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The final major Dickens adaptation of the silent era is The Only Way, a
lavish adaptation of the popular stage play of the same name, itself a rather
free adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Produced and directed by the
ambitious Herbert Wilcox, ever in pursuit of prestige British products that
would appeal to an international market, the film was a vehicle for the great
actor-manager John Martin Harvey, who had been touring the play since 1899.
Martin Harvey reprises his legendary stage role as Sydney Carton, despite his
advancing years (he was 62). Madge Stuart plays Mimi, his maid, a
character not in the original but perhaps forgivably added in the spirit of the
'doubling' that Dickens uses as the key motif of the book. From photographs of
the stage version it seems that the film was a very faithful representation of
the play, using the same reduced set of characters (no Madame Defarge, no Jerry
Cruncher), the same beautifully designed sets, including the splendid
revolutionary Tribunal hall with its mob of revolutionary grotesques, and the
much imitated final vignette of the guillotine which has the effect of isolating
Sidney Carton as he delivers the famous final words.
Also taken directly from the play is Martin Harvey's studied performance in a
series of virtuoso set pieces showing Carton's interior tragedy. These range
from comic to cynically intelligent to melancholic, and like the settings are
carefully posed. The film reproduces these meticulously, leading us to suspect
that Martin Harvey had a strong influence on the filming of his own
performances.
When Martin Harvey is on screen the film it comes alive - the two court room
scenes in particular are superbly staged. He has the ability to convey
simultaneously with minimal gesture the inner thoughts of his character and the
outward buffoonery he puts on for the benefit of the crowd. It seems almost
impossible that Leslie Howard wasn't channeling this performance in his title
role in The Scarlet Pimpernel (d. Harold Young, 1935).
But as soon as the principal is off the screen, the film becomes plodding,
with few of the supporting cast making a notable contribution. Regardless, the
film was quite a financial success, justfying the producers' faith in tried and
trusted material.
Bryony Dixon
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1. A matter of identity (7:57)
