Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Cavalcade

(1933)

This was based on a play by Noel Coward that, according to Robert Osborne at TMC, was a huge spectacle with carriages, horses, a London double-decker bus, and hundreds and hundreds of spear-carriers. It was a huge success, and so was the movie adaptation, which is also vast and populated with thousands. It follows a family from 1899 to 1933, through war and upheaval, death and birth. It’s a good film, and won the Oscar for Best Picture, but I would have preferred 42nd Street, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, or The Private Life of Henry VIII.