The story is set in France and England and spans several years before and during the French Revolution. It deals with the evils that precipitated the Revolution and with an innocent family and their friends caught up in the horrors of the Terror. Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who has rejected his rank and moved to England, and Sydney Carton, an alcoholic English advocate, both fall in love with Lucie Manette. Lucie has brought her father to England to recover from 18 years of unjust imprisonment in the Bastille. Lucie befriends Carton and later marries Darnay. In the end, Carton saves Darnay's life by taking his place at the guillotine. The film is generally regarded as the best cinematic version of Dickens' novel and one of the best performances of Colman's career.[2]
Plot
The film opens with a portion of the famous introduction to the novel: “ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us... In short, it was a period very like the present...” Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) and her servant and companion Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver) are informed by elderly banker Mr. Jarvis Lorry (Claude Gillingwater) that her father, Dr. Alexandre Mannette (Henry B. Walthall) is not dead, but has been a prisoner in the Bastille for eighteen years before finally being rescued. She travels with Mr. Lorry to Paris to take her father to her home in England. Dr. Manette has been cared for by a former servant, Ernest De Farge (Mitchell Lewis), and his wife (Blanche Yurka) who own a wine shop in Paris. The old man's mind has given way during his long ordeal, but Lucie's tender care begins to restore his sanity.
On the return trip across the English Channel, Lucie meets Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), a French aristocrat who, unlike his uncle, the Marquis St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone), is sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed and impoverished French masses. He has denounced his uncle, relinquished his title, changed his name and is going to England to begin a new life. The marquis has Darnay framed for treason, but he is defended by barrister C.J. Stryver (Reginald Owen) and his highly proficient but cynical colleague Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman). Carton goes drinking with Barsad (Walter Catlett), the main prosecution witness and tricks him into admitting that he framed Darnay. When Barsad is called to testify, he is horrified to discover that Carton is a member of the defense. He recants his testimony to save himself, and Darnay is acquitted.
Following the trial, Carton is thanked by Lucie. He quickly falls in love with her. Darnay confesses to Dr. Manette he is the nephew of the Marquis St. Evremonde; Manette forgives him, but reserves the right to tell Lucie himself. On their way to church, Lucie meets Carton and invites him to join them and he accepts. Afterwards, she invites him into their home to celebrate Christmas, but he declines because he has been drinking. Lucie and Carton eventually become close friends. Carton has hopes that Lucie will requite his love, but one day she tells him that she is engaged to Darnay.
Lucie and Darnay marry and have a daughter, also named Lucie, who is very fond of Carton. By this time, the French Revolution is beginning. Charles' uncle, the Marquis St. Evremond is one of its first victims, stabbed in his sleep by a man whose child had been fatally run down by his coach. The long-suffering peasants vent their fury on the aristocrats, condemning scores daily to Madame Guillotine. Darnay is tricked into returning to Paris and is arrested. Lucie and Dr. Manette travel to Paris to save Darnay. Manette pleads for mercy for his son-in-law, but Madame De Farge, seeking revenge against all the Evremondes, convinces the tribunal to sentence Darnay to death, using a letter Dr. Manette wrote while in prison, cursing and denouncing the entire Evremonde family.
Upon learning of Darnay's imprisonment, Carton travels to Paris to comfort Lucie. Carton consults Mr. Lorry and tells him of his plan to rescue Darnay. Carton discovers Barsad is also in Paris and works as a spy in the prisons. Carton overcomes Barsad's reluctance to help him with his scheme to rescue Darnay by threatening to reveal that Barsad had been a spy for the Marquis St. Evremonde. Barsad takes Carton to visit Darnay in his cell; Carton renders Darnay unconscious with ether, switches clothes with him, and finishes the letter Darnay has been writing to Lucie and puts it in Darnay's pocket. Darnay is carried out of the cell without anyone noticing the switch.
While Lucie prepares to return to England, Madame De Farge goes to provoke her into denouncing the Republic, but she is intercepted by Miss Pross inside the now-vacated apartment. Pross knows why Madame De Farge has come and is determined to stop her. The two women fight and De Farge pulls out a pistol, but in the ensuing struggle, Pross kills her. Darnay, Lucie, little Lucie, Lorry, and Pross all escape safely.
While awaiting execution, a condemned, innocent seamstress (Isabel Jewell) who was sentenced at the same time as Darnay, notices Carton has assumed his identity. She draws comfort from his bravery and sacrifice as they ride together to the guillotine. As Carton stands at the foot of the guillotine, drums roll and then fade away as the camera rises up past the guillotine to the city and the sky above. His voice is heard saying, "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known."
Cast
Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton. Colman had long wanted to play Sydney Carton on film. He was even willing to shave off his moustache.[3]
Filming ran from June 4, 1935, to August 19, 1935[4] The picture premiered in New York City on December 15, 1935.
The closing credits spell the name De Farge. Dickens spelled it Defarge in the novel.
