A Tale of Two Cities (1935) Ronald Colman

Aluekooditon Singaporelainen dvd-originaali, ei suomitekstejä. Alkuperäinen ääniraita, tekstit englanniksi.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times Charles Dickens tale of love and tumult during the French Revolution comes to the screen in a sumptuous film version by the producer famed for nurturing sprawling literary works: David O. Selznick (David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind). Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton sardonic, dissolute, a wastreland destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, Carton muses at that defining moment. This is far, far better filmmaking too: a Golden Era marvel of uncanny performances top to bottom, eye-filling crowd scenes (the storming of the Bastille, thronged courtrooms, an eerie festival of public execution) and lasting emotional power. Revolution is in the air!

• Director ? : ? Jack Conway, Robert Z. Leonard
• Run time ? : ? 126 minutes
• Actors ? : ? Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Basil Rathbone
• Number of discs ? : ? 1

I like this old version of the classic better than some of the new ones. The old-fashioned sentimentality and melodrama of the style of acting displayed in this 1935 version of the "Tale," I think are very suitable to the tone of Dickens' works. The way that the somewhat comic "character roles" are played, like those of Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross, strikes me as particularly Dickensian.

On the other hand, the performance of Ronald Coleman in the role of the sacrificial Sydney Carton seems typical of modern movie anti-heroes--those that appear, say, in the 1950s and afterwards. His anti-hero personality (disguising a heroic loving heart that will give all) makes him stand out as a singular character in the midst of all the others--and that's suitable because his destiny stands out amidst those of the more ordinary types in the story who will live to enjoy more ordinary fates than he.

Besides the fact that this movie is a deeply moving version of a story about an extraordinary act of sacrificial love, for which I especially cherish and mourn the tragic character of Carton, I remember the film mostly because of Miss Pross as played by Edna May Oliver. One of my favorite of all movie scenes is when Pross stands up to the murderous Madame Defarge. It's so funny when this determined and protective servant/guardian draws herself up, barring the door to her charges within, and declares, "I am an English woman!" and then proceeds to prove herself the dominant of two tigresses as she and the blood-crazed French woman fly into an instantaneous ferocious tangle! Pross is a tough and daunting personality, yet uniquely lovable.

Another great old time character actor best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes appears here as the despicable Count Evremonde. I've always been fascinated with Basil Rathbone as a person having an interesting and unusual face, especially in profile. So, I like to see him in movies just to study the Rathbone bones! (Watch for a good glimpse of his profile in one scene here when he climbs into bed.)

The last time I watched this movie I noticed that the scenes of the storming of the Bastille were actually pretty thrilling! And it's remarkable to think they were accomplished without digital computerization.

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