A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film)
Encyclopedia
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935
film based upon Charles Dickens
' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities
. The film stars Ronald Colman
as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods
and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting players include Basil Rathbone
, Blanche Yurka
, and Edna Mae Oliver. It was directed by Jack Conway
from a screenplay by W.P. Lipscomb
and S.N. Behrman. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
and Best Film Editing. The story is set in the French Revolution
and deals with two men who are alike, not only in appearance, but in their love for the same woman.
) is not dead, but has been a prisoner in the Bastille
for many long years before finally being released. She travels to Paris to take her father to her home in England. Dr. Manette has been taken care of by a friend, Ernest Defarge (Mitchell Lewis
), and his wife (Blanche Yurka
). The old man's mind has given way during his long ordeal, but Lucie's tender care begins to restore his sanity.
On the trip across the English Channel
, Lucie meets Charles Darnay (Donald Woods
), a French aristocrat who, unlike his unfeeling uncle, the Marquis de St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone
), is sympathetic to the plight of the downtrodden French masses. Darnay is framed for treason, but is saved by the cleverness of the dissolute Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman
). Carton goes drinking with Barsad (Walter Catlett
), the main prosecution witness, and tricks him into admitting that he lied. When Barsad is called to testify, he is horrified to discover that Carton is one of the defense attorneys and grudgingly allows that he might have been mistaken. Darnay is released.
Carton is thanked by Lucie, who has attended the trial of her new friend. He quickly falls in love with her, but realizes it is hopeless. Lucie eventually marries Darnay, and they have a daughter.
By this time, the Reign of Terror
has engulfed France. The long-suffering commoners vent their fury on the aristocrats, condemning scores daily to Madame Guillotine
. Darnay is tricked into returning to Paris and arrested. Dr. Manette pleads for mercy for his son-in-law, but Madame Defarge, seeking revenge against all the Evremondes, regardless of guilt or innocence, convinces the tribunal to sentence him to death.
Carton comes up with a desperate rescue plan. He first persuades Lucie and her friends to leave Paris by promising to save Darnay. Then he blackmails an old acquaintance, Barsad, now an influential man in the French government, to enable Carton to visit Darnay in jail. There, Carton drugs the prisoner unconscious, switches places with him, and has Darnay carried out to be reunited with his family.
Madame Defarge, her thirst for vengeance still unsatisfied, goes to have Lucie and her daughter arrested, only to find that they have fled with Dr. Manette. As she goes to raise the alarm, she is confronted by Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver
), Lucie's devoted servant. In the ensuing struggle, Madame Defarge is killed.
Meanwhile, only a condemned seamstress (Isabel Jewell
) notices Carton's substitution, but keeps quiet. She draws comfort in his heroism as they ride in the same cart to the execution place. As the camera rises just before the blade falls, Carton's voice is heard, saying, "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far greater rest I go to than I have ever known."
1935 in film
-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
film based upon Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
. The film stars Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods
Donald Woods (actor)
Donald Woods was a Canadian-born American film and television actor whose career spanned six decades....
and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting players include Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, Blanche Yurka
Blanche Yurka
Blanche Yurka was an American theatre and film actress.Born in St Paul, Minnesota, Yurka was an opera star before she became an actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1910 and established herself as a character actor, also appearing in several films...
, and Edna Mae Oliver. It was directed by Jack Conway
Jack Conway (film-maker)
Jack Ryan Conway was a film director and film producer, as well as an actor of many films in the first half of the 20th century....
from a screenplay by W.P. Lipscomb
W.P. Lipscomb
W.P. Lipscomb was a British screenwriter, producer and director.- As screenwriter :* Splinters * French Leave * Rookery Nook * On Approval * The Great Game...
and S.N. Behrman. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Film Editing. The story is set in the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and deals with two men who are alike, not only in appearance, but in their love for the same woman.
