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Cavalcade

Play trailer Poster for Cavalcade 1933 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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64% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 27% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Upper-crust Londoners Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard) and their working-class counterparts, Alfred and Ellen Bridges, experience life's many triumphs and tragedies from the Boer War at the dawn of the 20th century up to 1930s. Queen Victoria's death and the sinking of the Titanic etch deep scars on both families, but the outbreak of World War I and its dramatic aftermath proves to be the greatest test of their courage and friendship.
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Cavalcade

Cavalcade

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Critics Consensus

Though solidly acted and pleasant to look at, Cavalcade lacks cohesion, and sacrifices true emotion for mawkishness.

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Critics Reviews

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Inquirer Staff Philadelphia Inquirer 11/09/2022
Quite as much as the cast, if not far more deserving of praise, is the superior direction of Frank Lloyd who has handled the unwieldy and sprawling material with disciplined intelligence and understanding art. Go to Full Review Pauline Kael The New Yorker 07/28/2022
The self-conscious good taste of it all creaks, but Noël Coward knows plenty of tricks, and the performers know how to get the most out of his lines. Go to Full Review Bruce Blevin The New Republic 02/18/2022
The production is technically brilliant if not very imaginative, and I got, as I did from the presentation in London, the sense of time’s tragedy which Mr. Coward intended us to have. Go to Full Review Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap 12/11/2023
4/5
One of the earliest Best Picture Oscar winners has all the hallmark limitations of its time, but is still a moving and effective look at one British family through years of war, strife and joy. Go to Full Review Mark Johnson Awards Daily 06/27/2023
It remains a tad fruitless and humdrum, and is heavy on the dramatization of the passing of time. Go to Full Review Francisco J. Ariza Cine-Mundial 01/13/2021
The subject is high-minded... But its content is so well-spun, its performance so careful and its development so artistic that each scene, even isolated, is a small gem. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Christian K @ckacar Jan 10 Scattered narrative trying to draw impact from multiple major events over a 30 year period. But since I only spent maybe 3 scenes total with Edward I don't really care that he died on the titanic (which was a funny reveal). See more D B @Honor Jan 5 Well done. Thought provoking… See more ChrisCSH H Apr 7 While cavalcade has the sense and grand aura of being a major Academy award winning picture in reality, it is a good movie for the time because it does have some Epic grand scale moments that takes place throughout the picture along with brilliant acting and great direction, but it still makes you feel like During that time other pictures that were nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards were more deserving for best picture than cavalcade. But all in all it is a good film that has some grand epic moments. See more J. M. P Feb 8 Cavalcade (1933) has a nice premise for the story. I enjoy the overall idea behind the movie. However, the characters are hard to connect with. Multiple story arcs spring up and die off, and the only connection between them is their family ties. With little background for the characters, it becomes hard to appreciate them. Transitions are rough, and one must make assumptions about the character's background. Character development is hardly touched on, so the characters remain static throughout the movie. See more Nathan T 01/15/2024 Cavalcade is a gorgeous and powerful movie which I really like. It is more powerful when understood within the context of the time, at the depths of the Great Contraction. The message of hope and perseverance is deeply powerful and moving. See more Andee D 12/23/2023 Up there amongst the worst best picture winners. But this movie gives you a glimpse of the academy and the public's cinematic taste at that time. Definitely a movie that is of its time, overly nationalistic in romanticizing the british empire, and from the lens of the upper class at that. See more Read all reviews
Cavalcade

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Cast & Crew

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Frank Lloyd

Director

Diana Wynyard

Jane Marryot

Clive Brook

Robert Marryot

Una O'Connor

Ellen Bridges

Herbert Mundin

Alfred Bridges

Beryl Mercer

Cook

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Cavalcade

Cavalcade (1933) Cavalcade (1933) Cavalcade (1933) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Upper-crust Londoners Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard) and their working-class counterparts, Alfred and Ellen Bridges, experience life's many triumphs and tragedies from the Boer War at the dawn of the 20th century up to 1930s. Queen Victoria's death and the sinking of the Titanic etch deep scars on both families, but the outbreak of World War I and its dramatic aftermath proves to be the greatest test of their courage and friendship.
Director
Frank Lloyd
Producer
Frank Lloyd, Winfield R. Sheehan
Screenwriter
Reginald Berkeley, Sonya Levien
Distributor
Fox
Production Co
Fox Film Corporation
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 15, 1933, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 22, 2013
Runtime
1h 49m
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