Great Britain

Dickens' epic tale follows the fortunes of a disillusioned English lawyer, Sidney Carton (Dirk Bogarde), whose solace is drink and who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young French aristocrat named Darnay. Carton defends Darnay in an English court and falls in love with Darnay's fiancee Lucy. Eventually Carton is given the chance to redeem his dissolute life when Darnay is imprisoned by the revolutionary mob in Paris and condemned to die at the guillotine. In response to Lucy Darnay's pleas for help Carton travels to Paris, visits her husband's cell, drugs him and substitutes himself for the condemned man. As Darnay is smuggled out of Paris to freedom and reunion with Lucy, the cart carrying Carton to his death trundles through the howling mob towards the scaffold. A truly gripping tale, incomparably told and flawlessly performed.