A Tale of Two Cities
by John Conway
List Price:
Our Price: $4.99
You Save: $14.98 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 7 to 10 days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Basil Rathbone, Edna May Oliver, Elizabeth Allan, Reginald Owen, Ronald ColmanDirector: John Conway
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-10-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of A Tale of Two Cities
DVD Review: Dickens on film
Summary: 3 Stars
"A Tale of Two Cities" was the remarkable 1859 story by Charles Dickens that appeared as 31 weekly installments in Dickens' own periodical. It was made as a film several times, including 3 silent versions prior to this 1935 version, and again in 1958.
The 30s were a great time for Dickens films, including "Oliver Twist" (1933) with Dickie Moore, "Great Expectations" (1934) with Henry Hull and Jane Wyatt, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1935) with Claude Rains, "Scrooge" (1935), "David Copperfield" (1935) with none other than W. C. Fields, and "A Christmas Carol" (1938) with Reginald Owen.
He's not much remembered today, but in his time, Ronald Colman was a leading actor in England and then in the US. He starred in silent films like "Stella Dallas" (1926) and "Beau Geste" (1926) and when talkies came along he was one of the first to be nominated for an Oscar as "Bulldog Drummond" in 1929 (he lost to George Arliss in "Disraeli"). He would be nominated again in 1943 ("Random Harvest") and won in 1948 for "A Double Life" for which he also won the Golden Globe. He's probably best remembered for his performance in "Lost Horizon" (1937), but he was equally good in "Under Two Flags" (1936) and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937). For his role as Sidney Carlton, Colman shaved off his mustache, something he rarely did.
Was there ever a greater villain than Basil Rathbone, whose brief appearance as the Marquis only hints at his true skills. Shortly after making this film, Rathbone would give us such great performances as the abusive Mr. Murdstone in "David Copperfield" (1935), evil Sir Guy in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), Baron von Frankenstein in "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), and the evil Captain Esteban in "The Mark of Zorro" (1940). Lest he be thought of as having only one note, Rathbone could play the hero as well, starting with Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939) and the 13 Holmes movies that followed.
Reginald Owen gives his usual good performance as Carlton's friend and partner. He's best known as Ebenezer Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol" (1938) and made nearly 100 films including "Mary Poppins" (1964) and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971).
Elizabeth Allen plays Lucy Manette, the object of the affection of Carlton and Darnay. Her beauty is haunting and her sincerity is heart-felt. She made nearly 50 films in the UK and the US. She's not well known to US audiences because she returned to the UK after a contract dispute with MGM in 1938.
Edna May Oliver is a hoot, as always. She plays Miss Pross with sufficient droll humor and tart naughtiness to serve as the film's comic center. She starred in a series of mystery-comedy films as Miss Hildegarde Martha Withers, from 1932 to 1935, but is best known for her performance as the Red Queen in 1933's "Alice in Wonderland".
Donald Woods plays Charles Darney, but he's clearly overpowered by the other actors. Woods appeared in dozens of films without making much headway, turned to TV in the 50s where he stayed busy, and then retired in 1976.
At 2+ hours, the film is long, but Jack Conway's direction keeps it moving, as he did with several other long films (e.g., "Viva Villa" in 1934, "Northwest Passage" in 1940). Conway was a prolific director (over 100 films) who started out as an actor but decided directing was for him when he was asked to wrestle a lion. He directed MGM's first talkie in 1928 ("Alias Jimmy Valentine") and worked on "Birth of a Nation" (1915) as a second director. Conway could handle large crowd scenes, as he demonstrated in "Viva Villa" the previous year, and you see some great work in the storming of the Bastille scenes, the trial, and the guillotine scenes.
David O Selznick produced the film and it has all the pageantry and large cast that you expect from a Selznick film. Fresh off his successes at RKO (e.g., "King Kong" in 1933), Selznick came back to MGM in 1933 to pitch in while Thalberg was sick. In 1935 alone he produced "David Copperfield", "Anna Karenina" and "Tale", but Selznick was never easy to live with, and he formed his own production company and went on to produce such Oscar nominated classics as "A Star is Born" (1937), "Since You Went Away" (1944) and "Spellbound" (1945) as well as winning the Oscar for "Gone with the Wind" (1939) and "Rebecca". In 1940 he won the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award.
The music from Herbert Stothart is excellent. It complements the action without drawing attention to itself. Stothart was good at his craft. He was Oscar nominated for 8 films (including "Random Harvest" with Colman) and won for "The Wizard of Oz" (1939.
The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Film Editing. It lost to "The Great Ziegfeld" (picture) and "Anthony Adverse" (editing). The New York Times said it was "magic" and called Colman's performance "his ablest in years".
The film is of interest to classic movie fans or to fans of Dickens' films. Standing by itself the film leaves a good deal to be desired. The editing leaves out portions of the book, and some of the jumps between scenes are startling. Moreover, this is not the best performance from any of the principals, nor is the lavishness of the production remarkable for a Selznick piece. As well, the shifting from one city to another (after all it is called "A Tale of Two Cities") is not distinct enough to give us the flavor of the novel. Nonetheless, it has a certain charm and visual appeal. Some of the small things are really appealing, like Basil Rathbone's attempts to stay pretty, the little guillotines that are given out as toys to children, the hot iron rod used to make a hot toddie really hot, etc.
Description of A Tale of Two Cities
TALE OF TWO CITIES - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Gunga DinNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Great Expectations (The Criterion Collection)Criterion; Release date: 1999-01-12; DVD
Best price: $26.26
Price in other shops:
Les Miserables (1935 & 1952 Two-Disc Set)N/A; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $10.36
Price in other shops:
Mrs. MiniverWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops:
Hunchback of Notre DameWHV; Release date: 2010-11-09; DVD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
Captains CourageousWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $10.93
Price in other shops:
Scarlet PimpernelRelease date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Lost HorizonCOLEMAN,RONALD; Release date: 1999-08-31; DVD
Best price: $8.56
Price in other shops:
Random HarvestWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-01-11; DVD
Best price: $5.13
Price in other shops:
A Tale of Two CitiesRelease date: 2011-05-24; DVD
Best price: $18.20
Price in other shops: