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It’s the ‘other’ version of Dickens’ terrific novel, an English film that few Americans have seen. This Australian DVD is in the Pal format and from a rather outdated transfer, yet I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a favorite story enacted by a great batch of UK talent. Dirk Bogarde stars and the many character roles go to familiar faces: Cecil Parker, Athene Seyler, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass, Rosalie Crutchley, Freda Jackson, Christopher Lee, Leo McKern, Donald Pleasence, Eric Pohlmann, Danny Green and the lovely Marie Versini. It’s a regular actor-spotting quiz. Ralph Thomas directed and much of the film was shot in France … with excellent English diction.

A Tale of Two Cities

Region 2 Pal DVD

Viavision (Australia)

1958 / B&w / 1:33 adapted flat / 117 min. / Street Date January 5, 2022 / Available from Viavision / 19.95 au

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler, Paul Guers, Marie Versini, Ian Bannen, Alfie Bass,...

Though the Continental Congress severed political connections with Great Britain on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. has never detached with their obsession with the British Royal Family. Just look at 2021 Emmy nominations.

The fourth season of Netflix’ “The Crown” reaped 24 bids — the show has already won 10 Emmys — including series, for leads Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, Emma Corrin as Diana, the Princess of Wales and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles and for supporting players Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret and Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles. And Oprah Winfrey’s blockbuster interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was nominated for best hosted nonfiction series or special.

There has been a lot of Emmy love over the years for the British monarchs. So make yourself cup of tea, heat up your scone or crumpet — with lemon curd, natch — keep...

Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies' July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles that should be popping up again in the not-too-distant future: A Tale of Two Cities, The Prisoner of Zenda, Kismet, Lucky Partners, and My Life with Caroline. The first two movies are among not only Colman's best, but also among Hollywood's best during its so-called Golden Age. Based on Charles Dickens' classic novel, Jack Conway's Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1936) is a rare Hollywood production indeed: it manages to effectively condense its sprawling source, it boasts first-rate production values, and it features a phenomenal central performance. Ah, it also shows its star without his trademark mustache – about as famous at the time as Clark Gable's. Perhaps...

Dirk Bogarde: ‘Victim’ star took no prisoners in his letters to Dilys Powell Letters exchanged between film critic Dilys Powell and actor Dirk Bogarde — one of the most popular and respected British performers of the twentieth century, and the star of seminal movies such as Victim, The Servant, Darling, and Death in Venice — reveals that Bogarde was considerably more caustic and opinionated in his letters than in his (quite bland) autobiographies. (Photo: Dirk Bogarde ca. 1970.) As found in Dirk Bogarde’s letters acquired a few years ago by the British Library, among the victims of the Victim star (sorry) were Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (Julia), a "ninny" who was “so utterly beastly to [Steaming director Joseph Losey] that he finally threw his script at her face”; and veteran stage and screen actor — and Academy Award winner — John Gielgud (Arthur), who couldn’t "understand half of Shakespeare" despite being renowned for his stage roles in Macbeth,...

Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Alida Valli, Angela Lansbury, The Man Who Laughs: Packard Campus Oct. 2010 Packard Campus schedule and film synopses (via press release): Friday, October 1 (7:30 p.m.) BBC Sunday Night Play: Colombe (BBC-tv, 1960) Library of Congress Discovers Lost British TV Treasures Based on the original Broadway production of the play "Mademoiselle Colombe" by Jean Anouilh. Directed by Naomi Capon. With Sean Connery & Dorothy Tutin.  Black & White, 102 min.   Saturday, October 2 (7:30 p.m.) Sons Of The Desert (Hal Roach-MGM, 1933) When Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way. Comedy.  Directed by William A. Seiter. With Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Charley Chase.  Black & White, 68 min.   Also on the program: Maids ala Mode (Hal Roach, 1933) starring Zasu Pitts [...]...

Though the economy was still in dire straits, Broadway carried on during the 2009-10 season, with visits from such high-voltage marquee names as Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Christopher Walken, Denzel Washington, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liev Schreiber, and Scarlett Johansson. A little group called Green Day rocked Broadway's world with the stage adaptation of the band's hit album "American Idiot," Twyla Tharp paid tribute to Frank Sinatra in "Come Fly Away," and Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins formed a "Million Dollar Quartet." "Fela!," Bill T. Jones' combination dance party, concert, and musical biography, transferred to the Main Stem from its Off-Broadway run, as did Geoffrey Nauffts' tender and moving play "Next Fall." "Red" and "Time Stands Still" offered searing portraits of artists coping with crises, while Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room or the vibrator play" captured the repressive Victorian era. Broadway fare also...

Film-maker associated with Michael Caine

The film director and producer Geoffrey Reeve, who has died aged 77, contributed polished examples of mainstream British cinema in a variety of forms over several decades.

He was born in Tring, Hertfordshire, the son of a compositor who would cycle each day to the printworks in nearby King's Langley. A bright pupil at the local primary, Reeve won a county council scholarship to Berkhamsted school where he excelled in sports, academic subjects and school plays. He was also a notable chorister, an experience he would put to good use for the subplot of the film Shadow Run 50 years later.

After national service with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment in Hong Kong, he went to Exeter College, Oxford, in 1953 to read law. His singing voice and his gift for comic acting made him a useful addition to Oxford's drama and revue companies, and he was apparently...

W Stephen Gilbert writes: Not being so much of a theatregoer, David Thomson omits one of Jean Simmons's most significant performances in his typically shrewd obituary (25 January). In 1975, she led the cast in the first London production of the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music.

We already knew from the movie of Guys and Dolls that Simmons, though not possessed of a trained voice, could charmingly if a little perilously carry a tune. This was exactly the requirement for the vocal appeal of Desiree Armfeldt, the role originally written for Glynis Johns. The character's signature number, Send in the Clowns (still Sondheim's most widely known and recorded), works much better in near-sprechgesang than if sung full out, as many usually unimpeachable singers have demonstrated. Simmons was also perfectly cast for that natural quality that Thomson identifies, the proper manner belied by hints of mischief.

Dorothy Tutin and Judi Dench...