Plot
On the eve of the French Revolution, Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) is informed that her father (Henry B. WalthallHenry B. Walthall
Henry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
) is not dead, but has been a prisoner in the Bastille
Bastille
The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of...
for many long years before finally being released. She travels to Paris to take her father to her home in England. Dr. Manette has been taken care of by a friend, Ernest Defarge (Mitchell Lewis
Mitchell Lewis
Mitchell Lewis was an American film actor. He appeared in 200 films between 1914 and 1956. His best known role is Captain of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz, but he was uncredited. His lines were "She's dead...
), and his wife (Blanche Yurka
Blanche Yurka
Blanche Yurka was an American theatre and film actress.Born in St Paul, Minnesota, Yurka was an opera star before she became an actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1910 and established herself as a character actor, also appearing in several films...
). The old man's mind has given way during his long ordeal, but Lucie's tender care begins to restore his sanity.
On the trip across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, Lucie meets Charles Darnay (Donald Woods
Donald Woods (actor)
Donald Woods was a Canadian-born American film and television actor whose career spanned six decades....
), a French aristocrat who, unlike his unfeeling uncle, the Marquis de St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
), is sympathetic to the plight of the downtrodden French masses. Darnay is framed for treason, but is saved by the cleverness of the dissolute Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
). Carton goes drinking with Barsad (Walter Catlett
Walter Catlett
Walter Catlett was an American actor. As a San Francisco citizen, he started out in vaudeville with a detour for a while in opera before breaking into films.-Early career:...
), the main prosecution witness, and tricks him into admitting that he lied. When Barsad is called to testify, he is horrified to discover that Carton is one of the defense attorneys and grudgingly allows that he might have been mistaken. Darnay is released.
Carton is thanked by Lucie, who has attended the trial of her new friend. He quickly falls in love with her, but realizes it is hopeless. Lucie eventually marries Darnay, and they have a daughter.
By this time, the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
has engulfed France. The long-suffering commoners vent their fury on the aristocrats, condemning scores daily to Madame Guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
. Darnay is tricked into returning to Paris and arrested. Dr. Manette pleads for mercy for his son-in-law, but Madame Defarge, seeking revenge against all the Evremondes, regardless of guilt or innocence, convinces the tribunal to sentence him to death.
Carton comes up with a desperate rescue plan. He first persuades Lucie and her friends to leave Paris by promising to save Darnay. Then he blackmails an old acquaintance, Barsad, now an influential man in the French government, to enable Carton to visit Darnay in jail. There, Carton drugs the prisoner unconscious, switches places with him, and has Darnay carried out to be reunited with his family.
Madame Defarge, her thirst for vengeance still unsatisfied, goes to have Lucie and her daughter arrested, only to find that they have fled with Dr. Manette. As she goes to raise the alarm, she is confronted by Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver
Edna May Oliver
Edna May Oliver was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.-Early life:...
), Lucie's devoted servant. In the ensuing struggle, Madame Defarge is killed.
Meanwhile, only a condemned seamstress (Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s.-Early life and career:...
) notices Carton's substitution, but keeps quiet. She draws comfort in his heroism as they ride in the same cart to the execution place. As the camera rises just before the blade falls, Carton's voice is heard, saying, "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far greater rest I go to than I have ever known."
Cast
- Ronald ColmanRonald ColmanRonald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
as Sydney Carton. Colman had long wanted to play Sydney Carton on film. He was even willing to shave off his moustache. - Elizabeth AllanElizabeth Allan (English actress)Elizabeth Allan was an English actress who worked in both England and Hollywood, making about 50 films over more than a quarter century....
as Lucie Manette - Edna May OliverEdna May OliverEdna May Oliver was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.-Early life:...
as Miss Pross - Reginald OwenReginald OwenJohn Reginald Owen was a British character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American movies and later in television programs.-Personal:...
