HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: A TALE OF TWO CITIES (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas presented by Hallmark. In this drama, set just before the start of the French Revolution, a young French nobleman, Charles St. Ovremonde, sides with the peasants, denounces his aristocratic title, gives up his worldly possessions, changes his name to Charles Darnay, and departs for England. Meanwhile, a young lady, Lucie Manette, is reunited with her father, who was imprisoned by French aristocrats for sixteen years. She and Lorry, a friend of her family, take Dr. Manette on a ship bound for England, but unknowingly leave behind his diary, which falls into the hands of the revolutionary Madame Defarge. On the boat, Lucie meets Darnay. Nine months later, Charles is put on trial in England for treason. Sydney Carton, an English lawyer -- and a dead ringer for Darnay -- learns that Barsad, the chief witness for the prosecution, has been paid by an aristocrat to give false information about Darnay. Carton manages to get Barsad to change his testimony and in turn save Darnay's life. Darnay and Carton discover that they both love Lucie. Darnay wins her hand in marriage and on the day of their wedding tells Lucie and her father of his past. A few years later, the French Revolution begins. Darnay learns that a faithful servant of his has been imprisoned because of his loyalty to the St. Ovremonde family. He returns to France in an attempt to save him. However, the Jacobins take Darnay for an aristocrat and throw him in jail as soon as he arrives in Paris. Lorry, who is in France on business, informs Dr. Manette of Darnay's plight. Dr. Manette stands up for Darnay at his trial and saves him from the guillotine. But Madame Defarge reminds her husband that she has Dr. Manette's diary from the years of his imprisonment. Meanwhile, Carton arrives in France.
Darnay is once again taken into custody by the revolutionaries in France. Carton meets with Barsad, who is now a prison guard. By threatening to tell the Jacobins that Barsad had once worked for the aristocrats, Carton gets Barsad to promise to allow him to visit Darnay in prison. At Darnay's trial, Madame Defarge reads from Dr. Manette's diary, in which he had denounced all St. Ovremondes because, much earlier, he had been thrown in prison for trying to save the life of a woman beaten by Darnay's uncle. The jury immediately finds Darnay guilty and sentences him to death. Carton gives his travelling papers to Lorry and makes him promise to be ready to leave with Lucie and her father by the next afternoon. Carton then visits Darnay and switches clothes with him. He drugs Darnay and puts a note in his pocket, then Barsad returns Darnay to his family. On the way back to England, Lucie reads the note from Carton and realizes that he has given his life for her happiness.
("Hallmark Hall of Fame" aired on NBC from 1952 to 1978; network affiliation varies after 1978.)
(Beginning with the live telecast of the opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" on December 24, 1951, Hallmark has sponsored a series of dramatic specials which since 1952 have been titled "Hallmark Hall of Fame." From 1952 to 1955 Hallmark also presented "Hallmark Hall of Fame," a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology series hosted by Sarah Churchill. The first program, "Dr. Serocold," was televised in January 1952 under the title "Hallmark Television Theatre." This series also ran under the title "Hallmark Summer Theatre" in July and August 1952.)
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: December 2, 1980 Tuesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:37:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:32694
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; French Revolution - Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1980
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Norman Rosemont … Producer
- William Hill … Associate Producer
- Jim Goddard … Director
- John Gay … Writer
- Charles Dickens … Based on the novel by
- Allyn Ferguson … Music by
- Chris Sarandon … Cast, Charles Darnay / Sydney Carton
- Peter Cushing … Cast, Dr. Manette
- Kenneth More … Cast, Lorry
- Barry Morse … Cast, St. Evremonde
- Flora Robson … Cast, Miss Pross
- Billie Whitelaw … Cast, Madame Defarge
- Alice Krige … Cast, Lucie Manette
- Norman Jones … Cast, Monsieur Defarge
- David Suchet … Cast, Barsad
- Bernard Hug … Cast, Gaspard
- Nigel Hawthorne … Cast, Stryver
- George Innes … Cast, Cruncher
- Valerie de Tilburg … Cast, the Seamstress
- Robert Urquhart … Cast, the Attorney General
- Anna Manahan … Cast, Vengeance
- Gerald James … Cast, Gabelle
- Bernard Archard … Cast, the Court President
- Martha Parsey … Cast, Little Lucie
- Robin Scobey … Cast, Victor
- John Kidd … Cast, Chemist