The World Moves On

A would-be epic tale, starting in 1825 with two cotton merchant families uniting in a pact to protect their mutual interests, then jumping forward almost a hundred years to find the families on opposite sides of the first World War. After the war, the survivors reunite and reaffirm the pact, becoming titans of industry before the crash of 1929 wipes them out.

Franchot Tone is decent as the de-facto lead, but a stronger presence would have been welcome, as it takes far too long to feel any kind of investment in the characters. That said, the post-war scenes are well done, so much so that they almost redeem the movie, but then the preachy finale kills it.