Cavalcade (1933)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Frank Lloyd

Writers:

Noel Coward (play)
Reginald Berkeley (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 April 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

A love that suffered and rose triumphant above the crushing events of this modern age! The march of time measured by a mother's heart!

Plot:

A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot...

Plot Keywords:

Boer War | New Year's Eve | New Year | Death | Titanic

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Diana Wynyard	...	Jane Marryot
Clive Brook	...	Robert Marryot
Una O'Connor	...	Ellen Bridges
Herbert Mundin	...	Alfred Bridges
Beryl Mercer	...	Cook
Irene Browne	...	Margaret Harris
Tempe Pigott	...	Mrs. Snapper
Merle Tottenham	...	Annie
Frank Lawton	...	Joe Marryot
Ursula Jeans	...	Fanny Bridges
Margaret Lindsay	...	Edith Harris
John Warburton	...	Edward Marryot
Billy Bevan	...	George Grainger
Desmond Roberts	...	Ronnie James
Dickie Henderson	...	Master Edward (as Dick Henderson Jr.)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #0585-R, 6 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Spain:7 | Sweden:15

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Noel Coward was paid $100,000 for the rights to the play and the songs he wrote for the play.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Titanic's port of registry was Liverpool, not Southampton.

Quotes:

Jane Marryot: There should never be any good reason for neglecting someone that you love.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Your King and Country Want You

A fascinating period piece

If you want to know what the twentieth century looked like to people in the early thirties, this is the film to watch. Two families - upstairs and downstairs - go through the events of the Boer War, the Edwardian age, the First World War and its aftermath, ending in the "chaos and confusion" of the depression. The film seems to be fairly closely based on the original Drury Lane theatre production (many of the cast are the same). So when Binnie Barnes delivers "Twentieth Century Blues" (excellently) this is presumably how Coward wanted it sung. Noel Coward's clipped dialogue can't always carry the weight of the themes, and the nobility of the upper-class couple gets a bit wearing, but there are fascinating glimpses of a music hall performance and an Edwardian seaside concert party. The film races through thirty eventful years, and one or two of the tragedies are predictable, but the period detail is terrific. The film is well worth catching.