King Vidor's 1928 film “The Crowd” examines the life of an “average” New Yorker, John Sims, who grows up dreaming of boundless opportunities for success yet remains stuck as a low-level clerk in a large corporation. Bored with office work, John invents advertising slogans and eventually wins $500 in a contest. He rushes home with an armful of toys and clothes for his family and jumps ecstatically about the room with his wife. From the window he displays a newly purchased scooter to his children across the street, then watches as his little girl runs to receive her gift and is struck by a huge truck careening down the block. John rushes out to find her surrounded by a large and anonymous crowd. In his grief he lifts the injured child high above them, an unconscious sacrifice to the seemingly mindless speed and swirling masses that rob modern urban people of their innocence and hope for individual fulfillment.