Cavalcade (1933)

The triumphs and tragedies of two English families, the upper-crust Marryots and the working-class Bridges, from 1899 to 1933 are portrayed.

Director:

Frank Lloyd

Writers:

Reginald Berkeley (screen play), Sonya Levien (continuity)

Stars:

Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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.)

Storyline

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. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic and the Great War.

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Plot Keywords:

mother daughter relationship | dysfunctional marriage | manipulative mother | manipulative wife | homosexual subtext | 

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Taglines:

MAGNITUDE never before attempted TITANIC in its sweep APPEALING to every emotion to which the human heart is susceptible. (Print Ad- Plattsburg Daily Republican,((Plattsburg, NY)) 8 June 1933)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cabalgata

Filming Locations:

Fox Movietone City, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,180,280 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,630,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,440,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

16-year-old Betty Grable, who had already been in films for 3 years, is the "Blonde Girl on the Couch" in the 1930s wild party sequence. The little girl playing the servant's daughter is Bonita Granville in one of her earliest roles.

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Goofs

A lady at this time never smoked in public. Jane lights a cigarette in the train station and very graciously gives it to a wounded soldier, something a lady of that time would not have done.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jane Marryot: [as the Marryots return home from an outing] Thank you Bridges.
Robert Marryot: Everything ready Bridges?
Alfred Bridges: Yes sir.
Jane Marryot: Thought we should never get here in time. I'm sure that cabby was tipsy Robert.
Robert Marryot: So am I; he called me his old coccolare.
Jane Marryot: Oh, what did you say?
Robert Marryot: Gave him another shilling.
[they laugh lightheartedly]

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Alternate Versions

As the film was originally released, the "Twentieth Century Blues" cabaret scene featured both a gay male couple and a lesbian couple. For the 1935 reissue after the coming of the Production Code, Fox was forced to delete the lesbians. Although the gay men can still be seen (one is putting a bracelet on the other), the lesbian pair (one in black, the other in white) can be glimpsed only in a quick flash.

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2018)

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Soundtracks

When Johnny Comes Marching Home
(1863) (uncredited)
Written by Louis Lambert
Played by the band at the pier
Reprised by them when the soldiers return

User Reviews

Although not the best film of 1933, certainly not an unworthy Best Picture winner

A sloppy but beautiful British family saga chronicling the lives of two families, the Marryots and the Bridges, the former upper class and the latter their servants, from the end of the 19th Century up to 1933. A few major events are portrayed. At the beginning of the film, the patriarchs of the two families go off to fight the Boer War. Much later on in the film we experience WWI, and in between we see the Titanic sink. The film is filled to the brink with good characters, all of them being portrayed by very good actors, as well. There are a few very bad scenes, most notably the one on the Titanic (I know it was an important event in this time period, but it's handled very poorly and predictably in the screenplay). The final speech, a necessary element in every film of this sub-genre, is particularly bad, too. The film ends during a worldwide depression, and there is a half-attempt to provide the audience with hope. Unfortunately, there is none to be found. I would have hated to be an audience member at this film in 1933! The many good scenes do far outweigh the bad ones, though. There are a couple that are really masterful. The very long montage that paints a portrait of WWI is gorgeously done, and appropriately harrowing. The scene in which the matriarch of the Marryot family watches her youngest son go off to war is exquisite. After he leaves, she attempts to light a cigarette. At that moment, a young nurse and a wounded man in a stretcher pass by; the nurse lights a cigarette for the wounded man. The match goes out between the matriarch's fingers as she stares at them. This very economical scene expresses both the cold fear she has for her son and the ways in which the boundaries between the classes were fading. The theme of class in Cavalcade is important, although I wish it had been developed further. Early in the film, the Bridges family moves away and amasses something of a fortune of their own. As history marches on, we do see the class lines falter a bit. Cavalcade may actually have been an influence on none other than Jean Renoir, at least in The Grand Illusion. That film also deals with the melding of the classes as a result of wars. There is one scene in Cavalcade that is simply too close to one in The Grand Illusion to be a coincidence. A theater show is interrupted to announce that the Boer War is over and that the troops are coming back. Together, the audience members stand up and begin singing. It looks very much like the scene where the P.O.W.s sing "The Marseilles" in The Grand Illusion. 8/10.