Somehow I am thinking of all the Crawford movies in her second phase, the very late 20s, after her flapper phase was over. Davis describes them as:

"This was the period when Joan would start every movie as a factory worker. She punched the clock in a simple black Molyneaux (someone's idea of poverty) , and ended up marrying the boss, who now allowed her to deck herself out in tremendous buttons, cuffs, and shoes with bows (someone's idea of wealth).

Movie after movie about "new York" and how "the rich" lived in "New York" (Davis made a few herself), with people all over the country gaping, aspiring, every night.