A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film) A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film) A Tale of Two Cities is a 1980 American made-for-television historical drama film directed by Jim Goddard and starring Chris Sarandon, who plays dual roles as two characters who are in love with the same woman. It is based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name set in the French Revolution. Dickens' London-lawyer hero (Chris Sarandon) makes the ultimate sacrifice for the woman he loves in Paris during the Reign of Terror. Producer Norman Rosemont specialised in adaptations of classic novels. Most of the $5 million budget came from Hallmark Greeting
A Tale of Two Cities in the nose of the Marquis. Forster believed that Dickens never truly created rounded characters. "A Tale of Two Cities" is one of only two works of historical fiction by Charles Dickens (the other being "Barnaby Rudge"). Dickens relies much on "" by Thomas Carlyle as a historical source. Dickens wrote in his Preface to "Tale" that "no one can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Mr. Carlyle's wonderful book". Dickens uses literal translations of French idioms for characters who cannot speak English, such as "What the devil do you do in that galley there?!!" and "Where is