A Tale of Two Cities (1958)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 117 minuten
Country:
United Kingdom
Directed by: Ralph Thomas
Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin and Cecil Parker
IMDb score:
7,1 (1.764)
Releasedate: 7 February 1958
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
A Tale of Two Cities plot
Sydney Carton, a British lawyer, lives a volatile and unhappy existence. Lucie Manette, to whom he is deeply attracted, marries Charles Darnay. When Charles goes to Paris to rescue a captive relative, he also finds himself in trouble. During the violent French Revolution, Charles is imprisoned and even sentenced to the guillotine. Out of love for Lucie, whom he can't have but still loves, Sydney Carton devises a daring plan to save her husband. Based on a story by Charles Dickens.
Actors and actresses
Sydney Carton
Lucie Manette
Charles Darnay
Marie Gabelle
Gabelle
Jarvis Lorry
Dr. Manette
Miss Pross
Jerry Cruncher
Gaspard
Reviews & comments
mister blonde
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- 12709 messages
- 5848 votes
I'll try to tell you something more about this film anyway, since I'll never get high up in the top 100 opinions like this.
This is a classic case; I can easily imagine the book being better. It has the potential to be a great story, but that only became apparent towards the end. In the first hour (!), I saw a dull, rather dry retelling of a story that I really couldn't stand. In that respect, this is a film that relies 90% on the story, and that doesn't work out well initially. The decent visuals and decent acting barely help the film along.
After the French Revolution, things get much more interesting. The visuals really help the film along. While a book leaves it to the reader's imagination (which is one of the main reasons to read), here it's still enjoyable to see the visuals. The many extras and the large sets in the recreated streets of Paris are worth seeing. Bogard is quite strong. The larger supporting roles aren't particularly strong, while smaller roles by Lee (!), Pleasence, and a few other well-known actors (whose names I honestly don't know) are really very worthwhile.
The ending is particularly beautiful. The switching is very clever, and the execution poetic (and clearly literary) and truly magnificent. In the film, it certainly worked very well. Very beautiful, and it saves the film. Still, three stars for that. Lean made stronger Dickens adaptations. That's true.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Roger Thornhill
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- 6073 messages
- 2478 votes
A solid, luxuriously designed, and highly respectable film adaptation that's just missing something – perhaps it's "the spark," perhaps a clearer explanatory framework that would make the film easier to follow, because although I'd read the book (admittedly years ago), I struggled to pinpoint the relationships between the characters, the various plotlines, the historical context, and sometimes even which country a scene took place in. (The average English cinemagoer of the time would have had this book drilled into them at school and therefore certainly had fewer problems with it.) Dirk Bogarde is perfect for the lead role of the man who loathes himself but ultimately does something "far, far better than I have ever done," the supporting actors do admirably (with the exception of the insignificant Paul Guers as Darnay), and the last half hour is quite compelling. All in all, this is a film that's as good as expected, but not as great as hoped. A small role for Sacha Pitoëff as Gaspard, Christopher Lee's murderer, three years before he would star in the film for which he is best remembered, The Last Year at Marienbad.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Lovelyboy
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- 3954 messages
- 2956 votes
Sunday evening classic night, I got to work on this A Tale of Two Cities and with that, a thrift store find inspired by such a title that you don't often come across, and the cast did the rest.
The opening scene of the carriage against a dark backdrop is beautiful, something that immediately reminds me of John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath. Besides that, the cast stands out, including Bogarde, Christopher Lee, and Donald Pleasence. Of course, it's a captivating time, with the French Revolution and a troubled Sydney who is unhappy with his life and, incidentally, acquits the man whose wife he's in love with. And of course, much more follows, focusing primarily on the various social classes, sometimes subtly revealed, escalating into riots, revolution, a turbulent city, and a full-blown battle where the guillotine tastes good for the blood of the condemned.
But ultimately, it means very little to me. It doesn't hold my interest for a moment, and I'll be glad when the knife finally falls. No, despite all the quality, a story by Charles Dickens at that, I have no connection whatsoever with it and therefore struggle to give it a passing grade.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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