Cavalcade [VHS]
The winner of 1934's Best Picture Oscar proves that the Academy hasn't changed its tune much in 50-plus years. Though films of that year, such asKing Kong, still remain in the public psyche,Cavalcade, which is rarely seen now, fits the Academy's bill as an "important" film, one worthy of the Best Picture title. It chronicles the life of two British families, from the eve of the 20th century to 1933. One family is upstairs, the other downstairs, but it's less a view of the class struggle than a remembrance of things past. People honeymoon on theTitanic, they fight in the War to End All Wars, and they seem to entirely avoid the 1920s. Based upon Noel Coward's play, young couples banter using frightfully high-tea terms--everyone's "dreadful," "horrid," or "pathetic." A final montage tirade about the decrepit state of the times (hey, they did it back then, too!) almost knocks the legs out from under the whole proceedings, but it holds on. Stiff upper lip and all that.--Keith Simanton