Cavalcade story
Cavalcade is a 1933 American epic pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd. The screenplay by Reginald Berkeley and Sonya Levien is based on the 1931 play of the same title by Noël Coward. The film stars Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook. The story presents a view of English life during the first third of the 20th century from New Year's Eve 1899 to New Year's Day 1933, from the point of view of well-to-do London residents Jane and Robert Marryot, their children, their close friends, and their servants. Several historical events affect the lives of the characters or serve as background for the film, including the Second Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and World War I. Throughout the film, the passage of years is indicated by dates on title cards, with a Medieval cavalcade marching in the background.
27 total · 1 choice · 9 major · 17 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| life in late modern Britain | choice | The story presents a view of English life during the first third of the 20th century from New Year's Eve 1899 to New Year's Day 1933. The events were shown from the point of view of well-to-do London residents Jane and Robert Marryot, their children, their close friends, and their servants. |
| historical event | major | The story begins during the time of the Second Boer War, 1899-1902. It shows various people's reactions to the war. [Second Boer War] |
| human aspiration | major | Fanny had a strong passion for dancing from the time she was a little girl, and eventually made a career out of it. |
| husband and wife | major | Robert and Jane Marryot are at the center of the story. Alfred and Ellen Bridges were central as well. |
| master and servant | major | The Marryot family interacted with the butler and his family throughout. |
| parent and child | major | Robert and Jane, the patriarch and matriarch of the Marryot family, raised their two boys to adulthood. Alfred and Ellen likewise raised their daughter, Fanny, to womanhood. |
| romantic love | major | Edward and Edith fell in love and got married, but their lives took a tragic turn when they chose to honeymoon aboard the Titanic. The childhood friends Joe and Fanny fell in love, but the rigid class hierarchy of the time, not to mention Joe's death in combat during the Great War, kept them from ever tying the knot. |
| social inequality | major | Arguably a point of the story was to compare and contrast the wealthy Marryot family with the poorer family of their butler, the Bridges. |
| the horrors of war | major | Two wars transformed the lives of the two families at the center of the story. Robert Marryot and Alfred Bridges went to fight in the Boer War, and returned unscathed but hardly unchanged. Joe Marryot was killed in the Great War. The story showed soldiers marching and bombs being dropped on civilians. |
| World War I | major | The latter part of the story took part during the Great War. |