The Crowd (1928)
#1. How does the film relate to Chapter 20 in Foner?
-The Crowd relates to Foner Chapter 20 in multiple ways. Money was being spent on leisure time activities, the flapper was born, jobs were lost, and hard to find. Also, public opinion was manipulated, and money/ credit was used a lot on material goods now. Sometime money wasn't easy to come by and some families barely made enough to get by. John and Mary are an example of a couple like this. John had first come to New York with big dreams of a high paying job. He ended up at the bottom and couldn't seem to work his way up the ladder though. John and Mary they dealt with a lot of things that were common during the 1920s. John was unhappy and drank a good amount during the prohibition, so he was smuggling the alcohol. John was also hit on by a Flapper that his friend Bert had hanging out with him.
"Andre Siegfried, a frenchman who had visited the United States four times since the beginning of the century, commented in 1928 that a "new society" had come into being, in which Americans considered their "standard of living" a "scared aquisistion", which they will defend at any price (763)." I feel this quote reflects the relationship John and Mary have, because John isn't making a lot of money they can't afford a lot of things that they want for their kids, and they don't go out often. When John gets a bonus for a jingle he wrote they immediately spent the money on material goods. Near the end when John can't provide too much, he gives his relationship one more go by buying movie tickets to take Mary and their son out which ends up making her stay. Also during the film Bert is able to get higher on the Corporate ladder which brings us a bigger picture into the Upper class. At the time there was a divide between the classes and it was shown in a lot of ways. Bert stays single and because the "Flapper" is born he's able to have relationships that way, he also is the person that has alcohol during the prohibition and is just a free single man at the time.
- #2. Why is this film titled The Crowd ?
In the film The Crowd it shows that life is exactly just that, a crowd. Multiple times in the film we see examples of crowds, New York is packed, the beach is packed, the office is always packed, when you're doing anything someone is always by you looking over your shoulder crowding you.During this time period cities were being overwhelmed by people looking for work, looking to relax at the beach, movies, tour busses. When John and Mary first meet they take a tour bus around the city and there are crowds of people walking everywhere. When John's father dies there are people crowding downstairs in the house waiting to hear the news and to give their sympathies. When John and Mary have Mary's Mother and brother's over for Christmas they crowd him and give him troble for his lack of money, and he doesn't come back to be that crowd. At work the offices don't give much space for anything. There's a bathroom scene where everyone is in there and they all walk by and have something to say to John, it's like he doesn't have any privacy. When their daughter is hit by a car everyone is crowding around her and there's barely any room. Naming this film The Crowd shows just how little space people were given at the time, you were always a part of one crowd, based on class, job, home anything you were never alone and always crowded.
- #3. Are John and Mary exemplary examples of the American Dream?
I feel that John and Mary are an attempt at the American Dream. John didn't realize how hard he was going to have to work at the American Dream. He was raised by his father to think that he was special and he would be able to do anything. While that's not a bad way to raise your child his dad died before the Depression hit, and it was harder to make a name for yourself. When John and Mary get married, they go on their honeymoon and they plan out their lives together. That plan doesn't end up happening, because it's hard for John to move up in the company, he doesn't ask for a raise, and he's barely making ends meet. Mary's mother and brothers don't approve of John and they want her to move out form living with him. While they were happy on and off together they also had two children, until one day they lost their daughter. So they had a dark cloud looming over them, then John gets upset at work because of how he's being treated and he quits. Then he's unemployed and trying to live this American Dream. He isn't making any money and he fights with Mary a lot and they just aren't happy. Mary doesn't want to leave John but she tries to leave with their son anyway. While she was getting ready to leave we see how John found a job. The movie bring it full circle because John is working as the clown he made fun of during their bus ride when they were going around the city. We see John and Mary give it their best attempt to be part of the middle class/ high class during this time trying to live the American Dream. Although in the end we see that they learn all they need is each other and whatever income they can get to be happy.
- #4. Connect the bus ride John and Mary take at the beginning of the film where John looks down on people and talks about “the poor boobs” and the “poor sap. I bet his father thought he would be President” to the last scenes in the film.
This is an example of everything coming "full circle" from the start of the movie to the end of the movie. At the end it's seen that John is just like the guy he's talks about and how his dad probably thought he was going to be president or achieve great things. John goes through a lot and it turns out the juggle job of a clown is the only place he's able to get a good stable job and make money. He essentially becomes "the poor boobs" that he's mocking and making fun of at the start of the movie. Before his dad died he too thought John was going to be something big and he ended up barely making a living and passing by in life. John was lucky that by the end of the film that job afforded him movie tickets and another chance to make things work with Mary even though she was really close to leaving him.
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