A Tale of Two Cities

Synopsis: An elaborate adaptation of Dickens' classic tale of the French Revolution. Dissipated lawyer Sydney Carton defends emigre Charles Darnay from charges of spying against England. He becomes enamored of Darnay's fiancée, Lucie Manette, and agrees to help her save Darnay from the guillotine when he is captured by Revolutionaries in Paris.
Production: Warner Home Video
 
IMDB:
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1935
128 min
2,041 Views


Get up. Get up. Come on.

Get up. Get up.

Get up there, get up there.

Come on there.

Now push hard.

Get up. Push hard. Come on.

Come on, there. Come on, there.

Blimey.

Hey, Joe, what o'clock is it?

It must be nearly 11.

Eleven, and we ain't atop

of Shooter's Hill yet?

- Push.

- Come on, now. Hey.

Come on.

Aye, Joe.

What do you say it is, Tom?

Well, I'd say it's a horse

coming up at a canter.

Well, I say it's a horse

coming up at a gallop.

Gentlemen, in the king's name,

on guard, all of you.

Dover mail?

Are you the Dover mail?

Never mind what we are. What are you?

I'm a messenger from Tellson's Bank.

Stand! No nearer.

I wants Mr. Jarvis Lorry.

I've got a message for him from his bank.

Here I am. Is that Jerry Cruncher?

Right you are, sir.

Stop! Keep where you are.

It's quite all right. I know him.

Then step over and speak to him if

you must, but don't let him come no nearer.

You never know these days.

What is the message, Jerry?

The message is to wait at

the Royal George for mademoiselle.

She'll be at Dover.

Give this reply to the office, Jerry:

"Recalled to life. "

"Recalled to life. "

Right you are, sir.

- Did you hear the message, sir?

- I did.

- What did you make of it?

- Nothing at all.

That's a coincidence too.

That's what I made of it myself.

Now then, gentlemen,

all together, please.

- Hot gravy, sir?

- No, no.

The young lady you were expecting, sir...

...Miss Manette...

- Yes.

- She has arrived, sir.

- Good.

It's business. Strictly business.

Of course, sir.

I'm from Tellson's Bank in London,

and it is business.

Quite, quite.

I am Mr. Jarvis Lorry Jr.

Of Tellson and Company, bankers.

Your humble servant, miss.

Yes, I... I received a letter

from the bank, sir...

...informing me that some intelligence,

some discovery...

The word is not material, miss,

either one will do.

- Are you quite a stranger to me, sir?

- Miss Manette, I am a man of business.

Pay no more attention to me

than if I were a machine.

- I am not much else.

- But I know you. I'm sure I know you.

Yes. When you were a little girl...

...I was instrumental in bringing you

and your mother over to England.

No romance. Business, you know.

- No room for sentiment in business.

- Yes.

That was 17 years ago.

Yes. I speak, miss, of that time.

Our business today has to do

with your father, Dr. Manette.

- You knew him before he died?

- Before...?

Yes. Yes, he was a client

of Tellson and Company's Paris bank.

I am an arm of that bank.

That is how you will regard me.

A mere mechanical arm

of Tellson and Company.

Mr. Lorry, what have you

come to tell me?

Now, let us suppose

that your father had not died.

- Suppose...

- Don't be afraid, child.

Mr. Lorry, please do not

keep me in suspense.

What is it?

If your father had not died.

If he had suddenly

and silently disappeared.

If he had an enemy

who caused him to be imprisoned...

I entreat you, sir.

Pray... Pray, tell me.

No, no. Don't kneel, child.

In heaven's name,

why should you kneel to me?

For the truth,

oh, dear, good, compassionate, sir.

For the truth.

Mr. Lorry, is my father alive?

Yes, child.

- Where is he?

- You will find him greatly changed.

A wreck it is probable,

though we will hope for the best.

My father.

My poor, poor father.

Now you know the best and the worst.

You will see this poor,

wronged gentleman...

...then with a fair sea voyage,

and a fair land voyage...

What is the matter?

Miss Manette, my dear child.

What are you doing to my Ladybird?

I was just... I... I...

I had to tell her some news.

You took a fine manner of doing it.

You in brown, why couldn't you tell her

without frightening her to death?

See what you've done to her.

You call that being a banker?

- I tried to break it as gently as I could.

- Gently?

I'd like to see you break things roughly.

Oh, my pretty. My sweet.

Pross is with you now.

No one can harm you.

My darling.

- I assure you, madam, I had no intention...

- I am not "madam. "

I'm Miss Lucie's companion,

and I'm Miss Pross.

But, madam, I assure you that...

- I'm all right.

- Of course you're all right.

It was a shock.

The man has no sense blurting out

whatever he was blurting out...

...as if he were calling coals.

Please, Miss Pross.

Where is my father?

He has been imprisoned

at the Bastille 18 years.

Eighteen years.

Gracious creator of day.

To be buried alive for 18 years.

But I entreat you, sir, where is he now?

An old servant of his, De Farge,

is taking care of him.

- But where? Where?

- In his wine shop in Paris.

You must take me to him at once.

Well, why do you stand there

like a nincompoop?

You hear, don't you?

She wants to be taken to her father.

Isn't it natural she should

want to see her father?

Well, I will, but...

A toast to the king's health.

- There's mud in it.

- There's food in it.

Drink, little one.

Never mind the taste.

How can men bear such poverty?

Bear it? Look, they live within

the very shadow of the Bastille.

They have to bear it.

Don't do that, Jacques.

Well, there'll be blood flowing

in these streets before long, De Farge.

Yes, but keep that thought

in your heart, Jacques.

Don't waste it on the walls.

You're right, Jacques.

Jacques, where do you want this wood?

In the loft?

Jacques, 116 from Bordeaux.

Welcome, Jacques. Come inside.

A hundred and sixteen from Bordeaux,

my wife.

Well, Jacques, do you see the way

the spilt wine is being sucked up?

Every drop.

Not often those poor beasts

know the taste of wine...

...or of anything

but black bread and death.

It is so throughout all France.

Has he seen our tenant upstairs?

Not yet, but I'll show him.

Eighteen years imprisoned in the Bastille.

Wait till you see him.

The sight will burn into the souls

of all of the name of Jacques.

Strangers. The rose.

Madame De Farge?

Recalled to life.

Yes, yes. We have some

very fine old wine upstairs.

My husband will show you.

Come.

You were too young to remember me.

I was his servant.

Where...? Where is he?

Is he greatly changed?

Changed, mademoiselle.

Changed.

You lock him in? Why?

He's lived so long that way,

that an open door would...

Is it possible?

All things are possible in France today...

...just as all things

will be possible later.

Don't come in to him yet.

Let us go first.

Still hard at work?

Yes, I... I'm working.

These shoes must be done.

You have a visitor, you see.

A visitor.

Show your work to monsieur.

It is a lady's shoe.

It is a young lady's walking shoe.

It is in the present mode.

I never saw the mode.

I did it from a drawing.

Dr. Manette, do you remember me?

Come, come, now. Do you remember

an old friend in Tellson's Bank in London?

No.

No.

Who are you?

Who are you?

It is the same...

...but how can it be?

It is the same...

...but she is dead.

Yes.

My mother is dead, but I am...

Can't you feel who I am?

She had laid her head on my shoulder...

...and when I was brought

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Charles Dickens

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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