The Crowd: Live Score by Chris Gestrin

Maybe the greatest of all American silent films, King Vidor’s masterpiece — here screening with a never-before-heard improvised jazz score performed by multiple Juno-winner Chris Gestrin — keys into the faultlines at the heart of the American Dream (and did so just on the brink of the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression). John is born on the Fourth of July, 1900 — an auspicious date at the dawn of what will be known as the American Century. Arriving in New York City as a young man, he’s determined to make a name for himself. He takes a wife — Mary — they have kids. But success remains elusive. And then tragedy strikes…

The Crowd is in many ways a simple fable about the common man. But Vidor’s artistry insists that the struggles of an ordinary Joe — or John — can be as compelling, and as worthy of our empathy, as those of a king, a champion, or any other hero… perhaps even more so, as most of us fall into the same category. Vidor cast an unknown extra, James Murray, as his protagonist, and was rewarded with a performance of remarkable depth and pathos. Yet within ten years Murray would be dead, a suspected suicide, after succumbing to alcoholism and destitution. The film’s mixture of realism (Vidor shot with a hidden camera on New York streets, anticipating neo-realism by more than a decade) and expressionism remains impressive, no matter that directors as different as Billy Wilder, Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica admitted to stealing from it over the years.

About the Band: The Chris Gestrin Organ Trio
Chris Gestrin – Organ/keyboards
Joe Poole – Drums
Myles Bigelow – Percussion

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