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A Tale of Two Cities
British barrister Sydney Carton lives an insubstantial and unhappy life. He falls under the spell of Lucie Manette, but Lucie marries Charles Darnay. When Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned family retainer, he becomes entangled in the snares of the brutal French Revolution and is himself jailed and condemned to the guillotine. But Sydney Carton, in love with a woman he cannot have, comes up with a daring plan to save her husband.
Release : | 1958 |
Rating : | 7.1 |
Studio : | The Rank Organisation, |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Unit Publicist, |
Cast : | Dirk Bogarde Dorothy Tutin Paul Guers Marie Versini Ian Bannen |
Genre : | Drama History Romance |
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Reviews
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
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. Through his love for Lucie, he learns to redeem himself. The words he dictates at the end of the film to Charles Darney in the prison, 'I knew it was not in your nature.....' are real tearjerkers.I watch the film at least once a year and always find it a moving experience.Highly recommendedPS The haunting music by Richard Addinsell is fabulous.....
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. Richard Adinsell's music score is bombastic, haunting and also a real beauty to listen to. 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. The direction shows command of the source material and the ability to bring out the best of the cast. 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. Overall, excellent and a very easy close second-best adaptation. 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. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Pretty boy Bogarde or movie star Coleman? 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.
This is my favourite Dickens book and my favourite Dickens dramatisation. I remember reading that there had been some doubts originally whether Dirk Bogarde matinée idol could manage this part. Instead it was presumably his first chance to show the inimitable quality of his acting. He is perfect in this part and I cannot imagine anyone else ever doing it better although I'd guess Ronald Coleman could equal it. 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. But the production and acting are so excellent that you soon don't notice it isn't colour as you become completely immersed in the movie. 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.