Silent Sydney

Speaking of classic films, have you ever seen any of the silent 1911 film version of A Tale of Two Cities? I hadn't until Ben Winyard posted this video at Dickens Journal Online's ATOTC blog. (The film clip begins at 1:06.)

Interestingly, although his hand gestures are a little melodramatic, I think Maurice Costello does a better job capturing the mood of the story's final scenes than any other Carton I've ever seen.

Comments

[Judy]

Thanks so much for this, Gina - I'm getting into silent films in a big way at the moment and really enjoyed this. I discovered that the whole film (23 minutes) is online at a silent movies website I hadn't heard of before called Harpodeon - they make a small charge to stream it, but if you haven't watched anything on the site before you can see it free after registering. Here is the link for anyone who is interested:

http://www.harpodeon.com/product/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities/18731/9514768933875036000

The print is quite heavily damaged near the start, but the quality improves later on. I did find that it buffered a few times. I thought Maurice Costello (great-grandfather of Drew Barrymore) was really something not only in this closing scene, but also in an earlier drunken scene in his chambers, where he is shaking his fist at his own reflection in the mirror. Also, because he and the actor playing Darnay do really look quite alike (though Costello's features are a slightly sharper and more sarcastic version) the courtroom scene has all the drama that it should have. Anyway, I'll definitely be writing something about this film at my blog, but just wanted to say thank you very much for the tip.

[Gina]

Thank YOU, Judy! I didn't know the whole thing was available! (Didn't know about the Costello-Barrymore connection either.) I'll have to check that out!

Have you seen this, by the way?

http://dickensblog.typepad.com/dickensblog/2012/03/oldest-surviving-dickens-film-discovered.html

[Judy]

Gina, there's also a 70-minute 1917 version of ATOTC, directed by Frank Lloyd, available on Youtube in nine-minute chunks - I've only watched a little bit of that one so far as the picture quality isn't that great and my eyes started going funny, but I do hope to watch the whole thing! I'll put a link below to the first part. I had heard about the 'Bleak House' clip as there was TV news coverage in the UK when it was discovered, but thanks for reminding me and posting the link - an exciting find.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUPAV5PoqRg