1932-1933 Cavalcade

1932-1933 Cavalcade

I finally got a copy of this movie!  It earns an honorable mention for being the one and only best picture winner NOT available on DVD.  I ended up getting a used VHS from Amazon.  I doubt I will be watching it again, so some lucky person may get to pick it up at Half Price Books for a really great bargain.

Cavalcade starts out pretty entertaining, taking a bit of an Upstairs/Downstairs sort of approach by following two families: the aristocratic Marryots upstairs, and the downstairs servants, the Bridges.

Watching their husbands depart.

The movie begins on New Year's Eve, 1899.  Lady Marryot is preparing for the departure of her husband.  He is leaving to fight in the Boer War, and Mr. Bridges is going with him, leaving Mrs. Bridges and Lady Marryot nervous wrecks.  The most powerful scene in the movie is when Lady Marryot is saying goodbye to her husband as he is about to board his ship and set off for Africa.  He tells her to give him one more kiss, then to turn around and keep talking, which she does, rambling on as if he is still there, until she turns and breaks down watching the ship sail away.  It was so hard for me to watch, being able to put myself in her place.  I could easily picture what a wreck I would be if Tyler were going off to war and I was kissing him goodbye, knowing it could be the last time I saw him.  She doesn't quite show the stiff upper lip of Mrs. Miniver, being pretty much an emotional mess the whole time he is away, but I could relate more to her than to Mrs. Miniver.

Fortunately, her husband and Mr. Bridges both return safely, and Mr. Bridges and his family leave to start running a pub.  Unfortunately, that is pretty much the last good news for Lady Marryot.  Her eldest son falls in love with the daughter of her best friend, and the two wed.  We see them on their honeymoon on the deck of a ship, talking about how happy they are.  His new bride says that she doesn't think she would mind dying, because she will never be any happier than she is that moment, and that she fears their love will fade over time.  I guess be careful what you wish for, because when they move aside, the life preserver on the deck bears the word "Titanic."  That sure took me by surprise.  The son dies, and we never find out if his wife died as well.

Then on to WWI, and of course her other son joins the army.  He has an affair with the Fanny Bridge (daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bridge), who has become a singer, and he wants to marry her; unfortunately, he is killed right before the Armistice.  Lady Marryot has lost both her sons, has no grandchildren...she walks the streets during the huge Armistice celebration just looking shocked and sick to her stomach.

Mr. Bridges becomes a drunk and gets killed when he is run over by a carriage.  What else?  We never really find out what happens to Fanny.  I guess she goes on singing.

It ends with another New Year's Eve some years later, with Lady Marryot and her husband having a toast to the future by themselves.  Talk about depressing.

The movie is fond of the montage (we get to see WWI through this mechanism), and of a strange shot of people riding on horses that is randomly shown whenever the story takes a leap forward in time.  There are also several musical numbers that don't really move the plot at all or feel in any way necessary.  The actress that plays Fanny is melodramatic and annoying.  The heart of the movie is definitely in Lady Marryot.  The actress really captures the fear of saying goodbye to loved ones and the devastation of loss.

Not one of the better best picture winners overall.