A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film based upon Charles Dickens' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris. The film stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton and Elizabeth Allan as Lucie Manette. The supporting players include Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone, Lucille La Verne, Blanche Yurka, Henry B. Walthall and Donald Woods. 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.
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.
Cast
- Basil Rathbone
- Billy Bevan
- Billy House
- Blanche Yurka
- Claude Gillingwater
- Donald Haines
- Donald Woods
- E. E. Clive
- Edna May Oliver
- Eily Malyon
- Elizabeth Allan
- Fritz Leiber
- H. B. Warner
- Henry B. Walthall
- Isabel Jewell
- Jimmy Aubrey
- John Davidson
- Lawrence Grant
- Lucille La Verne
- May Beatty
- Mitchell Lewis
- Ralf Harolde
- Reginald Owen
- Robert Warwick
- Ronald Colman
- Tempe Pigott
- Tom Ricketts
- Tully Marshall
- Walter Catlett
- Walter Kingsford
More details
| author | S. N. Behrman W. P. Lipscomb |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | London Paris |
| director | Jack Conway Robert Z. Leonard |
| editor | Conrad A. Nervig |
| genre | drama historical romance |
| keywords | arrest bastille begin best of condemn curse drink engage english channel frame french revolution guillotine horrify impoverish learn new life nothing old man rescue stab sydney carton their way wine shop women fight write |
| musicBy | Herbert Stothart |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Picture |
| producer | David O. Selznick |
| productionCompany | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| publisher | Loews Cineplex Entertainment |
| theme | romantic drama trick |