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Cavalcade (1933)

tomatometer

71

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 4

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

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

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

audience

30

liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 705

My Rating

Movie Info

The only Academy Award winning picture for Fox Studios (in its pre-20th Century-Fox era), Cavalcade is a stately film adaptation of the pageant-like stage hit by Noel Coward. The film concentrates on the years 1901 through 1933, as seen through the eyes of an upper-class British family and its servants. Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard portray the "upstairs" Marryots, while Herbert Mundin and Una O'Connor represent the "downstairs" Bridges (the incidents and characterizations in Cavalcade are very,

Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Romance, Classics

Noel Coward, Reginald Berkeley

Cast

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (4)

Almost certain to be near the top of the list for 1933.

February 17, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is the first big film out of the Fox studio since Sheehan's return there and this is a big picture from and on every angle.

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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It is a most affecting and impressive picture.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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If nothing else, this reveals something about the lingering power of World War I on the national and international psyches during the era.

January 1, 1933 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A rare beauty.

December 12, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A loose collection of unfortunate events strung together to make a feature film sadly lacking a coherent theme.

October 17, 2006 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment
Oscar Guy

Very much a part of our cinema heritage, Cavalcade deserves to be remembered more than it has been.

March 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Nary a tear-jerking trick is missed (our family loses one son to the Titanic, the other to World War I), and the strangulation is compounded by the staginess since the film.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

The first soap opera to win the Best Picture Oscar, Cavalcade, based on Noel Coward's long-running play tells the 30-year saga of a upper-class British family that loses both sons, the older in the Titanic tragedy, the younger in WWI.

June 15, 2005 Comment

[A] delightful, passionate drama.

January 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | Comment
Flick Filosopher

It's all very stiff-upper-lip stuff, but 70 years after it was made, it still remains a very rousing, moving experience.

July 18, 2003 Comment
Matt's Movie Reviews

Manipulating the audience's emotions in the best tear-jerking tradition, this lavish production looks and feels great, but if you manage to survive the psychological warfare till the bitter end, you will feel empty and short-changed.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

A creaky tearjerker filled with shrill messages about patriotism and anti-war feelings...

March 25, 2003 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

For solid acting, inventive cinematography, superb costuming and historic value, this is a great study.

June 13, 2002 Comment
Zap2it.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Cavalcade

Panarama of a family over many years is not a bad film but certainly not deserving of a Best Picture Oscar.

February 9, 2011
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

Boring! If they wanted to tell the audience what life was like at the beginning of the 20th century without an entertaining story, they should have made a documentary.

September 3, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

Cavalcade Quotes

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