The Crowd Roars

James Cagney plays a hotshot race car driver whose ego can’t handle kid brother Eric Linden’s talent. Ann Dvorak plays Cagney’s long-suffering girlfriend. Joan Blondell plays Dvorak’s friend and Linden’s love-interest.

Director Howard Hawks proffers thrilling racing footage interspersed with underwritten melodrama. You won’t believe how rough and dusty racing was in those days, or how much lipstick Linden wears in his first scene. Worth it for the spectacle of Cagney grabbing Linden by the lapels and unleashing a one-handed 1930s-tough-guy slap-fest.