A Tale of Two Cities

Plot synopsis:
=== Book the First: Recalled to Life ===
Dickens's famous opening sentence introduces the universal approach of the book, the French Revolution, and the drama depicted within:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
In 1775, a man flags down the nightly mail-coach on its route from London to Dover. The man is Jerry Cruncher, an employee of Tellson's Bank in London; he carries a message for Jarvis Lorry, a passenger and one of the bank's managers. Mr. Lorry sends Jerry back to deliver a cryptic response to the bank: "Recalled to Life." The message refers to Alexandre Manette, a French physician who has been released from the Bastille after an 18-year imprisonment. Once Mr. Lorry arrives in Dover, he meets with Dr. Manette's daughter Lucie and her governess, Miss Pross. Lucie has believed her father to be dead, and faints at the news that he is alive; Mr. Lorry takes her to France to reunite with him.
In the Paris neighborhood of Saint Antoine, Dr. Manette has been given lodgings by his former servant Ernest Defarge and his wife Therese, owners of a wine shop. Mr. Lorry and Lucie find him in a small garret, where he spends much of his time making shoes—a skill he learned in prison, which he uses to distract himself from his thoughts, and which has become an obsession for him. He does not recognize Lucie at first but does eventually see the resemblance to her mother through her blue eyes and long golden hair, a strand of which he found on his sleeve when he was imprisoned. Mr. Lorry and Lucie take him back to England.
=== Book the Second: The Golden Thread ===
In 1780, French émigré Charles Darnay is on trial for treason against the British Crown. The key witnesses against him are two British spies, John Barsad and Roger Cly, who claim that Darnay gave information about British troops in North America to the French. Barsad states that he would recognize Darnay anywhere, at which point Darnay's defense counsel, Stryver, directs attention to Sydney Carton, a barrister present in the courtroom who looks almost identical to him. With Barsad's eyewitness testimony now discredited, Darnay is acquitted.
In Paris, the hated and abusive Marquis St. Evrémonde orders his carriage driven recklessly fast through the crowded streets, hitting and killing the child of a peasant, Gaspard. The Marquis throws a coin to Gaspard to compensate him for his loss, and Defarge comforts the distraught father, having observed the incident. As the Marquis's coach drives off, the coin is flung back into his coach by an unknown hand, enraging the Marquis.
Arriving at his country château, the marquis meets with his nephew and heir, Darnay. Out of disgust with his aristocratic family, Darnay has shed his real surname and adopted an anglicized version of his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais. The following passage records the Marquis' principles of aristocratic superiority:
"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend," observed the Marquis, "will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof," looking up to it, "shuts out the sky."
That night, Gaspard, who followed the Marquis to his château by riding on the underside of the carriage, stabs and kills him in his sleep. Gaspard leaves a note on the knife saying, "Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from JACQUES." After nearly a year on the run, he is caught and hanged above the village well.
In London, Darnay gets Dr. Manette's permission to wed Lucie; but Carton confesses his love to Lucie as well. Knowing she will not love him in return, Carton promises to "embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you". Stryver, the barrister who defended Darnay and with whom Carton has a working relationship, considers proposing marriage to Lucie, but Mr. Lorry talks him out of the idea.
On the morning of the marriage, Darnay reveals his real name and family lineage to Dr. Manette, a detail he had been asked to withhold until that day. In consequence, Dr. Manette reverts to his obsessive shoemaking after the couple leave for their honeymoon. He returns to sanity before their return, and the whole incident is kept secret from Lucie. Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross destroy the shoemaking bench and tools, which Dr. Manette had brought with him from Paris.
As time passes in England, Lucie and Charles begin to raise a family, a son (who dies in childhood) and a daughter, little Lucie. Mr. Lorry finds a second home and a sort of family with the Darnays. Stryver marries a rich widow with three children and becomes even more insufferable as his ambitions begin to be realized. Carton, even though he seldom visits, is accepted as a close friend of the family and becomes a special favourite of little Lucie.
