Cavalcade Beat Sheet

Cavalcade Movie Poster

Here is my attempt at the Beat Sheet for Cavalcade (1933). If you would like more information about beat sheets and the 15 beats every great movies shares, check out this page. 

Opening Image – An image of a coin bearing Queen Victoria’s image and a note which says: “This is the story of a home and a family … history seen through the eyes of a wife and mother whose love tempers both fortune and disaster… As 1899 ends, England is at war with the Boers in South Africa, but the tide of battle is against her… It is a national emergency… New Year’s Eve…our London family, sheltered through two generations of Victorian prosperity, awaits the headlong cavalcade of the Twentieth Century…” The scene then opens on Big Ben at night in the fog, rining 11:45 and then moves to a grandfather house in an old home.

Set-up – We meet the husband and wife and their children along with the servant and his wife and daughter. The husband and the servant are heading off to war with the Boers. Both wives don’t want them to go. They all celebrate New Years at the millennium together and then march off to a ship to fight in Africa.

Theme Stated  – When Robert Marryott says, "Give the future a chance," to his wife Jane, she replies, " We don't know if there is to be a future." This is repeated throughout the movie mainly by the women when talking about love with the men. It is echoed in the song "Twentieth Century Blues": In this hurly burly of insanity, our dreams can not last long.
 

Catalyst – The men have to leave to go to war.
 
Debate – The women don’t want the men to go but they explain that they must.
 
Break Into Two  – The men head off on the ship to Africa and the women are left behind .

B Story – The love story is between the husband and wife, Robert and Jane Marryot. They represent the solidity of  the 19th century as opposed to the changes in the early twentieth century.

Fun and Games –  The men return and life continues as before for the Marryots. Queen Victoria dies which has a huge impact on the nation. Then the Bridges leave service to start their own pub. 

Midpoint - Alfred Bridges is killed by the Coach driving through the streets.  

Bad Guys Close In – Edward and Edith die on the Titanic. Joey then joins the military to fight in World War I. 

All is Lost – Joey's dies right before the armistice at the end of World War I. 

Dark Night of the Soul – Jane Marryot, Joey's Mother has to deal with the loss of her second child. 

Break Into Three – Life continues after their losses, but the world is changing. Men return from the war hurt physically and mentally. The government is shown as corrupt. The society is moving away from God. They've got the 'Twentieth Century Blues' according to the song sung by Fanny Bridges. 

Finale – Robert and Jane share New Year’s Eve together in 1933. Everything passes, even time. Robert still believes in the future. They are older and happy together. Jane gives a toast to: "The future of England. Let’s couple the future of England with the past of England. Let us drink to our sons who made part of the pattern, and our hearts which died with them. Drink to the hope that this country of ours which we love so much will find dignity and greatness and peace again."

There is a montage of music and preachers and the deaths and the war and the world leaders, and there is a cacophony while Fanny is singing. Then the scene returns to the two of them drinking to  dignity, greatness, and peace. 

Final Image – People gathered on New Years Eve to sing Auld Lang Syne. They go out on their balcony and the husband gives her a really sweet kiss, then they have their heads tougher as they look up in the sky to a cross on top of St. Paul’s  and God Saves the Queen plays while the bell rings.