When Miss Pross refers to Madam DeFarge as the bride of Satan, it's as if the great-great grandmother of Billie Whitelaw's character in "The Omen" is being exposed for a family curse that would continue for generations. Indeed, Whitelaw as Madame DeFarge is evil, filled with such hatred that revenge will cross over to the innocent. In the 1935 version, the excellent Blanche Yurka saved her emotional explosion for the courtroom, sitting and knitting patiently, her sardonic humor definitely on par with the character of Mrs. Lovett, the human pie maker from "Sweeney Todd", served with a glass of DeFarge chablis of course. I always felt sorry for her character whose years of grief over the murder of her family made her slowly loose her mind. From the start, Mme. DeFarge here is a smirking monster, and fascinating on a completely different level.
It's ironic that the key to her getting her comeuppance here is Flora Robson, very different as Miss Pross than Edna May Oliver was. Gone is the humor and nose sniffing, and in is a repeat of what Robson had played as the housekeeper Ellen in 1939's "Wuthering Heights". She's none the less formidable, very concerned about the safety of her beloved Lucy (Alice Krige) and Dr. Manette (Peter Cushing), recently reunited with his daughter after decades of captivity in the Bastile. It's nice to see Cushing playing a character more like himself who has occasional bouts of flashback nightmares to his past. Barry Morse, briefly on as the evil Marquis St. Everymonde, is appropriately hateful and inhumane.
The lead roles of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay (nephew of the Marquis) isn't as developed as Ronald Colman's, but Chris Sarandon (particularly with long hair) is quite handsome. He basically reminds the audience that both characters are simply part of the ensemble, only becoming emotionally involved as the threat of the guillotine becomes more likely. The film is certainly stunning to look at, but the streets of the Paris slums seem far too clean, absolutely no dirty faces, rotting teeth or evidence of squalor. I still recommend it for being a bit more detailed and just as strong emotionally. The addition of color probably got younger readers at the time more interested (like me), so it served that purpose too just as other elaborate versions of Dickens novels did.
It's ironic that the key to her getting her comeuppance here is Flora Robson, very different as Miss Pross than Edna May Oliver was. Gone is the humor and nose sniffing, and in is a repeat of what Robson had played as the housekeeper Ellen in 1939's "Wuthering Heights". She's none the less formidable, very concerned about the safety of her beloved Lucy (Alice Krige) and Dr. Manette (Peter Cushing), recently reunited with his daughter after decades of captivity in the Bastile. It's nice to see Cushing playing a character more like himself who has occasional bouts of flashback nightmares to his past. Barry Morse, briefly on as the evil Marquis St. Everymonde, is appropriately hateful and inhumane.
The lead roles of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay (nephew of the Marquis) isn't as developed as Ronald Colman's, but Chris Sarandon (particularly with long hair) is quite handsome. He basically reminds the audience that both characters are simply part of the ensemble, only becoming emotionally involved as the threat of the guillotine becomes more likely. The film is certainly stunning to look at, but the streets of the Paris slums seem far too clean, absolutely no dirty faces, rotting teeth or evidence of squalor. I still recommend it for being a bit more detailed and just as strong emotionally. The addition of color probably got younger readers at the time more interested (like me), so it served that purpose too just as other elaborate versions of Dickens novels did.