A Tale of Two Cities (1980)

• Year: 1980
• Released: 02 Dec 1980
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. 2 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081595/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_tale_of_two_cities
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-tale-of-two-cities
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Drama, History, Romance
• Runtime: 162 min
• Writer: Charles Dickens, John Gay
• Director: Jim Goddard
• Cast: Chris Sarandon, Peter Cushing, Kenneth More
• Keywords: based on novel or book, french revolution, charles dickens,

	6.6/10
	40% – Audience

A Tale of Two Cities Storyline

Dissolute barrister Sydney Carton (Chris Sarandon) becomes enchanted and then hopelessly in love with the beautiful Lucie Manette (Alice Krige). But Lucie loves and marries Charles Darnay (Chris Sarandon), and remains oblivious to Carton’s undimmed devotion to her. When Darnay is ensnared in the deadly web of the French Revolution and condemned to die by the guillotine, Sydney Carton concocts a dangerous plot to free the husband of the woman he loves.

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A Tale of Two Cities Movie Reviews

Really liked it

Profound human love and the most repugnant savagery, horror and redemption, a heroine and a grotesque revenger, two families with dark secrets, two cities, all in the backdrop of the bloodbath that was the French Revelation. In watching it, be prepared for the “Best of Times and the Worst of Times.” James Welch Henderson Arkansas 5/17/21.

A solid TV adaptation

I wouldn’t call it the definitive version nor would I, for every conceivable criticism you could give this film, vote it low for not showing them cutting everyone’s hair before beheading them as a previous reviewer did. As far as Dickens adaptations go, this is alright if you need a visualization of the novel. The actors all do good jobs, especially Peter Cushing as Doctor Mannette, Billie Whitelaw as Madame Defarge, and especially Alice Krige as Lucie Mannette, who makes the character feel a little more real than she was in the original novel. In the dual role of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, Chris Sarandon does alright. Obviously he has more to work with playing Carton, but I would not call either performance brilliant.

The sets and costumes are good; obviously the production values are not sky high, seeing as this is a TV movie. The lighting is flat and dull, as was per usual in many TV productions during the 1970s and 1980s. The music is passable, but not memorable.

Still, even at over two and a half hours, this film feels rushed. We never as close to the characters as we should be and Sydney’s “last dream of my soul” line and most of his final speech being cut are criminal. I think the whole production could have benefited from an extra thirty minutes.

Nothing special, but a nice way to illustrate the novel for an English class or for your own enjoyment. Just don’t expect the definitive A Tale of Two Cities adaptation.

Unconvincing Guillotine Sequence

Yes,I know this is a TV version and therefore impressionable children may be watching, (even after the British 9pm watershed) but the final guillotine sequence was wholly unconvincing.I went with my late parents in 1965 to the Conciergerie on the Ile de Paris where they imprisoned the condemned, before their final ride in the tumbrils.There they had a room where they severely cut off the hair of the condemned because otherwise the blade would not cut through the neck cleanly.Yet again producers do not do enough technical research regarding being dispatched by “The National Razor”.The 1935 version with Ronald Coleman was farcical in this respect.As he came up the stairs he had his high collar up before issuing forth with, “It is a far far better thing….” speech.In the subject 1980 TV version, you have Chris Sarandon as Sydney Carton mounting the scaffold stairs with shoulder length hair! There are many other films which inaccurately portray the methods used in capital punishment and it was not until I saw Timothy Spall in “Pierrepoint” that we saw an accurate rendition.I know this is a bit ghoulish but I would rate the overall production as just about “adequate” and I awarded it a rating of 6/10.It was good to see Kenneth More in one of his last roles as Jarvis Laurie.