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5/10
The London Story - 1780
chasmilt77710 August 2006
The Plymouth Playhouse that aired on ABC (May 3, 1953)was Part 1 of "The Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. This episode 4 of "ABC Album" was the London story - 1780. It was a 30 minute dramatization made for early TV. For its time, it was o.k., but the second part that was aired the following week was much better.

Wendell Corey played the role of Sydney Carton. Wanda Hendrix, who had been married to Audie Murphy (the WW II hero)in 1949, played the role of Lucie Manette. Her father, Dr. Manette, was played by Murray Matheson. It was the role of Pross, played by Esther Dale, that I liked the best. I remember her role in "The Awful Truth" (1937) as Ralph Bellamy's prude mother from Oklahoma. Carleton Young played the role as Charles Darnay.

I was lucky to have this presentation on DVD. It came in a 50 Movie Pack box set entitled : Historic Classics. Vintage Plymouth car commercials are also included.
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4/10
The first of two cities is a total shell of itself.
mark.waltz4 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The two-part "Plymouth Playhouse" presentation of "A Tale of Two Cities" is a sad "cliff notes" version of Charles Dickens' great novel, one which required more attention than it got here. Wendell Corey, one of the dreariest leading men of the late 1940's and 50's, is cast as Sydney Carton, drunken English barrister, stepping up to the plate to help French aristocrat Charles "St. Everymonde" Darnay be acquitted of treason charges. In the process, both Carton and Darnay falls in love with sweet Lucy Manette (Wandra Hendrix), the daughter of a doctor who spent years in the Bastile at the hands of Darnay's evil family. This skips over much of the detail, only covering Carton's involvement with the family and his declaration of loyalty towards Lucy. Esther Dale does offer some spark as Miss Pross, but unfortunately, the atmosphere which made the original Selznick movie so great is totally absent. Still, as TV history, it is fascinating, but in retrospect, it comes off as a hopeless antique stripped away of its passion.
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