A Tale of Two Cities

I bet you didn't know the Dickens classic was filmed this early. Well ... it clearly should not have been.

This 21-minute production is a prime example of why a tv show like "Fractured Flickers" had hilarious material from which to choose. Apparently all of Paris looks the same, as evidenced by the set painting that appears in several scenes. Florence Turner, as Lucie, faints at the drop of a hat and spends most of her screen time unconscious. Leo Delaney, as Darnay, is a little on the plump side and acts a bit too effeminate. Maurice Costello, as Carton, shows a smidgeon of talent, but he acts a bit too effeminate. So why are these guys after Lucie?

The print was too blurred to identify other cast members, although I was able to spot Norma Talmadge playing a condemned woman in the final scenes. Apparently Mabel Normand and Helen Gardner were also in this, but I didn't spot them ... unless they were disguised as Delaney and Costello.

This very early film version of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" is pretty bad considering they only took 21 minutes to tell the story, though you have to put it in context. For 1911, this is actually a full-length story and no one yet made 90-120 minute films. Versions of other stories such as "Frankenstein" were likewise extremely short and confusing--and best watched by folks who already knew the stories. Additionally, seeing obviously painted backgrounds was the norm for the day and all the nice costumes and attempts to make it look good actually would indicate that this was a prestige film...with a higher than usual budget! So, don't be too quick to dismiss this picture...it's really not that bad considering.

If you want to see the film, it's currently on YouTube and would best be watched on your small computer screen and not on a television using a BlueRay player because in the latter case, the film is very blurry and the intertitle cards are hard to read.

The first of a series of three reels adequately reproducing Dickens' favorite story. It is unnecessary to go over the story. Probably most who will see the picture know its main features at least. The first reel takes the audience up to seizure of the peasant girl and the killing of her brother, her death, the visit to Dr. Manette to be a party to the crime, which results in his arrest and imprisonment in the Bastille and the consequent sufferings in a dungeon. The story is complete in itself, but the other two reels which go with it complete the story as Dickens wrote it. Probably most readers have formed some conception of the appearance of the different characters. In this picture they undoubtedly have an adequate reproduction of the story, with the principal personages faithfully depicted. The staging is little short of sumptuous. There is shown a care in the attention to details which stamps the picture as an unusually faithful reproduction and affords opportunity for those who have read and loved Dickens in the books to see his story move before them, much, perhaps, as it moved before him during its composition. Without being an expert upon Dickens, it seems safe to say that this production of one of his most famous stories will go down in motion picture history as one of the most notable of photoplay productions of the beginning of the year. - The Moving Picture World, March 4, 1911

The second part of the three reel release of this great story. This film introduces Lucy, Sidney Carton, the hero of the tale, De Farge and Darnay. The scene changes from the turbulence of Paris to the quiet, homelike attractions of London. The complications which beset these characters are faithfully reproduced. Of course, it must be understood that it is impossible to reproduce everything that is described in the book, but the selections have been made with care, and are indicative of a thorough understanding of the necessities of the story. The main features are sufficiently emphasized to serve as a guide in carrying the audience along, and their knowledge of the story itself will supply any deficiencies. Toward the last there are rumblings from Paris, with its unrest and turbulence, but the main feature of the picture is the quiet of the homes of London and the development of a portion of the love story which is included. It seems safe to say that those who see this film, in conjunction with the one which was released before, and the one to follow, will acquire a new impression of Dickens and will appreciate more fully than ever before the importance of the motion picture as showing the beauties of a good story. Managers will do well if they use these films together, though each one tells a story by itself, which has its interest. - The Moving Picture World, March 11, 1911

The third and closing film in this series of remarkable reproductions. This picture takes the audience to Paris and shows them the mob at work destroying property and murdering Royalists and all suspected of being in sympathy with them. The story is followed closely in the main, the principal scenes being shown in strong contrast to the quiet, homelike scenes of the former film. It is here that Carton displays the act of heroism which will forever make him one of the greatest characters in fiction, the sacrifice of his life to save Darnay, who has been arrested and imprisoned because he is a relative of a Royalist, and will ultimately suffer upon the guillotine. The scene when the condemned prisoners are going to the guillotine in the tumbrel cart, and Carton comforts the poor little seamstress condemned to die with him, is dramatic, and holds the attention so closely that the audience sits with tense nerves throughout the scene. But, after all, even though the turbulence of the murderous mob constitutes the theme of the picture, the closing scenes, where Carton dies for his friend lifts it above the ordinary level and makes it one of the greatest pictures of the month. The three should be shown in conjunction. In that way the story unfolds itself in consecutive order, and the connection is clearly perceived. The Vitagraph people have performed a notable achievement in presenting this story in such excellent form. It is a year when Dickens is being studied and considered more than for a long time, and such a contribution as this is a help, not alone to students of Dickens, but to the thousands who have, for one reason or another, perhaps, lost sight of his marvelous faculty for storytelling. - The Moving Picture World, March 11, 1911

A bullet-point version of Dickens' famous tale packs so much into its short running time that anyone unfamiliar with the novel will probably find it impossible to follow. Maurice Costello, Florence Turner and Leo Delaney play the chief protagonists, with Charles Kent taking the role of Dr. Mannette and a young Norma Talmadge in a tiny role as a woman on her way to the guillotine. William Humphreys' direction of the crowd scenes is impressive, but the pace is a little exhausting.

While it is impossible to do justice to Dickens' sprawling novel in 20 minutes, Vitagraph makes a stab at it with this series of scenes in little more than tableaux format. Good costumes, good backgrounds and excellent actors do their best, but stick with the 1935 version directed by Jack Conway.

While this would seem to be, from the cast list, an all-star version -- including a very young Mabel Normand -- you should realize Vitagraph worked its actors hard -- starring in one picture, helping to fill out a crowd scene in the next. Still, you might want to play "spot the star" with this one.