
    George Delbert Henderson was a Canadian actor, director and writer in films from the early silent days.-Biography:Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer D.W. Griffith and, on a less prolific basis, Mack Sennett...

     as Dick
  • Lucy Beaumont
    Lucy Beaumont
    Lucy Beaumont was an English actress of the stage and screen from Bristol, England. She was the daughter of Sir Albert and Helen Coles. She was educated at a young ladies' college in Bath, England....

     as Mary's Mother
  • Freddie Burke Frederick as 'Junior'
  • Alice Mildred Puter as Daughter

Awards

Nominations
  • Academy Awards
    Academy Awards
    An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

    :

-Best Director, Dramatic Picture, (King Vidor)

-Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production

Other distinguishments
  • 1989- National Film Registry
    National Film Registry
    The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...


Soundtrack

Composer Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....

 created an orchestral score for the film in 1981, and it was released on video in conjunction with MGM and British television Thames Silents
Thames Silents
Thames Silents is a series of releases of films from the silent era produced by the British ITV contractor Thames Television...

series in the late 1980s.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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