6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot.
Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin, Beryl MercerDrama | 100% |
Epic | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Cavalcade hasn’t aged particularly well, and remains one of the least likely films to win a Best Picture Academy Award, but in certain ways might be thought of as the Downton Abbey of its era. Noël Coward had already made his mark as an actor, song writer and a playwright by the time he wrote the stage version of Cavalcade in 1931. But despite occasional forays into the dramatic (and the lurid) in such outings as The Vortex, Coward was probably best known for his brisk comedy as well as for being a social critic masquerading as a social butterfly. Cavalcade was therefore rather unusual for its writer and was certainly Coward’s most ambitious stage production to date (and arguably of his entire career), a gargantuan enterprise featuring a cast and crew of several hundred (unthinkable in today’s economic climate), with a storyline spanning several decades in the life of an upper crust British family as well as a couple who in the opening scenes at least are their servants. The West End staging was highlighted by an impressive physical production featuring a then revolutionary set of hydraulic controls moving huge sets around to create a fluid, one might say cinematic, experience. Perhaps ironically when the play was adapted as a film (by Fox, before the advent of 20th Century), the proceedings became somehow more intimate, despite a large scale production that took full advantage of the medium, but now with the overwhelming scope and “cast of thousands” consigned largely to the sidelines, montages, or for interstitial bridging elements. The film will seem awfully creaky to modern day eyes, especially for those cynical types whose jaundiced views may lead to patent eye rolling as a series of “veddy, veddy” British types espouse the time honored traditions of faith, endurance, King and family.
Cavalcade is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. How you feel about this high definition presentation is probably going to depend on whether you're a glass half full or half empty kind of person. This is obviously a very old film without surviving original elements, and despite its impressive Oscar pedigree, it simply may not have been curated very effectively through the years. I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps we're dealing with an older master that was sourced at least in part from dupe elements, as evidenced by some really fuzzy imagery and overwhelming grain some of the time (see screenshot six for just one good example of this tendency). That said, the film actually looks surprisingly good when taken as a whole. Contrast is generally excellent, though it tends to fluctuate, especially in the early going. The first twelve minutes or so of the film have some noticeable print through as well as density fluctuations which create a sort of flicker. Blacks and gray scale are generally extremely commendable. While fine detail never really pops incredibly, one has to have realistic expectations when considering the technology of the era, and generally speaking the image is decently sharp given that realization. There are some persistent scratches that may bother some, including one that lasts intermittently for several minutes at a time toward the right side of the frame. There are a lot of opticals scattered throughout this picture, and as should be expected, they have much increased grain and softness here. A BD-50 and rather healthy bitrate deliver an artifact free presentation that easily handles even the busy action montages.
Cavalcade features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix that delivers both dialogue and Coward's songs rather well, considering the film's age, though there's no getting past the tinny, boxy sound that simply is endemic to this era of sound recording. More problematic is some persistent distortion in the upper midrange which occasionally interrupts the smooth flow of the soundtrack. The film has surprisingly wide dynamic range for a film of this era, and the lossless rendering supports that very well.
Cavalcade can't quite overcome its theatrical origins and the conventions of the time in which it was made, but that makes it all the more surprising that the film is as moving as it is. There's no denying that Cavalcade is a bit of a "downer", and one almost shudders to think of what Coward would have done with these families through the rest of the tumultuous twentieth century. Fox has done a largely commendable job in bringing this vaunted older film to Blu-ray. Image and audio quality are probably the best we can expect given the age and shape of the elements. Recommended.
1944
1932
2009
30th Anniversary Edition
1981
1948
2011
2014
1925
Limited Edition to 3000
1987
2018
2010
2015
1960
1936
Fox Studio Classics
1941
1928
2011
1942
2006
Collector's Edition
1982