Blu-ray Review: A Tale Of Two Cities

The wonderful 1980 television movie version of A Tale Of Two Cities is now available on Blu-ray, thanks to Shout! Factory. It stars Chris Sarandon as both Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, a young Alice Krige as Lucie Manette (it’s still hard for me not to see her as the Borg Queen), Peter Cushing as Dr. Manette, Kenneth Moore as Lorry, Barry Morse as The Marquis St. Evremonde, Flora Robson as Miss Pross, Nigel Hawthorne as Styrver, and Billie Whitelaw as Therese Defarge.

During the opening credits we follow the carriage of the Marquis St. Evremonde, which then runs over a young boy, killing him. The Marquis says to the crowd gathering, including the boy’s father: “Really, it is extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves or your children. Always in the way.” And he expresses concern that his horses may have been injured in the mishap. This of course doesn’t sit well with the people, and a title card reads, “Paris… Just before the French Revolution” (for those who haven’t read the book). In voice over we get the famous opening lines from Charles Dickens’ novel: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” And we see contrasting images of the very rich and the very poor.

The film then takes us to England, where Lucie learns that her father is still alive in Paris. She travels there to retrieve him, and he’s been locked up so long that he doesn’t recognize her at first, but for the hairs of hers that he kept with him all these years. It’s a touching moment, and both Peter Cushing and Alice Krige are quite good. They meet Charles on the boat to England after Charles renounces his titles and properties. But of course he is first charged as a spy in England, and then later as a traitor in France. In England, it is partly his strikingly similar appearance to the lawyer Sydney Carton that frees him. Chris Sarandon does a remarkable job creating two very distinct characters, and the moments where he is on screen as both characters look really good. I was thinking, considering the time when this was made, that those shots would look clunky, but they don’t.

It has been decades since I read the book, and I had forgotten about any humor in it. For example, the banter between Carton and Stryver, who also aims to marry Lucie, is quite funny. And Chris Sarandon and Nigel Hawthorne do a good job of not punching up the humor too much. This is such a great story, and this version is completely enjoyable. Sure, they probably should have hired a few more extras for the storming of the Bastille, but that’s a minor complaint. This movie does a great job of showing that people on both sides of the French Revolution were rather horrid, how power can turn people into monsters, and how mob mentality is a frightening thing. But at the heart of it is a love story, of two men who love the same woman.

This television movie is presented in the widescreen format, which of course presents some questions. Obviously, in 1980 it was shown in the full screen format, and as it was a television film, I can only presume that it was shot for that aspect ratio. Apparently, when it was released on DVD a while ago it was also in the full screen format. And yet, it looks perfect in the widescreen format; it doesn’t seem to have been cropped on the top or bottom. So I am curious about how it was shot.

A Tale Of Two Cities was written for television by John Gay and was directed by Jim Goddard. It was released on Blu-ray on April 12, 2016 through Shout! Factory. This disc does not contain any special features.