| The Crowd Roars | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Howard Hawks |
| Written by | Story: Howard Hawks Screenplay: John Bright Niven Busch Kubec Glasmon Seton I. Miller |
| Starring | James Cagney Joan Blondell |
| Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
| Cinematography | Sidney Hickox John Stumar |
| Editing by | Thomas Pratt |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | April 16, 1932 (US) |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Crowd Roars is a 1932 film directed by Howard Hawks starring James Cagney and featuring Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Eric Linden, Guy Kibbee, and Frank McHugh.
The driver in the film's auto racing sequences was Harry Hartz, a successful board track and Indianapolis 500 race professional.[1]
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Motor racing champion Joe Greer (James Cagney) returns home to compete in an exhibition race featuring his younger brother Eddie, who has aspirations of becoming a champion. Joe's misogynistic obsession with "protecting" Eddie from "women" causes Joe to interfere with Eddie's relationship with Anne (Joan Blondell), leading to estrangement between Joe and Eddie, and between Joe and his longtime girlfriend Lee (Ann Dvorak), who is made to feel "not good enough" to be around Eddie.
During the race, a third driver, Spud Connors, wrecks and is burned alive. Driving lap after lap through the flames and the smell of burning flesh (and maybe past the burning body) while blaming himself for the accident, Joe loses his will to race. Eddie goes on to win. Afterward, Joe's career plummets as Eddie's rises. The power of love eventually triumphs and Joe's career and his relationships with Lee and Eddie are rehabilitated.
Sentimentalism is downplayed in this "pre-Code" film. Joe's attitude seems more rational if the viewer catches the implication that, though they later fall in love and form lasting relationships, Lee and Anne are racing groupies. This is more explicit in Anne's case. The lingering stench of Spud's burning body is implied strongly by the horrified expression on each driver's face as he passes through the smoke and tongue of burning gasoline that marks the wreck site, sometimes pushing his scarf against his nose.
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