A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

Very disappointing...

Great Film overall

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

I'm old now, and I've been watching films (movies!) since the 1940's!This black and white 1958 version of 'A Tale of Two Cities' is a beautiful love story. Although we owe the wonderful Charles Dickens all the credit for creating such an outstanding act of bravery by Sydney Carton, I defy anyone to suggest a better actor than Dirk Bogarde to play this part.Dirk Bogarde starts the film as a drunk who has nothing to live for. Through his love for Lucie, he learns to redeem himself. The words he dictates at the end of the film to Charles Darney in the prison, 'I knew it was not in your nature.....' are real tearjerkers.I watch the film at least once a year and always find it a moving experience.Highly recommendedPS The haunting music by Richard Addinsell is fabulous.....

Pretty boy Bogarde or movie star Coleman? I always thought Dirk Bogarde (Bogarde NOT Bogarte) was a lightweight actor with occasional flashes of excellence.I always thought Ronald Coleman was a great movie star who could act a bit.Having said that I prefer Coleman's version of 'Lost Horizon' to the others and I think his performance as Carton shades Bogarde. Bogarde's best performances were in 'The Night Porter' and 'The Victim'There was, however, a version of this movie (maybe made for TV) with John Mills playing Carton - easily the best.

"Tale of Two Cities" is one of those overworked and tired tales that has been over told dozens of times ad nausea! However, this rendition is glorious. Only the Ronald Colman version is slightly better, but Dirk Bogarde fits this role perfectly, as he does most of his other roles in film. Although most of the versions of "Tale of Two Cities" are boring, much like the tired renditions of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, this version is like the Herbert Von Karajan or Carlos Kleiber orchestrations that are spectacular and inspiring, as if played for the very first time. There are beautifully crafted scenes in this film that create an interest in the humanity of the characters. This is truly a wonderful film.One of the most powerful ending's to a film I have ever seen, similar to the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross, this is a film you must see and you will be glad you did. You will ask yourself, how many people could make such a sacrifice for the one they love? I know I couldn't. The courage of these characters' is awe-inspiring and as one of the character's says, Sydney Carton (Bogarde) shows the best that is in us, and is the best of us, in desperate times. A Super Hero in a great film! See this one! If you have a heart, you will have a lump in your throat and your eyes will be moist at the end of this one!

This is a classic film version of one of Dickin's classic novels. Arguably his best novel (though the critics tend to dismiss it - it has a straightforward plot and structure), it translates into an exceptional film. For those who don't know the story, it concerns the fortunes of the Manette and St Evremonde families at the time of the French revolution. In a Romeo and Juliet type situation, Charles Darnay (alias St Evremonde) loves Lucie Manette, whose father Darnay's uncle had wronged. Now living in London, neither can escape the terrible events in Paris, and they are drawn to a climatic conclusion as the guillotine falls on aristocrat and commoner alike.The real hero of both novel and film is Sydney Carton (Dirk Bogarde), an English lawyer who initially defends Charles Darnay against a charge of treason, and later comes to love Lucie, now married to Darnay. The conclusion of the story, for Sydney Carton at least, is both tragic and inspiring, and Mr Bogarde certainly does justice to the role.