According to TCM's Genevieve McGillicuddy, “Selznick had no trouble finding a lead actor... Ronald Colman had coveted the part since he began his career and knew the novel intimately. In an interview seven years before being cast as Sydney Carton, Colman reflected on Dickens' forte for characterization, stating that Carton 'has lived for me since the first instant I discovered him in the pages of the novel.' "[5]
In the book, Carton and Darnay are supposed to be as alike as twins. According to TCM, Selznick wanted Colman to play both roles, but Colman refused because of his experience with The Masquerader (1933). Selznick later commented, "I am glad now that he held out for that, because I think a great deal of the illusion of the picture might have been lost had Colman rescued Colman and had Colman gone to the guillotine so that Colman could go away with Lucie." In 1937, Colman did play a dual role for Selznick in The Prisoner of Zenda.[2]
Andre Sennwald wrote in The New York Times of December 26, 1935: "Having given us 'David Copperfield', Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer now heaps up more Dickensian magic with a prodigally stirring production of 'A Tale of Two Cities' ... For more than two hours it crowds the screen with beauty and excitement, sparing nothing in its recital of the Englishmen who were caught up in the blood and terror of the French Revolution ... The drama achieves a crisis of extraordinary effectiveness at the guillotine, leaving the audience quivering under its emotional sledge-hammer blows ... Ronald Colman gives his ablest performance in years as Sydney Carton and a score of excellent players are at their best in it... Only Donald Woods's Darnay is inferior, an unpleasant study in juvenile virtue. It struck me, too, that Blanche Yurka was guilty of tearing an emotion to tatters in the rôle of Madame De Farge... you can be sure that 'A Tale of Two Cities' will cause a vast rearranging of ten-best lists."[6]
Lucie Manette is a character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities.
Madame Thérèse Defarge is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. She is a ringleader of the tricoteuses, a tireless worker for the French Revolution, memorably knitting beside the guillotine during executions. She is the wife of Ernest Defarge.
Doctor Alexandre Manette is a character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities. He is Lucie's father, a brilliant physician, and spent eighteen years "in secret" as a prisoner in the Bastille prior to the French Revolution. He is imprisoned because in the course of his medical practice he learns of abusive actions by two members of the aristocratic Evrémonde family. While realizing the power at court of nobles such as the Evrémondes, Manette reports them to a minister of the royal government. He is seized from his young family and imprisoned under a lettre de cachet.
Sydney Carton is a central character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities. He is a shrewd young Englishman educated at Shrewsbury School, and sometime junior to his fellow barrister Stryver. Carton is portrayed as a brilliant but depressed and cynical drunkard who is full of self-loathing because of what he sees as his wasted life. He feels a deep unrequited love for Lucie Manette, who nevertheless inspires him to try to be a better person. Near the end of the novel, Carton manages to change places with Lucie's husband, Charles Darnay, hours before Darnay's scheduled execution in France, giving his life for Lucie's sake. Later, Lucie and Charles name their second son after Carton.
Charles Darnay, Charles D'Aulnais or Charles St. Evrémonde is a fictional character in the 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.
Ernest Defarge is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1958 British film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde and Dorothy Tutin. It is a period drama based on parts of Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859).
A Tale of Two Cities is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello based on the 1859 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens.
Jeremiah "Jerry" Cruncher is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities.
John Barsad is a character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
Jarvis Lorry is a character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
Miss Pross is a character in Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities.
C.J. Stryver is a character in Charles Dickens's 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities and in the television and film adaptations of the story. He is a barrister in London, with the character Sydney Carton working under him.
The Only Way is a 1926 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring John Martin Harvey, Madge Stuart and Betty Faire. It was adapted from the play The Only Way which was itself based on the 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. John Martin Harvey had been playing Carton in the play since 1899 and it was his most popular work. It cost £24,000 to make and was shot at Twickenham Studios. The film was a commercial success and reportedly took over £53,000 in its first two years on release. It was a particularly notable achievement given the collapse in British film production between the Slump of 1924 and the passage of the Cinematograph Films Act 1927 designed to support British film making.
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1980 American historical drama film made for TV, directed by Jim Goddard and starring Chris Sarandon, who plays dual roles as two characters who are in love with the same woman. It is based on the 1859 Charles Dickens novel of the same name set in the French Revolution.
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1917 American silent historical drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring William Farnum, Jewel Carmen, and Charles Clary. The film is based on Charles Dickens' 1859 novel of the same name, which has been filmed a number of times.
A Tale of Two Cities is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1980. It is an adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Paul Shelley plays the duel roles of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, the first actor to do so since William Farnum in the 1917 silent adaptation. Two weeks later, an American production was released featuring Chris Sarandon in the same duel roles.
A Tale of Two Cities is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1965. It is an adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Out of the 10 episodes produced, 8 are believed to be lost. Episodes 2 and 3 survive, and various promotional photographs and productions stills featuring the actors in costume are available online.
A Tale of Two Cities is a British-French television series which first aired on ITV in 1989. It is an adaptation of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
References
1 2 Glancy, H. Mark (1999). When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939–1945. Manchester University Press.
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