"A toast to our old friend the future"
Cavalcade in it's definition means a group of people walking, riding or a horse, or in a motor vehicle. However, when we come to the Best Picture of 1932/1933 Cavalcade is the story of one family's walk through life.
Opening up on New Year's Eve 1899, the Marryot family is welcoming in the 20th Century with their two young sons. With the Robert Marryot about to head off to serve in the Second Boer War, Jane if very worried for not only her husband but her family's future. As we travel with them through major world events, such as the sinking of the Titanic and World War II, Jane and her husband teach us that life does not go as we have always dreamed it would but making the most out of what we are given life can still be beautiful.
Fox is the big named movie company that takes home the Academy Award for this movie. Beating out their own State Fair, Warner Brothers' 42nd Street and I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Paramount's A Farewell to Arms and She Done Him Wrong, Columbia's Lady for a Day, RKO's Little Women, London Films' The Private Life of Henry VIII, and MGM's Smilin' Through; Cavalcade is one of those rare truly meaningful movies that only come around once in a lifetime. It's a marvelous movie to behold. Some of the best acting, costumes, and film editing I have seen in a movie made in this time period.
Based off the play by the same name, released in 1931, this film had a lot to live up to with the play's success. So, with a $1.8 Million budget Fox set out to make the movie just as big of a success. Filming mainly in England, and two different directors, this movie pushed the envelope with it's pre-code language such as "hell" and "damn". The Hay's Code were starting to become a bigger issue in the movie world at this time so it was not so much of a scandal when those words were included. That would not be the same for movies years to come. However, Fox's president defended the decision and the words were left in the film. The film was recognized for it's merits in 2002 when it was chosen to be preserved in the Academy Film Archive and cementing it's place in further into film history.
This is going to be one of those movie that will leave a lasting impression on me. It will not be soon forgotten in my book. It has every emotion that you ever want in a movie and it keep you entertained and a little on the edge of your seat. I would recommend this for anyone who is looking for simple courage to go on in a dark time. This story has a lot of family tragedy and yet when it all comes to the end it has a lot of hope too. Not just the cheesy kind of hope that you see in these newer movies, but the kind of hope that you get when you think you can not give anymore. It's a wonderful story about inner strength and the real meaning of life. That it's not about getting all the stuff you can get. It's about living.... simply living through it all.
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