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Merriam-Webster defines a "cavalcade" as "a procession of riders or carriages". Some people ride through in it, and some people watch as they stay on the side. This can also be said of this early Best Picture winner, which features a "procession" of historic events as we see how some of the characters are affected by them.
Cavalcade opens in the last day of 1899, as we see an upper-class English couple, Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard), celebrate the New Year, along with their two sons and their servants, the Bridges. The film then moves on as we see how the families are affected by events like the Second Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, and World War I, among others.
I just read a review that labeled Cavalcade as the "worst best picture winner ever", which, to me, is not entirely true, but also not that far from it. Like a true "procession", Cavalcade is full of lulls and gaps of tediousness, with some worthy and well executed moments interspersed through.
The fact that it spans three decades, with most characters only present in one or two acts, also hampers the attachment we might have with any of them. The characters of the children of the Marryots and the Bridges are the ones we might feel more attached to, but again, they just pass through moments of the film. The only characters that remain from start to finish are Robert and Jane, who serve mostly as spectators.
I've been to a few processions myself, but I can't recall any of them being very memorable. Did I have fun at some of them? Sure. But then they pass, and I go back home and forget about them. To a certain extent, that's Cavalcade. Like many processions, it begins, does its thing, and then it passes, and in time, you forget about it.
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CAVALCADE
(1933, Lloyd)
The first Best Picture winner you haven't seen
(1933, Lloyd)
The first Best Picture winner you haven't seen
"Everything passes; even time"
Merriam-Webster defines a "cavalcade" as "a procession of riders or carriages". Some people ride through in it, and some people watch as they stay on the side. This can also be said of this early Best Picture winner, which features a "procession" of historic events as we see how some of the characters are affected by them.
Cavalcade opens in the last day of 1899, as we see an upper-class English couple, Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard), celebrate the New Year, along with their two sons and their servants, the Bridges. The film then moves on as we see how the families are affected by events like the Second Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, and World War I, among others.
I just read a review that labeled Cavalcade as the "worst best picture winner ever", which, to me, is not entirely true, but also not that far from it. Like a true "procession", Cavalcade is full of lulls and gaps of tediousness, with some worthy and well executed moments interspersed through.
The fact that it spans three decades, with most characters only present in one or two acts, also hampers the attachment we might have with any of them. The characters of the children of the Marryots and the Bridges are the ones we might feel more attached to, but again, they just pass through moments of the film. The only characters that remain from start to finish are Robert and Jane, who serve mostly as spectators.
I've been to a few processions myself, but I can't recall any of them being very memorable. Did I have fun at some of them? Sure. But then they pass, and I go back home and forget about them. To a certain extent, that's Cavalcade. Like many processions, it begins, does its thing, and then it passes, and in time, you forget about it.
Grade: