Showing:
BBC TWO, Thursday August 23, 12.50pm
Synopsis:
(1958) A wayward barrister redeems himself with a heroic act of self-sacrifice in Paris during the French Revolutionary Terror.
Read the full synopsis on BFI Screenonline.
Cast:
- Dirk Bogarde (Sydney Carton)
- Dorothy Tutin (Lucie Manette)
- Cecil Parker (Jarvis Lorry)
- Athene Seyler (Miss Pross)
- Christopher Lee (Marquis St. Evremonde)
Full cast and credits on BFI Screenonline.
Analysis:
Directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box, this adaptation of a classic tale set against the French Revolution seems to suffer by comparison with earlier Dickens adaptations by David Lean. However, this does not make A Tale of Two Cities a bad film. It is certainly a faithful adaptation, following in a simple, straightforward manner (thanks to screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke) the narrative line of the book.
Dirk Bogarde, as cynical lawyer Sydney Carton, gives a performance that, initially at least, is beguilingly sardonic. The fact that the plot revolves around Carton's likeness to a young French aristocrat named Charles Darnay is problematised somewhat by the fact that Paul Guers, as the Frenchman, looks very little like Bogarde.
Read the full analysis on BFI Screenonline.
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