The Only Way (1927 film)

The Only Way is a 1927 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring John Martin Harvey, Madge Stuart and Betty Faire. It was adapted from the play The Only Way which was itself based on the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. John Martin Harvey had been playing Carton in the play since 1899 and it was his most popular work. It cost 24,000 to make and was shot at Twickenham Studios. The film was a commercial success and reportedly took over 53,000 in its first two years on release. It was a particularly notable achievement given the collapse in British film production between the Slump of 1924 and the passage of the Cinematograph Films Act 1927 designed to support British film making.

Many years later Doctor Manette is released. His time in the Bastille has left him institutionalised and he initially finds it hard to adjust to life outside the prison. Jarvis Lorry and Manettes nowgrown daughter Lucy come to Paris to escort him to England. On the journey back they encounter a young man named Charles Darnay, who is the son of Marquis dEvremonde, fleeing France because his liberal views clash with those of his father. Darnay and Lucy soon fall in love, but their hopes of marriage are threatened when Darnay is arrested on his arrival in England for espionage and high treason as an alleged French spy. Darnays accuser is the unscrupulous Barsad, who is himself in the pay of the French government.Darnays defence case is worked on by an dissolute Englishman, Sidney Carton, whose young idealism has given away to a selfloathing cynicism. Carton bears a striking resemblance to Darnay and uses this in court to discredit Barsads evidence in court, by raising doubts over Barsads claims that he clearly saw and heard Darnay talking treason. Darnay is acquitted, and he plans to marry Lucy. Carton is befriended by Lucy, and developing an unrequited attachment for her, he tries to mend his ways and give up his heavy drinking. ........

Source: Wikipedia