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7.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. A Tale of Two Cities remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a soft spot for 1930s studio sets that look like they were built out of cardboard and pure ambition, then yes. Watch it. If you need snappy pacing or can't handle actors who speak like they are projecting to the back row of a cathedral, skip it and maybe revisit Anne of Green Gables for something a bit lighter.
Ronald Colman is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. He plays both Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, and honestly, the way he switches between them is the only reason this thing holds together. One is a brooding mess of a lawyer, the other is a noble bore. It works, mostly.
The mob scenes are hilarious in a weird way. There is this one shot where a crowd is supposed to look like they are tearing down the Bastille, but they just look like a bunch of theater extras who forgot their lines and decided to just wave their sticks at the camera instead. It’s charmingly fake.
Basil Rathbone shows up as the villain, and he’s clearly having the time of his life. He brings this icy, sharp energy that makes everyone else look like they’re sleepwalking. He’s the only one who seems to realize he’s in a movie about people losing their heads, quite literally.
There’s a moment near the end—you know the one—where the sacrifice happens. It’s handled with a lot more grace than I expected. No big speeches, just a guy walking up steps and looking at the sky. It felt almost human, which is a big deal for a movie that feels this stiff for most of its runtime.
It’s not perfect. It’s actually quite clunky in spots. The transition from London to Paris feels like skipping a track on a record, and the emotional stakes are sometimes buried under layers of fancy period costumes. But then you catch a glimpse of the production design, and you realize someone really cared about making this world look big. 📽️
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a solid chunk of history. Maybe watch it with a cup of coffee and don't take the revolutionary politics too seriously.