as Stryver - Basil RathboneBasil RathboneSir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
as Marquis de St. Evremonde - Blanche YurkaBlanche YurkaBlanche Yurka was an American theatre and film actress.Born in St Paul, Minnesota, Yurka was an opera star before she became an actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1910 and established herself as a character actor, also appearing in several films...
as Madame Therese Defarge - Henry B. WalthallHenry B. WalthallHenry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
as Dr. Manette - Donald WoodsDonald Woods (actor)Donald Woods was a Canadian-born American film and television actor whose career spanned six decades....
as Charles Darnay - Walter CatlettWalter CatlettWalter Catlett was an American actor. As a San Francisco citizen, he started out in vaudeville with a detour for a while in opera before breaking into films.-Early career:...
as Barsad - Claude GillingwaterClaude GillingwaterClaude Benton Gillingwater was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in 92 films between 1918 and 1939....
as Jarvis Lorry - H. B. WarnerH. B. WarnerH. B. Warner was a British actor.-Early life:He was born Henry Byron Charles Stewart Warner-Lickford in St John's Wood, London, England in 1875...
as Gabelle - Fritz LeiberFritz Leiber, Sr.Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. , was an was a American actor . Highly respected as a Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film...
as Gaspard - Lucille La VerneLucille La VerneLucille La Verne was an American actress known for her appearances in silent, scolding, and vengeful roles in early color films, as well as for her triumphs on the American stage....
as The Vengeance - Mitchell LewisMitchell LewisMitchell Lewis was an American film actor. He appeared in 200 films between 1914 and 1956. His best known role is Captain of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz, but he was uncredited. His lines were "She's dead...
as Ernest Defarge - Isabel JewellIsabel JewellIsabel Jewell was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s.-Early life and career:...
as the SeamstressThe Seamstress (A Tale of Two Cities)The seamstress is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities.-Overview:The seamstress is an unnamed twenty-year-old woman featured as a desperately poor peasant accused of plotting against the French Republic by Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety during the Terror of the... - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
as a Woodcutter - Fay Chaldecott as Lucie Darnay, a child
- Billy BevanBilly BevanBilly Bevan was an Australian film actor. He appeared in 254 American films between 1916 and 1950....
as Jerry Cruncher - Eily MalyonEily MalyonEily Malyon was an English character actress in the 1930s and 1940s.Born as Eily Sophie Lees-Craston in London in 1878 or 1879. Her mother, Agnes Thomas, was also an actress...
as Mrs. Cruncher - Donald HainesDonald HainesDonald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
as Jerry Cruncher, Jr. - E. E. CliveE. E. CliveEdward E. Clive was a Welsh actor in the early 20th century.- Biography :Born in Monmouthshire, Clive studied for a medical career, having four years of medical course at St Bartholomew's Hospital before switching his focus to acting at age 22...
as Judge in Old BaileyOld BaileyThe Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court... - Robert Warwick as Judge at tribunal
- Lawrence GrantLawrence GrantPercy Reginald Lawrence-Grant was an English actor known for his supporting roles in films such as The Living Ghost, I'll Tell the World, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Son of Frankenstein...
as a Prosecutor - Ralf HaroldeRalf HaroldeRalf Harolde was an American character actor. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including Jimmy the Gent, Night Nurse, Baby Take a Bow, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Relations, and Murder, My Sweet.Harolde was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Santa Monica,...
as a Prosecutor - John DavidsonJohn Davidson (actor)John Davidson was an American film actor. He appeared in 148 films between 1915 and 1963.He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
as Morveau - Tom RickettsTom RickettsThomas "Tom" Ricketts was an English American silent film actor, director and screenwriter who was involved in almost 350 motion pictures....
as Tellson, Jr. - Barlowe Borland as Jacques
Critical reception
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 Defarge...you can be sure that "A Tale of Two Cities" will cause a vast rearranging of ten-best lists.External links
- A Tale of Two Cities Starring Ronald Colman Tribute site: synopsis, images and list of actors.