GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

sbasu-47-608737 A very surprisingly mature treatment of a subject at that age, when not many have really attempted such maturity, at least in Hollywood (there were of course Euro movies, delving in different serious aspects). In Hollywood, even when some attempts were made, the main focus was lost, trying to cater the masses (e.g. Way Down East). But this movie doesn't lose the focus, till the end. The subject here is the treatment of Human Ego. Every person deep inside, considers himself/ herself to be special, and hence not really a part of the mass, but one who destined to rise to the cream. Many times, this belief is strengthened by their parents/ other really caring persons, which might have a disastrous effect, when the speciality of the person isn't too far away from the statistical 'Average' The movie chronicles of one of such person, who could luckily get a girl, Mary, who wasn't average in real sense, but she wasn't something of fantasy either, these loving and motherly women, ready to forgive the husbands errant ways, not due to belief, but only for love/ care (he would be lost without me - indicates both the aspects). The ending might be confusing, it has confused a few of the reviewers too, but it isn't depressing or even confusing. It is the acceptance of the facts, that We are after all a part of the crowd. Still we have our specialities (Juggling, Advertisement catch-words), through we can stand a bit away from it. But for that we have to accept that we are not so different from the mass, that we can make our own path, and then make the stream follow us. In fact on this aspect, the movie not only ends in a happy, but in a positive note too. There are a few points - which might have been missed, the transformation of the hero, from one living in his fools paradise, to real life, comes when his son, (the second one with unconditional love, along with Mary, his wife), and the only one still with full faith on him, declares "When I grow Up, I want to be like you" , and then he has to prove himself to be worth of that faith, even if it meant starting from the bottom. He had his talents, and that gets him start. The second was the support of his wife, who proudly shows the neighbour in the theater, her husband's creation, and the man seems to be suitably impressed. Both of these hints on the probable 'creaming' of the hero. Though, alas, the Great Depression was just moments way, and in real life, he would have been crushed, being at the bottom rungs. A positive movie need not end with the hero made overnight millionaire or sensation. It is the note at the ending, which gives the viewer the faith that he has moved into right path.Director, King Vidor, has quite a few brilliant movies in his portfolio, and this one could rank near the top of them,As a foot-note, he (Director) seems to have been really in love with his wife, Eleanor, the heroine in the movie. The close-ups, or the poses in the honeymoon sequence and even later (e.g. picnic) really brought out her delicate beauty, as well as her acting prowess. I wonder what went wrong within a few years after this.

gavin6942 The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles and downfalls.This is one of those must-see films, ending up on a number of lists and preserved by the Library of Congress. This is how I ended up seeing it, as the Library's films ended up on one of my personal lists.The film mixes striking visual styles and moving camera cinematography – as well as hidden cameras in some of the New York City scenes, and subtle use of scale models and dissolves – influenced by 1920s German cinema and F.W. Murnau in particular. Unfortunately, although I admire the technique and the inclusion of a toiler, Murnau remains the superior director. Vidor is just an American imitator.

evanston_dad I had wanted to see "The Crowd," King Vidor's silent classic about navigating the anonymity of big-city American life, forever, but couldn't ever find it. It finally aired again on TCM and I got a chance to see it for myself. What a marvelous film, a perfect example of a silent film director knowing how to use a purely visual medium for utmost impact.I've seen people debating the ending and whether it's happy or not. Apparently Vidor picked it out of six or so other options under pressure from the studio to end the film happily. But I think this was a case of a director subversively appearing to accommodate the demands of a studio while sticking to his guns. I personally did not feel like the ending of "The Crowd" was happy. Sure, we see the protagonist and his wife and surviving child laughing happily with others in a movie theater, but was I the only one who found the rows and rows of patrons, mechanically bobbing up and down like automatons, slightly disturbing?"The Crowd" received two Academy Award nominations in the institution's debut year: Unique and Artistic Picture and Best Director (Dramatic Picture). The first award went to "Sunrise" (can't argue with that) while the second went to Frank Borzage (which I can).Grade: A

Roger Burke By the time King Vidor came to direct The Crowd, he'd cast his wife, Eleanor Boardman, in maybe a dozen of his previous movies. Moreover, after The Crowd, he never cast Boardman again in any production (they divorced in 1935). So this remarkable movie is thus even more so for those reasons.And truly remarkable, this movie is: a grim story of the ultimate banality of 20th century city life for a young couple, John and Mary Sims (Murray and Boardman); and yet, ironically, produced at the zenith of the 1920s excesses, just prior to the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s. Frankly, King Vidor couldn't have timed its release better, in my opinion, (it's like if some famous director, in 1999 or 2000, had released a terrorist attack movie on New York's Empire State Building or some other major land mark) with such a contemporary indictment of modern capitalism. So there's John Sims, always with a burning desire to Be Somebody. As a young man, he leaves home to make it big in New York, that go- getter, capitalist Mecca of the 1920s, with over seven million residents - all competing for space, jobs, money and ... sex. And maybe marriage, also, if only a guy could just meet the 'right' girl, yeah!He's lucky, he thinks. He's persuaded to go on a blind date with a work buddy and - bingo! - he hits it off with Mary, a gorgeous brunette with a terrific smile. Next thing we know, they're married. Few years later, they've got two kids - boy and girl, of course - a house, picnics on the beach, a few family spats here and there, but also the beginnings of The Good Life, The American Dream. And his job - as an accountant (well, just a lowly clerk, is all) in an office that looks like a giant human assembly line of piles of paper. He's at Position #137, day in, day out, rain or shine, scenes that are reminiscent of Fritz Lang's crowds of worker scenes in Metropolis (1927).Mary does her best at home, he does likewise at the office. Gradually, amid personal tragedy - their little daughter is killed by a truck - and continual frustrations about his lack of progress, John finally realizes he's not a Big Shot, and probably never will be - only ever to be a member of the amorphous crowd that's already causing major traffic problems. Problem is, Mary also finally realizes John's a loser, with a devastating result for him: she says she's leaving him. Tearfully, though, John pleads with her to come see a show with him, holding up the tickets, already purchased. Eventually, she agrees, and with the son, all three wind up at the local vaudeville show, and as the camera slowly pulls back from their happy faces, we see them laughing along with the gigantic crowd in the dark theater, and now, all captive to the consumer society.... Fade to black, The End.It's a well produced story and movie, with finely orchestrated crowd and city scenes, a well paced plot - just right at 98 minutes - excellent photography, editing and directing and probably one of the few silent movies that ends with a cliff-hanger: will Mary still leave John when the show finishes? Perhaps Vidor made a sequel, but I don't know.One could argue that Vidor was too heavy-handed with the story being excessively negative about the shortcomings of burgeoning modernity. Depends where you were, socially and economically, at that time, I guess. Modern society in the 21st century has generated more wealth for sure; there are still obvious problems, however. Which therefore makes this movie timeless and thus well worth your time to see it - even if you do shy away from silent movies.Recommended for all. Give it seven out of ten. May 23, 2016