As the roaring twenties were racing forward toward the crash of 1929, movies reflected that recklessness; comedy and whirlwind action was the order of the day, while ever fewer films attempted to depict with authenticity the real world.  The Crowd (1928) is the grand exception to Tinseltown’s addiction to the increasing escapism of the era.

King Vidor’s film is the rare example of a filmmaker taking a stand in the industry, showing by example to his peers that even the most mundane of situations, if staged and enacted with the passion of absolute conviction, can be as dramatic as any artificial melodrama.

The story is simplicity itself: a young man with ambition (James Murray) meets and marries a nice young woman (Eleanor Boardman), raises a family and tries to get ahead in the world, ahead of “the crowd.”  He never realizes his dreams, discovering that “the crowd” has passed him by.

Strikingly photographed and meticulously directed, the film tells its universal story simply and honestly.  Neither of the leads was a star; in fact, James Murray was an extra pulled from obscurity by Vidor for this movie.  Even so, he and Eleanor Boardman — Mrs. King Vidor at the time — are superb.  I haven’t seen very many silent movies, but I’ve never seen more sensitive, realistic performances than these in any silent film.  Sadly, James Murray rather rapidly returned to obscurity — and a tragic end.  Eight years later, at the age of 35, he drowned in the Hudson River, quite possibly a suicide.

Few films have ever captured the vital, heartbreaking essence of modern life as well as The Crowd.  It must rank with The Grapes of Wrath, It’s a Wonderful Life, To Kill a Mockingbird and Citizen Kane as masterpieces that convey an inescapable understanding of human existence to which we can all collectively relate.

My rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.  (10:3).