The Crowd Roars

The Crowd Roars (1932)

Runtime: 70 minutes (at least that's the version available on disc and shown on TCM; apparently there's an 85 minute version but who knows how that could be seen, if it's even possible to see now)

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Starring: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Eric Linden, Guy Kibbee

From: Warner Bros.

I watched this random movie yesterday. It's not a must-see and yet it was still fine. I talk about it below: 

This is a film I watched on TCM early yesterday evening. The cast and plot did intrigue me so I decided to give it a lap around the track, metaphorically speaking.

James Cagney is famous racecar driver Joe Greer. He returns to his hometown for an exhibition race, where he discovers that his younger brother Eddie (Eric Linden) has also entered the profession; Joe is not happy due to how dangerous racing a car is... understandable, as they are far different from any sort of racecar people would know today. It is an open-air vehicle where people have to wear goggles. It's far from F-1, NASCAR, or anything else. Unfortunately, Joe also has misogynistic views; he does not always treat his gal Lee (Ann Dvorak) well and he interferes in Eddie's budding relationship with Lee's pal Anne (Joan Blondell). “Overly protective” is the phrase to use here.

There aren't too many surprises in this film; I was able to look over the predictable nature of it all due to the fact that the cast was nice (Guy Kibbee also has a supporting role), it was a typical solid Warner Brothers production from the era, and the director was Howard Hawks. The fact that you get some very exciting race footage (filmed with actual drivers from the era) also helps quite a bit. The most memorable moment was rather ghoulish; someone gets into a wreck during a race. The car explodes and is a veritable fireball. As drivers go by the wreck, they plug their noses, and I don't think it's because of the strong gasoline smell or the stench of the car burning up... yeah, yikes. You can understand why this would haunt Joe Greer and have a negative impact on his career.


Anyway, this ended up being a fine watch-despite the story not being the most original-due to the people involved.