The Crowd Roars

Howard Hawks’s 1932 car-racing drama is characteristic of himand even personalbut it’s also fairly routine. (It runs a poor second to his freakishly mannerist but much more lively 1965 racing movie Red Line 7000, which treats many of the same themes.) James Cagney is wonderful as a champion racer who warns his brother away from the track even as he refuses to quit himself, yet this plays like something we’ve all seen many times before. With Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Eric Linden, Guy Kibbee, and Regis Toomey. 85 min. (JR)

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