The Crowd Roars

1932
A
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

James Cagney and Joan Blondell in The Crowd Roars (1932)

Race car driver becomes overprotective of his brother when he decides to become a racer as well.Race car driver becomes overprotective of his brother when he decides to become a racer as well.Race car driver becomes overprotective of his brother when he decides to become a racer as well.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

1.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
Stock footage was temporarily removed from this one to be used in the remake, Devil on Wheels (1939); when it was replaced back into this film's negative, some of the "Indianapolis Speedway" footage got mixed in with it, so that you now see 1939 footage in a 1932 film, including shots of a late 1930s ambulance and automobiles as well as racing announcers Wendell Niles, John Conte and Reid Kilpatrick, who did not appear in the film as it was originally released.

Goofs
A Santa Fe Railroad car is being shown unloading in Indianapolis, Indiana. That railroad only operated as far east as Chicago, Illinois.

Quotes
Anne Scott: I didn't hear you knock?
Joe Greer: Since when is a dame like you expect guys to knock?

Alternate versions
Originally at 85 minutes, the only available prints of "The Crowd Roars" have a running time of only 70 minutes. Even Warner Brothers only offers the 70 minute version for sale. The oddest gap in the plot in the 70 minute version, is how Joe Greer (James Cagney) suddenly ends up behind the wheel of his brother Eddie's car in the big race after Eddie got hurt and couldn't finish the race, when last we saw Joe he was down and out in girlfriend Lee's (Ann Dvorak) apartment.

Connections
Alternate-language version of La foule hurle (1932)

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Review

Featured review

Hawks and Cagney

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.