John, an ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker, meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
Direction
King Vidor's massive crowd shots still dwarf modern CGI.
Cinematography
Expressionist shadows meet documentary realism in 1920s NYC.
Acting
James Murray's performance haunts harder knowing his real-life tragedy.
Director
King Vidor
Eleanor Boardman
Mary Sims
James Murray
John 'Johnny' Sims
Bert Roach
Bert
Estelle Clark
Jane
Dell Henderson
Dick
Lucy Beaumont
Mary's Mother
Freddie Burke Frederick
John 'Junior' Sims
Sidney Bracey
John's Supervisor (uncredited)
Johnny Downs
John, age 12 (uncredited)
Sally Eilers
Party Girl at Bert's Place (uncredited)
Joseph W. Girard
Member of Board of Directors (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
James Murray was actually a failed extra Vidor discovered on the street; his later alcoholism and death in 1936 eerily mirrored his character's trajectory.
The massive Coney Island set cost more than the entire budget of most features that year—MGM only greenlit it because Vidor's 'The Big Parade' had been a blockbuster.
US
