Noel Coward’s CAVALCADE was a huge success in its day and is now a time capsule of British attitudes after the First World War and the Roaring 20s that followed. It can easily be seen as the precursor of several period BBC dramas which came much later including the iconic UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS and now DOWNTON ABBEY. The storyline focuses on two families. One of them is upper class while the other family is from their household staff. Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook & Diana Wynyard) live in a posh London home presided over by servants Alfred and Ellen Bridges (Herbert Mundin & Una O’Connor). The Marryots have two sons, Edward & Joey, while the Bridges’ have a newborn baby girl, Fanny. The film opens in 1899 with Robert and Alfred setting out to fight in the Boer War. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Bridges’ leave and open a pub and things start to go downhill for them from there. Robert is later knighted for his military service but shortly thereafter a tragic event occurs. And so it goes. We see a series of vignettes of both families over the next 30 years ending the year the film was made, 1933.
To direct Coward’s 1931 play, Fox Film (no Twentieth Century-Fox yet) chose Scottish born director Frank Lloyd who had made a memorable silent version of Charles Dickens’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES for them earlier. Lloyd would win a Best Director Oscar for CAVALCADE and another 2 years later for his best known film, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. While parts of the film are dated by today’s standards it must be remembered that this is a very British film from a very British writer. It is also remarkably anti-war as well as nostalgic for the passing of the Victorian & Edwardian eras. It was CAVALCADE’s pacifist message that impressed audiences back in 1933 which also explains why it disappeared for so many years. It remains a remarkable achievement but the very theatrical performances and lack of subtlety won’t make it most people’s cup of tea unless you happen to be an Anglophile in which case you’ll definitely find it to be of more than historical interest. CAVALCADE is the last Best Picture Oscar winner to make it to DVD and it does so in this Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack for its 80th anniversary. Considering that no original negative of CAVALCADE still exists, this transfer looks remarkably good.
The Capsule Critic 