In July 1789, the Defarges help to lead the storming of the Bastille, a symbol of royal tyranny. Defarge enters Dr. Manette's former cell, "One Hundred and Five, North Tower," and searches it thoroughly. Throughout the countryside, local officials and other representatives of the aristocracy are dragged from their homes to be killed, and the St. Evrémonde château is burned to the ground.
In 1792, Mr. Lorry decides to travel to Paris to collect important documents from the Tellson's branch in that city and bring them to London for safekeeping against the chaos of the French Revolution. Darnay intercepts a letter written by Gabelle, one of his uncle's servants who has been imprisoned by the revolutionaries, pleading for the Marquis to help secure his release. Without telling his family or revealing his position as the new Marquis, Darnay sets out for Paris.
=== Book the Third: The Track of a Storm ===
Shortly after Darnay arrives in Paris, he is denounced for being an emigrated aristocrat from France and jailed in La Force Prison. Dr. Manette, Lucie, little Lucie, Jerry, and Miss Pross travel to Paris and meet Mr. Lorry to try to free Darnay. A year and three months pass, and Darnay is finally tried.
Dr. Manette, viewed as a hero for his imprisonment in the Bastille, testifies on Darnay's behalf at his trial. Darnay is released, only to be arrested again later that day. A new trial begins on the following day, under new charges brought by the Defarges and a third individual who is soon revealed as Dr. Manette. He had written an account of his imprisonment at the hands of Darnay's father and hidden it in his cell; Defarge found it while searching the cell during the storming of the Bastille.
While running errands with Jerry, Miss Pross is amazed to see her long-lost brother Solomon, but he does not want to be recognized in public. Carton suddenly steps forward from the shadows and identifies Solomon as Barsad, one of the spies who tried to frame Darnay for treason at his trial in 1780. Jerry remembers that he has seen Solomon with Cly, the other key witness at the trial and that Cly had faked his death to escape England. By threatening to denounce Solomon to the revolutionary tribunal as a Briton, Carton blackmails him into helping with a plan.
At the tribunal, Defarge identifies Darnay as the nephew of the dead Marquis St. Evrémonde and reads Dr. Manette's letter. Defarge had learned Darnay's lineage from Solomon during the latter's visit to the wine shop several years earlier. The letter describes Dr. Manette's imprisonment at the hands of Darnay's father and uncle for trying to report their crimes against a peasant family. Darnay's uncle had become infatuated with a girl, whom he had kidnapped and raped; despite Dr. Manette's attempt to save her, she died. The uncle killed her husband by working him to death, and her father died from a heart attack on being informed of what had happened. Before he died defending the family honour, the brother of the raped peasant had hidden the last member of the family, his younger sister. The Evrémonde brothers imprisoned Dr. Manette after he refused their offer of a bribe to keep quiet. He concludes his letter by condemning the Evrémondes, "them and their descendants, to the last of their race." Dr. Manette is horrified, but he is not allowed to retract his statement. Darnay is sent to the Conciergerie and sentenced to be guillotined the next day.
Carton wanders into the Defarges' wine shop, where he overhears Madame Defarge talking about her plans to have both Lucie and little Lucie condemned. Carton discovers that Madame Defarge was the surviving sister of the peasant family savaged by the Evrémondes. At night, when Dr. Manette returns, shattered after spending the day in many failed attempts to save Darnay's life, he falls into an obsessive search for his shoemaking implements. Carton urges Lorry to flee Paris with Lucie, her father, and Little Lucie, asking them to leave as soon as he joins them in the coach.
Shortly before the executions are to begin, Solomon sneaks Carton into the prison for a visit with Darnay. The two men trade clothes, and Carton drugs Darnay and has Solomon carry him out. Carton has decided to be executed in his place and has given his own identification papers to Mr. Lorry to present on Darnay's behalf. Following Carton's earlier instructions, the family and Mr. Lorry flee to England with the unconscious Darnay, but not before receiving a note from Carton which allows them to pass the France border.
