The Crowd (1928)

In King Vidor's urban melodrama:

• the staircase scene in 1912 when a young 12 year-old boy climbed claustrophobic, steep stairs and near the top learned that his father had died; he was told (in a title card: "You must be brave now, little man...like your father would want you to be")
• the arrival of ambitious, wide-eyed 21 year-old John Sims (James Murray) in NYC, with marvelous visuals capturing New York City's teeming streets, and the enormous crowd shots

John Sims at His Desk in a NYC Skyscraper

• the sweeping camera sequence from curbside outside a towering skyscraper, moving up the face of the building and through a upper window and zeroing in (with a dissolve) on the view of a low-level, dehumanized office worker John Sims lost in a sea of desks lined up in rows - positioned at desk 137; in fact, he was not working, but watching the clock in anticipation of a 5:00 pm quitting time (the sequence was paid homage to in Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960)), and pondering answers for a get-rich-quick $100 prize contest by naming a "new motor fuel" (his entries included Petrol-Pep and Jazz-o-Lene)
• the romantic/courtship scenes between the two young lovers John and Mary (Eleanor Boardman) - especially in the sequences on Coney Island (The Tunnel of Love, amusement park rides, etc.), and he attempted to kiss her but she was reluctant at first: "Gee...I oughtn't to let you kiss me" - but then freely allowed him to romance her

Coney Island Sequence: John on Date with Mary (Eleanor Boardman)

• soon afterwards after a tiring day and ride back on the train to the city, John impulsively proposed to Mary resting in his arms ("Mary, let's you and me get married"); she nodded in agreement, and soon they were married, spending their honeymoon at Niagara Falls
• in the hospital, the scene of John's anxiety over the birth of their first child - and his whispered words to his wife when the baby boy was delivered to their bedside: ("This is all I've needed to make me try harder, dear...I'll be somebody now, I promise.")

Tragic Truck Accident, Killing Young Daughter - Horrifed Reaction

• the couple's reaction to the accidental death of their young second child, a daughter, who was accidentally hit by a truck as she raced across a busy NYC street - reflected on the horrified faces of the parents who were watching from a nearby window
• the poignant scene of suicidal John with his young son on a railroad overpass when the boy restored John's faith in himself by expressing his unconditional love
• and the final sequence of the reconciled couple enjoying a comical vaudeville show as the camera pulled back and they became anonymous in the audience