Review: A Tale of Two Cities

Set in both France and England in the late 18^th Century, sullen and frequently drunk lawyer Sydney Carton (Dirk Bogarde) gets involved in the plight of Lucie Manette (Dorothy Tutin), whose father (Stephen Murray) was imprisoned in the Bastille by the cold-blooded Marquis St. Evremonde (Sir Christopher Lee). Carton has obvious feelings for Lucie, but complications arise with the Marquis’ nephew Charles Darnay (Paul Guers), who is Lucie’s new husband in London, and no fan of his black-hearted aristocratic uncle. In fact, masquerading as an Englishman, he has fled Paris for London to escape the Revolution that his uncle’s actions pretty much set in motion. Carton, who supposedly looks the spitting image of Darnay, had previously helped Darnay out of a legal jam as well. Unfortunately, after receiving a distress message requesting he return home to Paris, Darnay is promptly arrested and imprisoned as the Revolution rages all round him. With Darnay set for the guillotine to essentially pay for his uncle’s crimes against the French populace, Carton must put his own, unrequited feelings aside in order to try to save Darnay yet again. Rosalie Crutchley and Donald Pleasence play spiteful Revolutionary Mme. DeFarge and the treacherous Barsad, with Duncan Lamont as the Madame’s wine merchant husband. Sir Ian Bannen plays the Marquis’ well-meaning manservant Gabelle, Alfie Bass plays a porter cum grave-robber, Athene Seyler is Miss Pross, Lucie’s elderly companion, whilst Ernest Clark (a dead-ringer for Simon Callow if you ask me) and Leo McKern play opposing counsels.

 

Persuasive 1958 adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic from director Ralph Thomas (“The High Bright Sun”, “Venetian Bird”) and screenwriter T. E. B. Clarke (“The Lavender Hill Mob”, “Sons and Lovers”) gets a major boost from some pretty top-class British actors. Period costume dramas are normally the furthest thing from my deal, but this one’s an undeniable classic. Chief among the impressive performers here is Dirk Bogarde in an excellent performance as the glum, hard-drinking but ultimately noble Sydney Carton. Bogarde seems to enjoy playing the charismatic but frequently hungover and tired Carton. I’m not normally moved all that much by brooding drunks, but there’s an innate decency Bogarde brings to the role that is ultimately very moving indeed. Bogarde is very well supported but especially by Cecil Parker, Stephen Murray, Donald Pleasence, Rosalie Crutchley, and more briefly Sir Christopher Lee. Cecil Parker, one of Britain’s finest-ever character actors does very sturdy work as banker Jarvis Lorry. I’d not been familiar with Stephen Murray before but he does wonderfully affecting work as Dorothy Tutin’s poor old father. Only 46 at the time, he does a really convincing job at playing Dr. Manette, a broken man whose hair has gone white after 18 years of imprisonment in the Bastille. A seemingly unblinking Donald Pleasence has one of the most interesting roles to play, the treacherous Barsad. Perfectly creepy as the rotten schemer (and seemingly enjoying the scenes where he gets to drink, unsurprisingly), the character undergoes an interesting journey throughout the film to where you still won’t like him, but he ends up playing a rather surprising role in things, intentionally or not. Rosalie Crutchley offers up a vivid portrait of the fiery, wild-eyed Mme. DeFarge, probably the best part the veteran actress ever had. Although Duncan Lamont is just fine as Mr. DeFarge, Crutchley’s performance is unforgettable. Christopher Lee isn’t in the film all that much, but his portrait of the cold, dispassionate Marquis St. Evremonde is one of the best roles he had in the 1950s. His rather imperious features and cold-blooded demeanour are perfect for the character, you wish he were in the film more. Still, he makes enough of an impression in the part that his Marquis is still one of the most easily hated, thoroughly rotten villains in 50s cinema.

 

We also get solid small turns by Sir Ian Bannen, a smug Leo McKern, and especially the trio of Athene Seyler, Ernest Clark, and a wonderfully hammy and utterly perfect Alfie Bass. Bannen really does score in a few scenes as a somewhat sympathetic and compassionate voice of (attempted reason). It’s too late by that point though, the wheels of unrest are already in motion by that point in the tale. It’s a bit of a shame that two of the least impressive performances come from fairly important players here. Dorothy Tutin is just OK, but Frenchman Paul Guers is slightly miscast as Charles Dannay, who like Bannen’s character is too late in finding his voice/intestinal fortitude. In addition to not looking remotely like Dirk Bogarde (Carton and Danny in other versions have been played by the same actor in dual performances), I found it funny that Frenchman Guers had to be dubbed to sound more English to play a French character. Like Tutin, his performance is just OK and I don’t think it counts as a blight on the film, it’s just one of those ‘what if?’ situations where you wonder how much better it would’ve been to have a more suitable actor in the role than Guers. Still, it’s hard not to be moved by the classic romantic tragedy climax/ending. The film has been terrifically shot in B&W by Ernest Steward (“Venetian Bird”, “The High Bright Sun”, “Circus of Fear”, “Dark Places”). Thomas apparently came to regret choosing to have it shot in B&W after being initially in favour of it, as he thought not shooting in colour might’ve hurt the film’s box-office performance. However, I think his initial inclination was the correct one, B&W seems to make the streets seem even dirtier and muddier, so too the lower-class townsfolk. I think being a little prettier in colour might’ve lightened a mood that didn’t need/benefit from lightening. Your mileage may differ.

 

Although this kind of film is not normally my thing, this I a vivid and mostly very well-acted telling of the classic Dickens tale.

 

Rating: B