Meanwhile, Madame Defarge, armed with a dagger and pistol, goes to the Manette residence, hoping to apprehend Lucie and little Lucie and bring them in for execution. However, the family is already gone and Miss Pross stays behind to confront and delay Madame Defarge. As the two women struggle, Madame Defarge's pistol discharges, killing her and causing Miss Pross to go permanently deaf from noise and shock.
The novel concludes with the guillotining of Carton. As he is waiting to board the tumbril, he is approached by a seamstress, also condemned to death, who mistakes him for Darnay (with whom she had been imprisoned earlier) but realizes the truth once she sees him at close range. Awed by his unselfish courage and sacrifice, she asks to stay close to him and he agrees. Upon their arrival at the guillotine, Carton comforts her, telling her that their ends will be quick but that there is no Time or Trouble "in the better land where ... [they] will be mercifully sheltered", and she is able to meet her death in peace. Carton's unspoken last thoughts are prophetic:
I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge, The Vengeance [a lieutenant of Madame Defarge], the Juryman, the Judge, long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.
I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace. I see the good old man [Mr. Lorry], so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward.
I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both.
I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place—then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement—and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Tags: romantic

Review:
"A Tale of Two Cities" is based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
The story is not focused on the plight of the poor in Victorian England as with many of Dickens' novels, but rather an exploration of France prior to and in the wake of the French Revolution.The nice thing about this film is that it has a sense of the scope of the history it portrays but also tells a personal story with connected people from England and France.
The essential story concerns a hunted French aristocrat, an English barrister and a French woman whom they both love.
Importantly this film is in the end a very touching tale of self-sacrifice.Dirk Bogarde is Sydney Carton, the English barrister of the story.
Dorothy Tutin and Paul Guers were also solid leads Lucie Manette as Charles Darnay.
Christopher Lee is well-suited to his oft-played role as a villain, who in this case is a haughty and despicable French aristocrat.
"A Tale of Two Cities" tells a personal story of a group of characters and self-sacrifice but also how France replaced its former repressors with new ones..
A classic film version of a classic novel.
This is a classic film version of one of Dickin's classic novels.
Arguably his best novel (though the critics tend to dismiss it - it has a straightforward plot and structure), it translates into an exceptional film.
For those who don't know the story, it concerns the fortunes of the Manette and St Evremonde families at the time of the French revolution.
In a Romeo and Juliet type situation, Charles Darnay (alias St Evremonde) loves Lucie Manette, whose father Darnay's uncle had wronged.
Now living in London, neither can escape the terrible events in Paris, and they are drawn to a climatic conclusion as the guillotine falls on aristocrat and commoner alike.The real hero of both novel and film is Sydney Carton (Dirk Bogarde), an English lawyer who initially defends Charles Darnay against a charge of treason, and later comes to love Lucie, now married to Darnay.
The conclusion of the story, for Sydney Carton at least, is both tragic and inspiring, and Mr Bogarde certainly does justice to the role..
I've seen one other, more recent version and although Carton's actor had a good go at it, it totally lacked the amazing charisma Bogarde provided for what is one of Dickens' most poignant characters - flawed, fascinating, cynical, damaged but wonderful.It's a crying shame this wasn't filmed in colour since the producers did consider doing so and then didn't.
I suppose it's always possible the lack of colour actually enhances the drama, and for me this story is the most dramatic and poignant of all Dickens - a work of pure genius..
Ralph Thomas' direction makes this the best adaptation.
Summary: Ralph Thomas' direction makes this the best adaptationThe English 1958 interpretation of Charles Dickens' great novel "A Tale of Two Cities", directed by Ralph Thomas, is a really terrific picture, capturing the essence of Dickens' tale deftly.
Thomas' craftily directed black and white adaptation lends itself quite tangibly and nicely to the purposes of the story, I would say more succinctly than the 1935 interpretation directed by Jack Conway.
The earlier adaptation featured as many fine performances (Ronald Coleman, Edna Mae Oliver, Basil Rathbone, Blanche Yurka, etc), and succeeded in special effects and cinematography a little better, perhaps, than THIS picture, but Thomas' directing emphasizes the key points of the original story, and this becomes the better picture as a result.Dirk Bogarde playing Sydney Carton is quite perfect here, and a young Christopher Lee as the conceit driven supercilious Marquis St. Evremonde is fantastic, as is Rosalie Crutchley as the cruel hearted revenge laden Madame Defarge.
