People often go to the big city to become somebody, but what if that doesn't work out? King Vidor's heartbreaking silent film exposes the lie of the American dream, and gives the audience a New York of dead-end jobs at nameless companies and tiny apartments with fold-out beds. But it also gives us the classic ending where a huge crowd of New Yorkers escapes their troubles by laughing the night away in a movie theater. It's unflinching, but hopeful.