1932/33 Best Picture:
Cavalcade

Other Winners:

Best Actor:  Charles Laughton, The Private Life of Henry VIII
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn, Morning Glory
Best Director: Frank Lloyd, Cavalcade

Cast: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Conner, Herbert Mundin, Beryl Mercer, Irene Brown, Tempe Pigott, Ursala Jeans

Storyline: A stoic British family and their servants suffer through the tragedies of progress during the first thirty years of the twentieth century.  The film opens on the eve of 1900, chronicling the Boer War,  the Titanic, World War I and the roaring twenties.   

Did it deserve to win: From what I can see, maybe!  Cavalcade is sadly dated, no longer offering the promise of being the 'picture of a generation'.  Originally a play by Noel Coward, this film runs like a stage play of the day, with overly long speeches, high drama and dialogue.  

In its day, however, it captured something that was very real to the audience.  The events mentioned were memories to a lot these people, just as the events in Forrest Gump have a personal connection the people of its era.

Several films in contention for Best Picture, remain classics to this day, but perhaps the one that should have won was Frank Capra's classic, Lady for a Day, his first bona fide hit.  

Critique: As entertainment, Cavalcade fails to hold up any longer.  As mentioned, the style of this film is very dated and I fear might be a bit of yawn for most movie lovers.  The scenes are long.  There is no action, only talk of it.  And the acting is a bit stiff.  

Film buffs and historians, on the other hand, might find some interest in this film, as it talks to events of the day from a perspective no longer available, as many of the witnesses are long deceased, and events since have eclipsed them.  

Best Scene:  "The Twentieth Century Blues!"  Ursala Jeans, as Fanny, sings this song in a speakeasy, on the eve of the 1930's, amidst upsetting flashes of war, progress and upheaval.   The scene, and the film, end, with a cut to an elderly Mr. and Mrs. Marryot, toasting the future,  urging better times ahead.  Little did they know that Adolf Hitler was forming his power in Germany during the release of this film. 

Behind the Scenes: Hollywood defied all logic that year, with studios making huge profits, despite an economic depression that was crippling the rest of the world.  This was proof that a man would spend his last dime on a movie, if only it would take him away from his own troubles. 

Louella Parsons declared Cavalcade, 'greater even than Birth of a Nation'.  Of course, Cavalcade didn't end with the Clan marching in to save the day.  It also wasn't popular with audiences. Despite Cavalcade's success with critics, it didn't represent the box office boom that Hollywood was experiencing. 

Cavalcade is the only film that Diana Wynard was ever nominated for.  Most of her work was on the British stage.  During the 1940's, she was married to Sir Carol Reed, Best Director Oscar winner in 1968 for Oliver.

This was the first year that the Academy Award officially became 'Oscar', when Walt Disney referred to it as such upon accepting the Best Cartoon award for The Three Little Pigs. Bette Davis was among the many who took credit for the nickname, claiming that the statue looked like the backside of her current husband.  

The Production Code was starting to carry some weight by this time, and American film makers were starting to feel pressure to lighten up the risqué material.  The British import, The Private Life of Henry VIII, introduced American audiences to Charles Laughton, playing the title role of the slovenly king, to critical and box office success.  It was suggested that the film did well, as it wasn't required to answer to the strict rules that were now being enforced.

The Best Actress winner was a brazen young woman from the East coast, Katherine Hepburn.  Hepburn, who won for playing the ingénue in  Morning Glory, shocked audiences and her co-workers with her strange behavior off screen, which included wearing pants.  Hepburn didn't play the movie star game, refusing to partake in interviews, studio publicity, and Hollywood parties.  She began her tradition of not showing up for the Oscar's, setting sail for Europe on the night of the ceremony.

Will Rogers announced the Best Director award by saying "Come and get it, Frank."  Frank Capra, who was nominated for Lady for a Day, rose from his seat amidst cheers from the crowd.  It was to his disappointment, and his embarrassment, that Rogers was talking about Frank Lloyd.

Mrs. Maryot sends a son off to fight.  She recently lost her other son to the sea, as he was honeymooning on the Titanic.

Life isn't kind to Mrs. Maryot.  The war's end brings more terrible news.

Check out these titles for sale on VHS and DVD!

Also in 1932-33:

November 8, 1932: F.D. Roosevelt wins the presidential election with a landslide victory.

January 30, 1933: Adolf Hitler is named the German Chancellor.

March 4, 1933:  Roosevelt recites the famous line, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

April 1, 1933:  Germany enforces a ban on Jewish merchants.

December 1933: Will Hayes appoints Joseph Breen to the head of the Hayes Committee after pressure from religious groups.

December 5, 1933: Prohibition comes to an end!