Paul Elliott’s review published on Letterboxd:
The gigantic and impersonal city of New York towering over the hopes and ambitions of a young couple as they start their life together helps to nurture The Crowd to be a romance drama that stands as one of the greatest films of the silent period.
It's a well-told tale directed by King Vidor, featuring a collection of visually appealing and eloquently apprehended images. In collaboration with cinematographer Henry Sharp, his work carried forward many innovative stylistic techniques as it follows the struggles and downfalls of two married protagonists: John and Mary Sims, played by Eleanor Boardman and James Murray. The couple's journey conveys a believable human struggle as they confront and attempt to overcome a succession of disappointing obstacles.
John becomes immersed in a callous and capitalistic environment as his quest for prestige and wealth comes to dominate his existence, leading to vast turmoil to his family circumstances. It keeps any maudlin sentimentality to a minimum, and the film has a welcomed deficiency of any excessive emotion. Vidor has brought on the full benefits of achieving a rare opportunity during the era of having significant studio resources to give rise to a film about ordinary lives without exploiting the melodrama.
It arrived at the creative peak of his inventiveness for visual storytelling. An array of subsequent styles are recognisable in his experimental labours, including Italian neorealism - key architect Vittorio De Sica asserted that the film directly influenced his classic work. The core theme of loneliness in a crowd and its commentary on humanity's general apathy to the individual's plight produces a tale of crushed ambitions and self-acceptance that's a groundbreaking and courageous film.