Delirante

Race car driver Joe Greer (James Cagney) deals with personal problems while trying to train his brother to be a driver.

The Crowd Roars is probably only of interest to racing buffs and Jimmy Cagney fans. Being one of the latter, it does feature a very good performance from Cagney as the cocksure driver who laters becomes a disillusioned bum.

Despite being second billed, Joan Blondell is given little to do as the girlfriend of Cagney's brother. Ann Dvorak gets a showy part as Cagney's long-suffering girlfriend, and, being an early 30s Warner Brothers film, Frank McHugh and Guy Kibbee have bit parts. Eric Linden is a tad annoying as Cagney's brothers.

The racing sequences are well staged by Howard Hawks, and there's a particularly nasty sequence where Frank McHugh's character is killed. Overall, it's entertaining, and doesn't overstay it's welcome.

The Crowd Roars is probably the earliest sound feature film to be concerned with auto racing. It was probably a nice change of pace for James Cagney to get out on what was the NASCAR circuit of its day and not to be shooting people tied up with another mob.

In the one film he made with Cagney, Howard Hawks does a fine job in recreating the auto racing scene of its day. Several names from those ancient days of the sport appear in this film and give it a nice air of authenticity.

The problem with The Crowd Roars is that the story itself was very trite and ordinary. Younger brother Eric Linden wants to follow in Cagney's footsteps as a driver. Cagney's not crazy about his choice of female companionship in Joan Blondell. And Cagney's also reassessing his relationship with Ann Dvorak as well.

Cagney's life takes an abrupt downhill turn when best friend Frank McHugh is killed. It's not unlike what happens to him in such better known Cagney films as The Roaring Twenties and Come Fill the Cup. Only this is a bit more melodramatic.

I also wish there had been a bit more Guy Kibbee as Cagney and Linden's father to inject a note of levity in the proceedings.

Away from the racing sequences The Crowd Roars is a rather unexciting melodrama which needed improvement other than cinematography in every department. Auto racing would have to wait for a film like Grand Prix to capture the flavor of it fully. This ain't no Grand Prix.

The seven is for the racing footage; I'd have to give the film as a whole something lower; this looks like a standard "programmer" from the period. I've seen "TCR" several times, and this time decided to watch it to try to determine where the racing footage was shot and what kind of cars these are.

I have to (somewhat educatedly) guess that we're looking at the old Jeffrey's Ranch Speedway in Burbank in the first racing sequence. It was pretty close to the Warner back lot, and (according to racing historian Harold Osmer) in operation from '31 to '35.

The stands are covered, and there are a lot of large trees close by, as well as equestrian facilities, all three items definitely not the case at Legion Ascot or Huntington Beach. I've been told that Culver City's half mile of that period did not have any equestrian facilities, either, which deals with all the tracks in the region in '31 and '32.

The cars in these shots are largely Ford-Model-A-block / any-odd-freer-breathing-head, rear-drive, backyard/filling-station bombs on Ford rails rather than anything from Harry Miller's shop in nearby Vernon, though there might be an early Miller 200, 220 or 255 (the basis of the famed Leo-Goosen-designed, "Offy" 255/270 built by Offenhauser & Brisko and, later, Meyer & Drake).

This is doubtful, however, as those engines and complete (usually two- or three-year-old) Miller chassis rarely ran anywhere but Legion Ascot in the LA area at that time.

The second (nighttime) sequence is at Legion Ascot, and its 20,000 seats look to be pretty full, which, even when they weren't shooting a feature film, were pretty full even in the nadir of the Great Depression. Veteran dirt track fans will note that Ascot's oiled surface runs pretty much dust-free compared to the old horse track in Burbank.

The third group of action sequences shot at the Brickyard feature top-of-the-line Miller and Deusey rails, as well as several of the very best drivers of the period including Fred Frame and Billy Arnold, both Indy winners (1930 and 1932, respectively; Lou Schneider won the '31 race in the Bowes Seal Fast Special seen momentarily here). Careful listeners will hear the unmistakable snarl of the early "Offy" fours in the background.

Sadly, the sound era was just getting underway as the legendary Miller 91s and the incredible board tracks they ran on were phased out in '29. Open-wheel racing in the '30s was -good-, but OW racing in the previous decade (at tracks like Beverly Hills and Culver City) was as big -- and spectacular, and fast -- then as NASCAR is now on mile ovals.

The Indy scenes feature the (more nearly "stock car") two-seaters and "poor man's" engines that were mandated at the time to reduce costs and break the high-tech/high-buck, Miller stranglehold of the late '20s. There were Deusies, Fords and even Studebakers running the big tracks in those days, but Harry Miller's cars and engines continued to dominate.

Crowd Roars, The (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Standard Warner drama about a cocky race car driver (James Cagney) who brings his younger brother (Eric Linden) into the sport and soon the two have a falling out. Cagney eventually loses his nerve and falls from grace and must try to works his way back up. Hawks is credited with the story but it's somewhat hard to believe that he would come up with such a standard and typical story. The movie is entertaining due in large part to Cagney who once again turns in a good performance. He's his usual cocky self and the screenplay allows him to do things we've seen from him in the past including one scene where he gets tough with Ann Dvorak. Cagney shines the best during his breakdown scene, which comes off very well. Joan Blondell co-stars as Cagney's girl and she does a nice job as well. The story is very predictable and really doesn't have one original idea but there's some very good racing scenes. The screenplay is also quite hard on racing fans and the claim that all they want to see is blood. There's one violent death scene that happens during a race that is very memorable.

Racing has been portrayed so well many times in film and television and always makes for an interesting setting and subject. Howard Hawks was a great director and a versatile one, taking on a good deal of genres and excelling at most (especially Westerns and screwball comedy). Another big reason for wanting to see 'The Crowd Roars' was the cast, James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak and Frank McHugh could always be counted upon to make anything better.

The cast are one of the main redeeming qualities of 'The Crowd Roars' and there is a good deal to enjoy in the dialogue and the choreography of the race scenes. Sadly, 'The Crowd Roars' did not strike me as a great film and Hawks certainly did far better films, if anything this is a lesser effort for him. If the film had a better story, didn't look as cheap and didn't have a character that made so little impact in such a jarring way, it would have fared better.

Despite having a truly loathsome character, Cagney is a knockout and has cocky charisma and intensity galore. To me he didn't seem uninterested at all. Blondell is sassy and charming in usual Blondell style, she was no stranger to this type of role and always did it well, and Dvorak is affecting. McHugh provides colourful support as one of the more likeable characters. While having reservations with the production values overall, the racing is thrillingly choreographed and excites, quite bold for back then too. The tragedy did bring a lump to my throat.

Furthermore 'The Crowd Roars' does go at an energetic pace and has snappy, hard-boiled dialogue on the whole. Hawks' direction does have moments of brilliance.

He is sadly not always in full control of his material however, and there are a few too many melodramatic scenes that lack the urgency of the racing where he doesn't fare very well stopping the drama from getting over the top. The subplot with Eddie and Ann doesn't really add very much and feels like padding. Did find the chemistry between Blondell and Eddie Linden anaemic and Linden not only lacks any kind of charisma but also injects very little personality in a sketchy role.

Sadly have to agree with some too that the production values are not the best. The studio rear projections are very cheap and over-obvious and while the choreography of the racing excites the racetrack shots feel very clumsily incorporated and could have been a lot more subtle with the editing.

In summary, worth a look but not a must recommend. 6/10