1935 (US) Film.

On Christmas Day, 1935 the distributors Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a film of A Tale of Two Cities produced by David O. Selznick (who would later go on to win Academy Awards for Best Picture for producing the 1939 film Gone with the Wind and Rebecca the following year). This US production stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods and Elizabeth Allan with a supporting cast that included Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone, Claude Gillingwater, Edna May Oliver and Blanche Yurka. It was directed by Jack Conway from a screenplay by W. P. Lipscomb and S. N. Behrman.

The cast included the following:

  • Ronald Colman – Sydney Carton
  • Donald Woods – Charles Darnay
  • Elizabeth Allan – Lucie Manette
  • Edna May Oliver – Miss Pross
  • Reginald Owen – Stryver
  • Basil Rathbone – Marquis de St. Evremonde
  • Blanche Yurka – Madame Therese Defarge
  • Henry B. Walthall – Dr. Manette
  • Walter Catlett – Barsad
  • Claude Gillingwater – Jarvis Lorry

 

 

[box type=”note” border=”full”]Film Trivia: The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Film Editing.

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1958 (UK) Film.

In 1958, UK company Rank produced and distributed a version of A Tale of Two Cities which director Ralph Thomas deliberately shot in black and white.

The cast included the following:

  • Dirk Bogarde – Sydney Carton
  • Dorothy Tutin – Lucie Manette
  • Paul Guers – Charles Darnay
  • Marie Versini – Marie Gabelle
  • Ian Bannen – Gabelle
  • Cecil Parker – Jarvis Lorry
  • Stephen Murray – Dr. Manette
  • Athene Seyler – Miss Pross
  • Alfie Bass – Jerry Cruncher
  • Ernest Clark – Stryver
  • Rosalie Crutchley – Madame Defarge
  • Freda Jackson – The Vengeance
  • Duncan Lamont – Ernest Defarge
  • Christopher Lee – Marquis St. Evremonde
  • Leo McKern – Attorney General-Old Bailey
  • Donald Pleasence – John Barsad

 

[box type=”note” border=”full”]Film Trivia: The film was shot in the Loire Valley in France, and hundreds of American soldiers posted nearby in Orléans were used as extras.

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1980 (US) made for television film.

In 1980, a television film of A Tale of Two Cities directed by Jim Goddard was released. The film stars Chris Sarandon playing dual roles as two characters who are in love with the same woman.

The cast included the following:

  • Chris Sarandon – Charles Darnay/Sydney Carton
  • Alice Krige – Lucie Manette
  • Peter Cushing – Dr. Alexander Manette
  • Kenneth More – Dr. Jarvis Lorry
  • Barry Morse – St. Evremonde
  • Flora Robson – Miss Pross
  • Billie Whitelaw – Madame Therese Defarge
  • Nigel Hawthorne – Mr. CJ Stryver
  • Norman Jones – Monsieur Ernest Defarge
  • George Innes – Jeremiah Cruncher
  • David Suchet – John Barsad

 

[box type=”note” border=”full”]Film Trivia: This was the first film in the career of the actor David Suchet and the last for Kenneth More.

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1980 (UK) BBC television mini-series.

Also in 1980, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released an eight part made-for-television adaptation.

The cast included the following:

  • Paul Shelley – Sydney Carton/Charles Darnay
  • Sally Osborne – Lucie Manette
  • Nigel Stock – Jarvis Lorry
  • Ralph Michael – Dr. Alexandre Manette
  • – Miss Pross
  • – Madame Defarge
  • – Jerry Cruncher
  • – Monsieur Defarge
  • – Stryver
  • – Barsad

 

[box type=”note” border=”full”]Film Trivia:Jersey in the Channel Islands stood in for France as a filming location.

[box type=”info” border=”full”]Click here to view further details of this adaptation on IMDB.

 

1989 (UK/France) television mini-series.

The cast included the following:

  • James Wilby – Sydney Carton
  • Xavier Deluc – Charles Darnay
  • Serena Gordon – Lucie Manette
  • John Mills – Jarvis Lorry
  • Jean-Pierre Aumont – Dr. Alexandre Manette
  • Anna Massey – Miss Pross
  • Kathy Kriegel – Madame Defarge
  • Alfred Lynch – Jerry Cruncher
  • Gérard Klein – Monsieur Defarge
  • Jonathan Adams – Stryver
  • Karl Johnson – Barsad

 

[box type=”info” border=”full”]Click here to view further details of this adaptation on IMDB.