In one scene, during the climactic period of the story in the dungeon of the Bastille, Barsad (Donald Pleasence), a character of low repute working for whichever side will use him, finally catches onto the heroism of Mr Carton and holds his hand out for a respectful shake.
. .the real Mr Carton (Dirk Bogarde) touches his shoulder, just enough to convey that a good angel is bringing hope to the world, even to low characters like Basard.
Only the Ronald Colman version is slightly better, but Dirk Bogarde fits this role perfectly, as he does most of his other roles in film.
Although most of the versions of "Tale of Two Cities" are boring, much like the tired renditions of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, this version is like the Herbert Von Karajan or Carlos Kleiber orchestrations that are spectacular and inspiring, as if played for the very first time.
There are beautifully crafted scenes in this film that create an interest in the humanity of the characters.
The courage of these characters' is awe-inspiring and as one of the character's says, Sydney Carton (Bogarde) shows the best that is in us, and is the best of us, in desperate times.
"A Tale of Two Cities" is the remarkable 1859 story by Charles Dickens that appeared as 31 weekly installments in Dickens' own periodical.
The 30s were a great time for Dickens films, including "Oliver Twist" (1933) with Dickie Moore, "Great Expectations" (1934) with Henry Hull and Jane Wyatt, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1935) with Claude Rains, "Scrooge" (1935), "David Copperfield" (1935) with none other than W.
C. Fields, and "A Christmas Carol" (1938) with Reginald Owen.Comparing the 1935 and the 1958 versions - Sydney Carlton – Dirk Bogarde (1958) does a good job, one of his best, but Ronald Coleman (1935) is my preference.Charles Darney – Donald Woods (1935) is the better player.
Paul Guers is a bit wooden for my tastes.Marquis St Evremonde – Basil Rathbone (1935) is one of the best villains anywhere, exceeding even Christopher Lee (1958).Miss Pross – Edna May Oliver (1935) was a hoot, much better than Athene Seyler (1958).Lucie Manette – Dorothy Tutin (1958) and Elizabeth Allen (1935) both do an admirable job.C.J.Stryver – Reginald Owen (1935) is more compelling than Ernest ClarkBoth versions are 2+ hours long and both don't fully represent the richness of the novel.
I think the 1935 versions moves a bit better with fewer lapses, but both films are pretty well paced.
Recall that Dickens' works are extremely long so no film can capture everything.In terms of production values, the 1935 version is surprisingly good, even though producer Selznick put more effort into other films at the time.
The 1958 version, done in black and white, is certainly OK, but not any better than the 1935 version.The 1935 film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Film Editing.
In this bicentennial of Charles Dickens it's a good thing to examine all the versions of A Tale Of Two Cities and see aspects in all of them that reflect on the story telling abilities of Dickens.
In a Tale Of Two Cities his characters come from a generation or two behind Dickens and it might be the only one of his great work that could be classified as historical.
Such is Sydney Carton who starts out in the novel as a supporting player but who gradually in the story moves to the first rank and his deed at the end climaxes the story.The Thirties version of A Tale Of Two Cities at MGM and this 1958 film the Rank Organisation are the two best known.
Even though MGM's was a Hollywood film it was populated by a cast of British expatriates.
Ronald Colman was the Carton of the Thirties and his performance was colored by his impeccable style and good diction.
I've always felt Colman so typified the British people as they like to see themselves and we would all like to be Ronald Colman if we're male and come from that blessed isle.In this version Dirk Bogarde's dissolute drunkenness is emphasized far more than with Colman.
So is his unrequited love for Lucy Manette the French expatriate played here by Dorothy Tutin.
But she loves another, a fellow expatriate Charles Darnay played here by a French actor Paul Guers whom I find to have been dubbed.
