Trailer
Plot summary
Lucie Manette and her companion Miss Pross learn from the banker Jarvis Lorry that Lucie's father, Dr. Alexandre Manette, is not dead. He has spent eighteen years a prisoner in the Bastille in Paris, and they take him back to England, where Lucie's care slowly restores a mind broken by his ordeal. On the crossing Lucie meets Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who has denounced his uncle, the Marquis St. Evremonde, relinquished his title and changed his name to begin a new life in England. The marquis has Darnay framed for treason, and C.J. Stryver and his colleague Sydney Carton defend him at the Old Bailey. Carton, an alcoholic advocate, falls in love with Lucie, as does Darnay.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Lucille LaVerne, who played The Vengeance in the film, inspired the character of the Evil Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and provided the voices for both the Queen and the hag.
- Because Carton and Darnay are as alike as twins in Dickens' novel, Selznick wanted Ronald Colman to play both roles, but Colman refused, citing his experience with The Masquerader (1933).
- Judith Anderson, May Robson, Emily Fitzroy and Lucille LaVerne all tested for Madame De Farge; the part went to Blanche Yurka, a noted Broadway actress who made her film debut in it.
- Ronald Colman had wanted to play Sydney Carton since the start of his career and knew Dickens' novel intimately, saying the character had lived for him since he first discovered him in the book.
