Bogarde is perfectly cast as Sydney Carton in this masterly adaptation of Charles Dicken's renowned French Revolution epic. Faithfully adapted from the novel, the film follows the fortunes of Carton, a disillusioned lawyer, whose world is turned upside down when events in France encroach on his decadent London life.
Asked to defend a young French aristocrat named Darnay (Paul Gures), Carton finds himself falling in love with Darney's fiancée Lucie Manette (Dorothy Tutin). When Darney returns to France, he is imprisoned by a revolutionary mob. Carton seizes the opportunity for action and, ultimately, redemption.