A Tale of Two Cities
US (1935): Drama
Jack Conway and Robert Z. Leonard direct this elaborate adaptation of Dickens' classic tale of the French Revolution. Dissipated lawyer Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) defends emigré Charles Darnay (Donald Woods) from charges of spying against England. He becomes enamored of Darnay's fiancée, Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan), and agrees to help her save Darnay from the guillotine when he is captured by Revolutionaries in Paris.
What raises this movie above the usual fare Hollywood churned out at the time was the force majeure that Blanche Yurka kicked up as the relentless Madame DeFarge. Director Jack Conway's efforts would have jellied before our eyes without her. When she sets her vengeful sights on the annihilation of those poor Evremondes, a feverish chill passes through everything on the screen, and the wind goes out of this movie's sails by the time that cornstalk of a standby, Edna May Oliver, does her in.
The film leaves you with only incidental pleasures -- the tremulous approach Isabel Jewell makes to the guillotine; Colman's even more tremulous elocution: "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before."; and glimpses of Lucille LaVerne whom movie buffs might remember in another movie set during the French Revolution -- D.W. Griffith's far superior Orphans of the Storm (1921). (IMDb)
2 nominations
· Best Picture 1936: David O. Selznick, producer (MGM)
· Film Editing 1936: Conrad A. Nervig