SummaryA portrayal of the triumphs and tragedies of two English families, the upper-crust Marryots and the working-class Bridgeses, from 1899 to 1933.
Directed By:Frank Lloyd
Written By:Noël Coward, Reginald Berkeley
Cavalcade
Metascore
Generally Favorable
73
User score
Available after 4 ratings
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
73
77% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
23% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
A rare beauty. Noel Coward, in an atypically serious venture, traces 30 years of a British family's life.
100
However moved or indifferent one may be to the joys and heartaches of the very British Marryots, Bridges, their butler, and Ellen, his wife: Cavalcade is a necessary addition to one's cinematic education as an example of screen technique at its best. [15 Apr 1933, p.22]
90
It is unfurled with such marked good taste and restraint that many an eye will be misty after witnessing this production.
88
Noel Coward's Cavalcade, a rich nostalgic look at a vanished way of life, vividly details the period through the travails of an upper and a lower class family between New Year's Eve 1899 and New Year's Eve 1932. [09 Mar 2003, p.9]
75
Cavalcade's anti-war message is presented with more subtlety than that in Wings and All Quiet on the Western Front. The story is more concerned with the potential of death than it is with actual tragedy - how those left behind live in a constant state of anxiety, never knowing if their loved one is going to appear on a casualty list.
50
In picture form, Cavalcade is a superlative newsreel, forcibly strengthened by factual scenes, good music, and wonderful photography. It is marred by pat and obvious dramatic climaxes, and by a conclusion which is anti-climactical and meaningless.
40
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, at Coward's insistence, slavishly followed the Drury Lane production.
User score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
0% Positive
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
33% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
67% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 27, 2025
6
Como puntos positivos podría ser su premisa, la cual cuenta varios momentos de Inglaterra, especialmente con respecto a las guerras, y cómo estas se volvieron parte de la cultura de ese país. Eso significa que las personas que vivieron en esas épocas tuvieron que acostumbrarse al dolor, a la desesperanza y a la incertidumbre. En papel suena interesante, no hay duda, pero en pantalla no es así. Al final, para mostrar estas emociones, se basan en las relaciones superficiales que cambian sí con cada guerra o nuevo encuentro, pero que al existir tantos cambios, no se profundiza en ninguno. Cada guerra tiene como una historia principal o a la que se le da más énfasis, pero cuando empiezas a entender a esos personajes, ahora se trata de otros. Eso logra que la película sea aburrida, te corta tus sentimientos. Quieres comprometerte, quieres entender a los personajes, y cuando parece que sucede, empieza de nuevo, totalmente decepcionado.
Jan 10, 2026
2
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).
Production Company:
- Fox Film Corporation
Release Date:Apr 15, 1933
Duration:1 h 52 m
Rating:TV-G
Tagline:THE PICTURE OF THE GENERATION! (original print ad-all caps)
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
Photoplay Awards
• 4 Wins & 4 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination





























