The Crowd

Vidor definitely pulls off some great shots, making excellent use of space and perspective, and utilizing a few techniques that were ahead of their time. Other than that, however, it's just a simplistic, unsurprising tale of a schlub trying to make it in the big city. The schlub is not a particularly likeable guy, either. He's whiny and impulsive and kind of a jerk. The film is moving, but only on the most basic level. There are a couple of poetic moments, but that's it.

A disappointment that I will nevertheless mildly recommend, for some nice visual ideas and, particularly, for its premise. I see the potential for a masterpiece, had it managed more successfully to tell its moving tale of the compromises of an individual, his ambitions trampled by adversity and calamity in an uncaring society, but Vidor never scratches deeper than the surface level. The acting holds up reasonably well. One of the very rare cases of a movie where I'd actually welcome a remake.

Brilliant example of silent filmmaking at its best. Vidor ropes us in early with 12 year-old John reacting to his father's death in a beautiful, expressive shot down a stairwell. Vidor makes great use of the visual medium throughout, allowing his actors to emote and regularly attaining to poetic levels. The chief among those moments comes during a tragic scene near the end, with John facing against a large crowd of people. Not quite to the level of Murnau's Sunrise, but a wonderful film.

Holy shit, that final shot.

the pacing is kind of awkward, but every once in a while king vidor provides us with a really great shot. the story here is good enough to keep your attention. i'm appreciative of silent films, but this one would have fit in much better a couple years later as a talkie, provided vidor stepped up the camera work, then it would have been utterly fantastic.

Timeless. I doubt that I've ever met a single other human being who couldn't relate to this movie in some way. Everything about this film beautifully done. Easily my favorite silent era film. I only wish that a decent print was available on DVD so that I could watch this masterpiece more often.

It's a very simple story, but I think that for the most part it works very well. John Sims isn't particularly likeable, but I could still sympathize with his struggles. The cinematography is excellent, and it helps make The Crowd a very memorable film.

While not a story I particularly enjoyed - since the story is simply about unexceptional people and normal life (my life has enough "normal" in it) - the film was insightful and beautiful enough to be worth it. I was impressed that - though flawed - they made humble choices at times for the sake of their relationship. I rarely see humility in Hollywood romance, especially in a relationship that takes work (as all do). On the other hand, in real life a pregnancy does not completely fix things.

Wow. This amazing film could have been made last year, it hasn't aged a bit. The story has been told many times since this 1928 release, but I doubt it has been done better. Perhaps, with all due respect to Sunrise, the best silent movie ever made.

The biggest disadvantage of The Crowd is that we've been over-saturated with 'relationships falling apart' stories by now, and this one is both predictable and has an unsympathetic lead who's impulsive and feels entitled. The movie isn't bad though, just dated story-wise. That said, I liked the somewhat cynical tone, and there are some amazing crowd (ha!) scenes, almost dystopian-feeling sets (especially the hospital and workplace) and great tracking shots.

Painstakingly directed despite some minor photographic errors (here and there is an over-sized frame or a reverse-shot that should have been over-shoulder, and such), but the script is very stale.

It really doesn't pick up until tragedy strikes the family, and even then John annoys the living crap out of me. It's a good movie, but no masterpiece.

Playfully inventive exploration of American unique-snowflake ideology via critique of the everyman archetype. Bogged down by relationship melodrama only occasionally. Surprisingly nuanced acting for the silent era. Beautifully cinematic final shot.

An excellent silent film about a man who desperately wants to stand out from the crowd but just can't get ahead in life. Murray is great both in the film's lighter moments and its heavier ones and the script holds little back in its harsh view of life in the 20's. The ending feels a little forced but it works and the closing shot is great.

Movie 3000. It's pretty amazing. The last shot - an eerie reflection of the audience, because this is all of our lives - is really something.

# 150

While a standout of its era for its camerawork and editing, I can't take its narrative seriously since it's the usual overblown melodrama about alienation in modern society that has never not been pretentious and rote even within this time period. I also wasn't too big on other filmmaking decisions, such as how cacophonous the music choices were or the laughable characterization of its lead.

178

Some exciting photographic ideas, and some attempt to perhaps a little naively use the medium in a broadly expressive way. An effective portrayal of ideas, but a little timid, and a little tame, and a little colourless in the end.

"The world can't stop because your baby's sick." Sums up not only this film but the damage capitalism has done to us as humans. How Vidor can make this and Our Daily Bread and then make that absolute dreck that is the Fountainhead is beyond me.I know there's a strong relation between Sims in this and Roark in Fountainhead except one is dealt with in the correct way [although I'm sure if Rand wasn't so involved with Fountainhead production it could and would've been much different

Certainly endowed with the technically and symbolically impressive shots that always won Vidor the respect, however begrudging, of even the least Hollywood-friendly critics. But what lays between them? A long, long go at "universal melodrama" à la Griffith that spends about two thirds of the time bogged down in tepid comic relief. As in, say Sunrise, the point is more the succession of emotions than what occasions them; I just can't find it emotionally engaging in the way it wants me to.

Don't know why it has that title though.

When John was twenty-one he became one of seven million that believe New York depends on them (il a décédé de rejoindre les 7 millions de personnes qui pensent que NY n'attend qu'eux* - he must feel he's special. *Alone only in misfortune

88.00

Feels underdeveloped in both its main themes. The romance comes up and falls apart too easy and the system, the protagonist is trying too succeed in, has not enough clarifying scenes either. You could easily think that John Sims is just an douche. But still, it was pretty captivating and the humor in the first act was memorable.

A middle-class melodrama that has life, death, and everything in between. John doesn't make a particularly sympathetic character, but there's a lot in the movie that was likely relatable to the audience of the day (and some parts still resonate today). There are quite a few great camera shots (the stairwell, the work desks, the hospital, and, of course, the crowds and traffic).

quite melodramatic with a seriously over-the-top soundtrack, but it's a very nice film about unrealised dreams, ending up an indistinguishable spot amongst the mass of mediocrity that is humanity. the film never stops reminding you of this, with the final scene zooming out from the protagonists' sort-of happy ending to a large audience, most of which probably have experienced the same ordinary life as them. not the most wildly unique direction ever but still a very good film.

Ridiculously dated. The dialogue is really awful and they should've waited a few years for the development of sound because there are so many damn intertitles that it really takes you out of the movie. The ending is pretty forced and so Hollywood that it made me cringe.

The joys and sorrows of life from one in a many.

202

The camerawork's remarkable:traffic from above through an open window mirroring the scene,providing a somewhat surrealistically doubled image; a 12-year old slowly climbing the stairs of life's inevitabilities with the pressure of crowd present but it itself absent;the famous up-in-the-skies-and-inside- scene: shots full of depth&movement.Though the story today often seems naive,a mature tone is achieved visually: pictures of individuals bound together but essentially insignificant to each other

The crowd laughs with you. Overrated, perhaps because of its realism, and its effects scene with the building and the infinite office thing. Melodrama is a bit tiresome in places, but a good movie overall.

A beautifully made, simple story focusing on how the world (and life) can chew up a relatively average person as they get lost in the crowd. I'm not sure the ending really fit--the message of it is clear, but I wonder if it would have been a more powerful film overall and more true to its message if it didn't have to go for the happy ending. (I wonder if that was studio meddling.) Has both tragedy and a surprisingly amount of comedy, especially in the earlier portions. A good but flawed film.

#217

Mixed feelings. Since I'm too lazy and uncreative to write my own review, I will just point to Icarus' review for the pros and to FitFortDanga's for the cons. Good movie, but not the masterpiece it's hailed as.

The fucking precipice.