There had been signs of what we would later think of as modernity through much of the nineteenth century, and modernism was already a fully realized artistic development; still it is remarkable to witness this early vision of the mass metropolis, of teeming anonymity. Influenced by the great German films of the time, King Vidor‘s The Crowd was an early, singular vision, later frequently imitated, and is one of a select number of truly great works from the very short silent film era. After the excerpt is a link to short clip of Vidor, in the 1970s, explaining the technical accomplishments seen in the film’s opening below.

Vidor on The Crowd at TCM.

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