''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a 1917 American silent

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its preside ...

and starring

William Farnum William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American actor. He was a star of American silent film cinema and became one of the highest-paid actors during that time. Biography Farnum was born on July 4, 1876, in Boston, Massachuse ...

, Jewel Carmen, and

Charles Clary Charles Clary (March 24, 1873 – March 24, 1931) was an American actor of the silent film era. Clary appeared in more than 200 films between 1910 and 1930. He was born in Charleston, Illinois and died on his 58th birthday in Los Angeles, Ca ...

. The film is based on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

' 1859 novel of the same name, which has been filmed a number of times.Goble p.974

Premise

During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

a British lawyer courageously takes the place of a French aristocrat sentenced to be

guillotined A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at the ...

Cast

as Charles Darnay / Sydney Carton * Jewel Carmen as Lucie Manette *

as Marquis St. Evenmonde *

Herschel Mayall Herschel Mayall (July 12, 1863 – June 10, 1941) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1912 and 1935. Biography He was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and died in Detroit, Mich ...

as Jacques Defarge *

Rosita Marstini Rosita Marstini (September 19, 1887 – April 24, 1948) was a French dancer, stage personality, and silent and sound film actress from Nancy, France. Early life Rosita Marstini was born on September 19, 1887, in Nancy, France. She married ...

as Madame Therese Defarge *

Josef Swickard Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 – 1 March 1940) was a kingdom of Prussia, Prussian-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America. Career Swickard emigrated to the Un ...

as Dr. Alexandre Manette * Ralph Lewis as Roger Cly * William Clifford as Gabelle *

Marc Robbins Marc Robbins (January 3, 1868 – April 5, 1931) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 78 films between 1914 and 1923. He died in Los Angeles, California. Morey was from Topeka, Kansas, and he acted with the Morey Stock C ...

as Jarvis Lorry * Olive White as Miss Pross *

Willard Louis Willard Louis (April 19, 1882 – July 22, 1926) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1911 and 1926. He was born in San Francisco, California. Louis had an art studio before he be ...

as Mr. CJ Stryver *

Harry De Vere Harry De Vere (February 1, 1870, New York City – October 10, 1923, Los Angeles) was an American silent film actor. He was signed by the Thanhouser Company based in New Rochelle, New York in 1914 and starred in about 70 films until his d ...

as Gaspard *

Florence Vidor Florence Vidor (née Cobb, later Arto; July 23, 1895 – November 3, 1977) was an American silent film actress. Early life Vidor was born in Houston on July 23, 1895, to John and Ida Cobb. Her parents had married in Houston on March 3, 1894, bu ...

as Mimi

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* * * * 1917 films American silent feature films 1910s historical drama films 1910s English-language films Films directed by Frank Lloyd Fox Film films Films based on A Tale of Two Cities Films set in London Films set in Paris Films set in the 18th century American black-and-white films American historical drama films 1917 drama films Silent American drama films 1910s American films {{historic-film-stub