 When she finally made her belated screen debut at the age of 47, it was in the role that many consider the greatest of her film career, the poisonously vindictive revolutionary Thérèse Defarge in "A Tale of Two Cities".Producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part of Madame Defarge was the Russian-born stage actress Alla Nazimova.When she turned it down, she recommended Yurka, declaring her the "only" actress for the part.