The Crowd

Saw The Crowd, a film from 1928 which is either oddly prescient or timeless. It tells the story of a man who comes to New York, full of optimism and enthusiasm (you can see where this is going.) He gets a job adding numbers, meets a pretty woman and quickly marries her. They settle into a miniscule apartment and he plugs away, wishing for a raise which never comes. Finally enraged by the contrast between his dreams his reality, he quits his job and things get worse. The film has a treacly tone, like Thorton Wilder, but without the pathos. The romance is cute, the camaraderie at the job is cute. The hard times later on are sad, but in a Charlie Chaplin-ey cute way. The film plays off of social isolation in the big city, where it's so easy to get lost in the crowd. For a 20s picture this is fairly novel. I believe the loneliness of crowds really became big in the 80s (this is based on hazy recollection. Someone correct me.)

The ending is fairly bleak for a 20s picture. They liked happy endings back then (even more than we do now) and the ending is left ambiguous. You can imagine that the protagonist gets a high-paying job that can use him, if you wish, but then again perhaps he only impressed some guy in a suit. A sweeping pan out from the pair, across an endless theatre of laughing faces, renders the promise of the scene a little anonymous and a bit chilly. Frequently this film veered into 'too real' territory. As someone who will soon be entering a global workforce, I feel full of enthusiasm and promise (but of course, you can see where this is going.)