He does bare a superficial resemblance to Bogarde and that is the real key to the story of A Tale Of Two Cities.The rest of the cast boasts some of the best British performers around at the time like Cecil Parker, Athene Seyler, Donald Pleasance, and Christopher Lee as a cunning and vicious Marquis St. Evremonde.
The relationship is changed making Lee and Guers cousins as opposed to an uncle and nephew.Rank Organisation went almost whole hog on this film with an impeccable recreation of late Eighteenth century London and Paris.
Whatever else A Tale Of Two Cities is politics and history aside, it's about a man who no one thinks has any great character, but in the end really steps to the plate for the one he loves.
Excellent adaptation, great cast.
Though I gave the 1935 version of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" a higher rating (before seeing this version), I'd have to say that this film, directed by Ralph Thomas, is probably better for the most part.
This movie, done in black and white, captures the atmosphere of the Dickens novel - the filth and the cruelty - beautifully.
The cast is strong: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Donald Pleasance, Ian Bannen, Christopher Lee, Alfie Bass.Though Sydney is one of Ronald Colman's great roles, it also proved to be a great role for Dirk Bogarde.
As much as I love Ronald Colman, he can't quite help but come off as noble, whereas, you really could believe that Bogarde was a drunk and a waste before his final moments.
The end of this particular adaptation is very simple and beautiful.I highly recommend both versions.
The second-best adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities after the 1935 film.
The 1935 film is a classic, and this film from 1958 is very close to that, the second-best adaptation by quite some distance.
It looks very beautiful, the black and white photography skillful and well-suited to the story, the revolutionary scenes are still powerful despite not being in colour.
A Tale of Two Cities is very intelligently scripted with a lot of dramatic weight though occasionally a little on the ponderous side, while the story- even when straight-forwardly adapted- is still as powerful and moving as one would expect, with the ending quite heart-breaking in its tragedy.
Dirk Bogarde is great and very charismatic, plus he probably hasn't been more handsome than he is here.
Dorothy Tutin's Lucie is fetching and heartfelt, Christopher Lee is wonderfully vicious and truly hissable and Rosalie Crutchley brings chills as Madame Dufarge if occasionally a little too histrionic.
And it is true that it deserves to be judged on its own terms, the whole "the book is better" and "any film/TV series that doesn't follow the story to the letter is immediately terrible, and books shouldn't be seemingly improved upon"(Agatha Christie and Jane Austen adaptations are prone to this in particular) are tired old clichés.
I'm old now, and I've been watching films (movies!) since the 1940's!This black and white 1958 version of 'A Tale of Two Cities' is a beautiful love story.
Although we owe the wonderful Charles Dickens all the credit for creating such an outstanding act of bravery by Sydney Carton, I defy anyone to suggest a better actor than Dirk Bogarde to play this part.Dirk Bogarde starts the film as a drunk who has nothing to live for.
Dirk Bogarde does a masterful job of portraying the complex character of Sydney Carton.
As an avid admirer of nineteenth century novelist Charles Dickens' work, with an interest in the French Revolution, then I felt compelled to watch this Rank adaptation of; A Tale of Two Cities, directed by Ralph Thomas.
Although I have not yet read the original novel, I got the impression that this film adaptation of; A Tale of Two Cities stuck as much as possible to the original novel as Dickens intended it to be.We see in this film adaptation of; A Tale of Two Cities the social origins which culminated in the French Revolution.
The over-throwing of the French aristocracy subsequently made way for a new elitist ruling class to emerge in the form of industrialists and businessmen, thereby creating a new type of class consciousness for modernity.As to the acting in the film, it is an eclectic bunch of British character actors playing the parts.
Bogarte illustrates that he is able to become the character he plays in such films as; The Blue Lamp' (1950), where he acts the part of villain Tom Riley with a real and definite intensity.
If there was to be any accolades for acting in; A Tale of Two Cities, it would go to the actor, Christopher Lee who played the part of the bombastic French nobleman,Marquis St. Evremonde .If the film is going to be defined as worthy of watching, it is due to the director's ability to keep close to the original Dickens novel..
