A cavalcade of British history flashes past the eyes of a prosperous London family and their domestics during a fairly interesting two-hour melodrama that presages both "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey." From the Boer War to the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic and World War I, Jane and Robert Marryot watch their sons grow up and become romantically involved, watch men march off to war, watch their servants leave and go into business, watch British society change. As the Marryots, Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook have the required stiff upper lips; unfortunately the stiffness extends to other body parts in performances more suited to the stage than film. "Cavalcade" began life as a Noel Coward play, and director Frank Lloyd's adaptation often betrays its stage origins, especially when characters look past the proscenium and deliver their lines to the audience. Despite three Academy Awards, including the sixth ever awarded for best picture, "Cavalcade" betrays its age and fails to merit classic status.
Although an Oscar went to art director William S. Darling, the production's limited budget shows in a lack of spectacle, despite numerous opportunities. Queen Victoria's funeral is reflected in the family's faces as they watch from a balcony. The Titanic is a white life ring emblazoned with the ill-fated ship's name. However, an extended montage of images and sounds effectively depicts World War I, a technique later reused with less effect to depict the social upheaval of the 1920's. During the brief scandalous 1920's episode, historians of gay film will note a nightclub scene that includes a Lesbian couple and two gay men, one fitting a bracelet on the other's wrist. While the images pass without comment, the intent seems to underscore an anything-goes depravity, at least in the eyes of the Marryots. However, Mrs. Marryot clearly illustrates the social changes underway when she pulls out a cigarette and even lights up in public. But, despite her personal liberation, she remains a social conservative and cannot cope with a marriage between her son and the daughter of her former domestic.
While they make a valiant attempt, the upstairs actors fail to make deep impressions; they are manikins mouthing lines and depicting a social class, rather than flesh-and-blood characters. Wynyard rarely shows emotion and often stares off into space; Brook acts the English stereotype, complete with facial hair; the sons are bland and colorless. The downstairs performers fare better, led by the always entertaining Una O'Connor as the brash domestic, Ellen Bridges, and by Herbert Mundin as her husband. The colorful duo are perhaps a bit over the top, but their performances add life and, unlike the upstairs residents, their characters develop over time. Film buffs will spot a young Bonita Granville as Fanny, the Bridges's daughter. At the conclusion of "Cavalcade," the aging Marryots, tastefully powdered to suggest age, toast Britain's future on the eve of the New Year 1933, which was not only the year of the film's release, but also the year Hitler rose to power. If the oh-so-proper couple thought the prior three decades had been tumultuous, they had not seen anything yet. However, despite the film's over use of "Auld Lang Syne," viewers may be reluctant to share the Marryot's company more than once
Although an Oscar went to art director William S. Darling, the production's limited budget shows in a lack of spectacle, despite numerous opportunities. Queen Victoria's funeral is reflected in the family's faces as they watch from a balcony. The Titanic is a white life ring emblazoned with the ill-fated ship's name. However, an extended montage of images and sounds effectively depicts World War I, a technique later reused with less effect to depict the social upheaval of the 1920's. During the brief scandalous 1920's episode, historians of gay film will note a nightclub scene that includes a Lesbian couple and two gay men, one fitting a bracelet on the other's wrist. While the images pass without comment, the intent seems to underscore an anything-goes depravity, at least in the eyes of the Marryots. However, Mrs. Marryot clearly illustrates the social changes underway when she pulls out a cigarette and even lights up in public. But, despite her personal liberation, she remains a social conservative and cannot cope with a marriage between her son and the daughter of her former domestic.
While they make a valiant attempt, the upstairs actors fail to make deep impressions; they are manikins mouthing lines and depicting a social class, rather than flesh-and-blood characters. Wynyard rarely shows emotion and often stares off into space; Brook acts the English stereotype, complete with facial hair; the sons are bland and colorless. The downstairs performers fare better, led by the always entertaining Una O'Connor as the brash domestic, Ellen Bridges, and by Herbert Mundin as her husband. The colorful duo are perhaps a bit over the top, but their performances add life and, unlike the upstairs residents, their characters develop over time. Film buffs will spot a young Bonita Granville as Fanny, the Bridges's daughter. At the conclusion of "Cavalcade," the aging Marryots, tastefully powdered to suggest age, toast Britain's future on the eve of the New Year 1933, which was not only the year of the film's release, but also the year Hitler rose to power. If the oh-so-proper couple thought the prior three decades had been tumultuous, they had not seen anything yet. However, despite the film's over use of "Auld Lang Syne," viewers may be reluctant to share the Marryot's company more than once