A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

I've suggested before that MGM was at its best when it was doing things like literary adaptations of classic works. Recently, I got the chance to see their 1935 adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is a good example of what MGM could do.

I have to admit that I haven't actually read the book; I was in the section of English classes in my high school that did Great Expecctations instead, so I can't talk about how well the movie hews to the plot of the novel. After a title card with the famous "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" opening, the action shifts to England in the 1770s. A man who works for a bank that has offices in both London and Paris is looking for Lucy Mannette (Elizabeth Allan). She was born in France, but was taken to England and raised by lady's companion Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver) when her father died. Except that Dad (Henry Walthall) didn't actually die, but was imprisoned for years in the Bastille, and has only recently gotten out of prison. So Lucy and Pross travel to Paris to fetch Dad, which is where they meet Madam DeFarge (Blanche Yurka) and her husband.

Since it's early in the reign of Louis XIV, who would of course be executed in the French Revolution a dozen-plus years later, there's a lot of social unrest bubbling under the surface that's going to come out in the later stages of the movie, with the peasants absolutely hating the nobility. Some nobles, however, understand that what the rest of their estate is doing is counterproductive; one such man is Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), who is fleeing for England. That's because he's got an uncle, the Marquis St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone) who's so nasty that he'd frame his own nephew for treason. He also went after one of Mme. Defarge's relatives as well as Dr. Mannette.

Darnay escaped conviction, however, thanks in no small part to the work of one of his lawyers, Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman). So it's when Darnay is fleeing to England that he meets Lucie, who later also meets Carton. Both men love Lucie, but Lucie has already decided to marry Darnay. And then the French Revolution comes....

The peasants, of course, hate the nobility, and one of them kills the Marquis. This is used to get Darnay to go back to Paris, even though he as a noble, despite one who's changed his name, is going to be in serious danger from the revolutionary mob. Lucie rather stupidly goes with Pross to Paris to try to get her husband freed; if she had never married him she'd probably have been fine, but as the wife of a condemned man she's in danger. Ironically, the person from whom she's most in danger is Mme. Defarge. Who will still be alive after the final reel is finished? Well, if you've read the book you'll probably know, but I'm not about to reveal that.

A Tale of Two Cities being based on a work by Charles Dickens, the story is suitably complicated and long running. But MGM adapts it well, at least as far as I can tell not having read the book. The movie has fine production values, and some pretty darn good performances. Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton is top here; apparently he's always wanted to essay this role. But Blanche Yurka as Defarge and Edna May Oliver as Pross also do well, although Oliver is decidedly more American.

For those who like the always-glittering style that MGM could bring to movies in the 1930s and 1940s, A Tale of Two Cities is a fine example of that, and definitely one to watch.