THE CROWD
starring Eleanor Boardman and James Murray
PHOTOPLAY
December, 1927
Here you have Life. Life as it is lived by millions in New York and other big cities where the crowd walks, pushes, tramples each individual member.
A tremendous production; a powerful story of a man who was born to be "something big" but has a furious fight for mere existence.
Cocky, self-confident, blind to his own failures, James Murray, as John Sims, holds the love and the sympathy of his audience form beginning to end just as he holds the sympathy and love of his frail, self-sacrificing wife, Eleanor Boardman.
You have lived the same experiences as this simple, devoted couple.
You have suffered and struggled, laughed and rejoiced, worried and fretted in the same manner.
No picture is perfect, but this comes as near to reproducing reality as anything you have ever witnessed. Yet is loses note of the suspense and thrills of a great picture because it is a real-life story.
The photography is splendid, the titles are as heart-yearning as the picture.
James Murray makes his initial bow to the public in a manner that will not be forgotten, while Eleanor Boardman is nearly perfect.
Take several handkerchiefs, because you will cry with laugher and weep with sympathy while viewing this unusual King Vidor production.
Don't miss it.
THE CROWD
starring Eleanor Boardman and James Murray
SCREENLAND
May, 1928
This isn't just a picture. It's an experience. I don't know whether you'll like it or not. It isn't the rousing entertainment that "The Big parade" was. I'm not sure that it's entertainment at all. But King Vidor has done it again, whether you like it nor not. "The Crowd" is his own idea. It is probably more nearly a complete artistic expression of this young director than any other picture. It's naïve at times; it is curiously amateurish at others, but there are moments of such great power and understanding that you're willing to swear it's great.
You'll see yourself and your next-door neighbor in "The Crowd" and you know how much fun that is. The Boy and the Girl are too much like you and me to make it entirely pleasant to sit through eight reels or so of their trials and troubles. It's an experience, nevertheless, that mustn't be missed. The Boy's father was sure he'd be president some day. Instead, he gets a job as a clerk, goes to Coney Island, meets a girl, marries her, becomes a father twice, loses his job, and has a hard time landing another. That's all there is to it yes, that's all. But it is more than enough for Mr. Vidor. You can take his picture anyway you want to. According to a subtitle, once you lose step with the Crowed, it goes hard with you until you get back into step again. According to an advertisement for the picture, you've got to rise above the Crowd if you want to get anywhere. Maybe Mr. Vidor would be content to call it the epic of Everyman and his Wife, and let it go at that. At times "The Crowd" out-stroheims Mr. Von in its realism. There's a Sennett touch in some of the comedy. It begins to look as if Mr. Vidor is all of the 'big' directors rolled into one. At any rate, he does wonders with his actors. James Murray is amazingly good s the Boy. Eleanor Boardman is even better as the wife. I don't now any other actress who could have played this part. Submerging her delicate beauty, Miss Boardman achieved a portrait of a middle class lady that she should be proud of. This girl should be starred. If her husband is a composite of all directors, she's all actresses in one small package. Some girls can play wives, some can play mothers, while others excel as sweeties. Eleanor can play 'em all. Darned clever, these Vidors!
For more information, see "The Crowd" as our "Feature of the Month"