Watching A Tale of Two Cities

I enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, so I wanted to watch the movie (the producer of which is incidentally the same guy as that of Gone With the Wind). And really, I loved the movie. It's so intense, and portrays the madness of the period very well. Made in 1935, it's in black and white, which I think was very effective. It stars Ronald Colman as the lawyer Sydney Carton, Elizabeth Allan as Lucie Manette, and Donald Woods as Charles Darnay. I think the casting was very well done too; Madame DeFarge and Miss Pross are also well played. It's not quite so cheesy either, and I think probably paints a fairly accurate portrayal of the French Revolution, though scholars might disagree. It sticks pretty true to the original novel, except for the fact that Darnay has only one trial in the film, rather than two as in the book. I think it was thought that the film would be too long if both trials were included.

A Tale of Two Cities was certainly much more moving than Gone With the Wind (referring to the movies here.) I was crying a little bit at the end. The ending is a really powerful one. I would definitely recommend this old but great movie to fans of the novel or people interested in the French Revolution.

5 stars.