This is a straightforward version shot in black and white with some location shooting at Loire Valley in France.Pinewood Studios is used effectively enough, it is uniformly well acted and Bogarde gives an effective enough performance as the lead and a young Christopher Lee is a hiss-able French Aristocrat.The story deals with the strands of the two most notable characters in the novel by Charles Dickens.
Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton.
Darnay is a French aristocrat who turns his back to the life of wealth and privilege but falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution when the reign of terror begins.Carton is an English barrister with a taste for drink who attempts to redeem his misspent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife.There is not much humour in the film because of the subject matter but the pared down story does do the film justice..
There are differences between this film and Dickens's novel and other film adaptations.
The narrative is coherent and convincing, despite the unlikely premise of the ending of the story - and you can blame that on Dickens.
Another reviewer has complained that Darnay and Carton were not played by the same actor.
The excellent Dorothy Tutin puts in a convincing performance as the beautiful Lucie and the supporting cast is generally very good.
A Far, Far Better Role for Dirk Bogarde.
This version of Charles Dickens' classic "A Tale of Two Cities" betters the 1935 film in some ways, and equals it in others.
The earlier version, which starred Ronald Colman, aspired to become a "Yuletide" tale (including Christmas songs), while this one "blessedly" plays it more straightforward.
The most grievous error is very plain to see The way to distinguish this production would have been to shoot it in color, which they had the money to do, and did not.Looking beautiful in black and white or color, dissipated English barrister Dirk Bogarde (as Sydney Carton) defends suspected French spy Paul Guers (as Charles Darnay) while falling in love with his client's fetching fiancée, Dorothy Tutin (as Lucie Manette).
The casting of the three leads is very much like Mr. Colman's MGM version.
Mr. Bogarde is excellent, playing "Sydney Carton" in a lower key makes him more believable in this film's context, and draws you closer.
Another mistake is not having Bogarde play both "Sydney Carton" and "Charles Darnay" (the latter is played, herein, by Mr. Guers and a dubbed voice).
Bogarde could have easily played both roles.******* A Tale of Two Cities (2/28/58) Ralph Thomas ~ Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Paul Guers, Rosalie Crutchley.
I always thought Dirk Bogarde (Bogarde NOT Bogarte) was a lightweight actor with occasional flashes of excellence.I always thought Ronald Coleman was a great movie star who could act a bit.Having said that I prefer Coleman's version of 'Lost Horizon' to the others and I think his performance as Carton shades Bogarde.
Bogarde's best performances were in 'The Night Porter' and 'The Victim'There was, however, a version of this movie (maybe made for TV) with John Mills playing Carton - easily the best..
Mr Dirk Bogarde was impossibly handsome in 1958.Photographed by Ernest Steward who,along with director Ralph Thomas,was to have a long professional association with him,he was,at 38,at the peak of his physical beauty,and well on the way along his journey from matinée idol to serious actor.In "A Tale of Two Cities" he plays Sidney Carton,a rather louche London lawyer who finds redemption in the turmoil of the French Revolution.It is as near a perfect adaptation of Dickens' novel as you could hope to find,and one of the masterpieces of 1950s British Cinema.
Of the triumvirate of English actors on top of the heap in 1958 only Mr Bogarde could possibly have played him.Mr More would have been too chirpy,Mr Hawkins too intense.So it was left to the youngest of the three to play one of the nineteenth century's most popular fictional heroes and to speak Charles Dickens' best known valediction,which he does exquisitely..
A TALE OF TWO CITIES is the British 1958 version of the Dickens novel, shot in black and white and with an all-star cast by prolific director Ralph Thomas.
The cast is full of seemingly every character actor going, with the likes of a villainous Christopher Lee and a slightly sinister Donald Pleasence standing out.
Dirk Bogarde stars in one of his most sympathetic turns and the film doesn't shy away from the more brutal moments of the book.
Parts of the story are out of order, characters consistently appear in places they do not appear in the text, and Lucie does not meet Darnay on the Dover Mail in the text.
This misguided interpretation has her seeing Sydney long before the trial that opens Book the Second and mistaking him for Charles.
As an English teacher who holds this as one of her favorite books of all time, I wish I had never watched this version.