A Queda da Bastilha

With the exception of David Copperfield this is probably Hollywood's most accomplished treatment of a Charles Dickens work. Sumptuously mounted and produced in grand MGM style it has the the perfect voice and charm of Ronald Colman as Sidney Carton, a stalwart supporting cast and magnificently choreographed large scale crowd scenes depicting the out of control energy and fury of the revolt and subsequent reign of terror.

Colman's charming cynic wins us over early given he is surrounded by just cause with a Dicken's roster of pompous bores and hypocrites caught up in their own self importance. He drinks and offends but who can blame him. The sardonic wit of the film extends beyond Carton though by way of Dickens "cinematic" descriptive style that sharply conveys through both character and setting distracting dark humor over the grim proceedings by intermingling comic portraits with the sober cruel personages while making incisive social commentary. A laudable supporting cast consisting of Reginald Owen, Edna May Oliver, Billy Bevan, Blanche Yurka's Madame DeFarge and Basil Rathbone's venal Marquis de Evermonde truly do bring the pages to life, though I will admit an Oliver, Yurka death match near the end does take liberties with the tome.

Oliver Marsh's photography is commendable throughout whether conveying panorama in the excellently edited storming of the Bastille and raucous courtroom scenes or the tight tension filled cramped ominously lit interiors of cells or the De Farge wine shop.

With Colman in the lead and every MGM department clicking on all cylinders Tale of Two Cities remains fresh and vital 75 years later. It is one of those rear films that embraces rather than wrestle with a classic literary work which it does here with grandeur and confidence.

This is just about the best movie ever made. Really. It has everything any good movie needs. The script is wonderful, and the acting is so much more than you would even begin to expect. It's the kind of movie you can watch every week, and still get so involved. That is what this movie does-it makes you so interested and involved. You feel for Sydney Carton, and you just want to go give him a big hug! A Tale of Two Cities makes you laugh, and cry, and just feel good about humanity. It's brilliant!

I haven't read Charles Dickens' famous novel since high school, so I can't remember how faithful this film adaptation is. I'm sure much is excised from the book, as it would have to be in any adaptation that isn't 15 hours long. But as a stand-alone film, this version of "A Tale of Two Cities" is an awfully good one, and contains a lot of entertainment value.

Ronald Colman does most of the heavy lifting and is superb in the lead role. But two stand outs from the supporting cast are Blanche Yurka as the infamous Madame De Farge, the personification of an activist spirit taken to monstrous extremes, and Edna May Oliver, a proper English lady who won't let a few thousand French revolutionaries intimidate her. The best scene of the film is the smack down between the two characters, one of the best cat fights committed to celluloid.

"A Tale of Two Cities" received two Oscar nominations in 1936, one for Best Picture in a year with ten nominees, and the other for its film editing, courtesy of Conrad Nervig, the man who won the very first film editing award when the category was introduced in 1934.

Grade: A

Rarely have I upgraded a film between viewings as much as I did this one. I saw it quite a while ago and thought it was so-so, but watched it again last week after re-acquiring the VHS....and wow, what an incredible movie! This has to be one of the finest movies of the 1930s.

Production-wise, with the big cast of extras, the photography, the superb acting and powerful story, I can't see how another film, with the exception of "Gone With The Wind," that featured all that this film boasts. Why it is not out on DVD as of this writing - June of 2006 - is a disgrace.

Starting with visuals, this movie reminded me in parts of a good film-noir with the shadows-and-light and great facial closeups. It's just beautifully filmed, and the big reason I'd want to view this on disc.

As for the acting, if ever a man looked and sounded like he was perfectly suited for a certain role, it has to be Ronald Colman playing "Sidney Carton." The anguished, reflective sorrowful looks alone made Colman memorable in this role. It's hard to picture anyone else doing a better job as the man who has no esteem, finds love, is greatly disappointed but then does the most noble thing any human being can do for another, giving up his own for a friend. It's fitting you get Scripture at the end of this film, and in earlier parts of the story as Colman plays a role in which Jesus himself describes how best to show one's love for someone. This is a very spiritual film, by the way, which may turn off some people but was an inspiration to this reviewer.

Almost as riveting as Colman was Blance Yurka. Hers is a not a familiar screen name but apparently she was a big success on the stage during her era. As "Madame DeFarge," Yurka plays on the most vengeful and frightening female figures I've ever seen on film. Too bad she wasn't seen in more movies; she had the charisma for the silver screen.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Allan as the female lead ("Lucy Manette") and Donald Woods as the other male interest ("Charles Darnay") do well in their leading roles. Three other supporting players also are notable for their standout performances: Edna Mae Oliver as Lucy's protective maid/companion "Miss Pross;" Basil Rathbone as the evil French Aristocrat "Marquis St. Evremonde" and Henry B. Walthall as "Dr. Manette."

This Charles Dickens story couldn't have been translated any better to the big screen that what you see here.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES contains enough material for a four hour movie but amazingly David O. Selznick's production has managed to tell the epic tale in just a little over two hours. While there are many memorable characters, the ones that stay in the memory longest are Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton and the little seamstress (Isabel Jewell) who gets her courage from him before they go off to the guillotine and he utters those immortal words, "It's a far, far better thing I do..."

Edna May Oliver is just one of the pleasures among the supporting players. Donald Woods makes a handsome, if somewhat subdued, Charles Darnay and Blanche Yurka does an outstanding job as the bitter Madame Defarge. Basil Rathbone is excellent as the aristocratic Marquis St. Evremonde who is annoyed when his horse-driven carriage runs amok and kills a child, setting in motion the bitter Evremonde legacy of hate and mistrust among the French peasants.

The storming of the Bastille is awesome in its detail, as is all of the set decoration for interiors and exteriors which really captures the atmosphere of this turbulent time in history.

Probably Ronald Colman's finest hour--his world weary Sydney Carton becomes a highly sympathetic character by the time he is ready to assume another man's place. A memorable film.