A Tale of Two Cities - 1935

Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution.

Actor Ronald Colman agreed to play the role of Sydney Carton with the sole condition that he not also be required to play the role of Charles Darnay, as was usually expected in adaptations of the Dickens novel. The plot of 'A Tale of Two Cities' turns on the physical resemblance between the two characters.

Anachronisms: Sydney Carton attends Christmas Eve services ca. 1780 during which "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" is sung to music by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), and John Francis Wade's Latin hymn, "Adeste fideles," is sung in Frederick Oakley's (1802-1880) translation as "O Come, All Ye Faithful."

Anachronisms: Close up of a paper reporting arrest of Charles Darnay shows a Reuters report. The action takes place in 1785...Paul Reuter was born in 1816 and did not set up his eponymous news agency until 1850.

Cast of A Tale Of Two Cities

Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton. Colman had long wanted to play Sydney Carton on film.
He was even willing to shave off his moustache.
Elizabeth Allan as Lucie Manette
Edna May Oliver as Miss Pross
Reginald Owen as Stryver
Basil Rathbone as Marquis St. Evremonde
Blanche Yurka as Madame De Farge
Henry B. Walthall as Dr. Manette
Donald Woods as Charles Darnay
Walter Catlett as Barsad
Claude Gillingwater as Jarvis Lorry
H. B. Warner as Gabelle
Fritz Leiber as Gaspard
Lucille La Verne as The Vengeance
Mitchell Lewis as Ernest De Farge
Isabel Jewell as the Seamstress
Tully Marshall as a Woodcutter
Fay Chaldecott as Lucie Darnay, a child
Billy Bevan as Jerry Cruncher
Eily Malyon as Mrs. Cruncher
Donald Haines as Jerry Cruncher, Jr.
E. E. Clive as Judge in Old Bailey
Robert Warwick as Judge at tribunal
Lawrence Grant as a Prosecutor
Ralf Harolde as a Prosecutor
John Davidson as Morveau
Tom Ricketts as Tellson, Jr.
Barlowe Borland as Jacques