A Canterbury Tale (1944)

Directors:

Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Michael Powell (written by) &
Emeric Pressburger (written by)

Release Date:

21 January 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | War

Tagline:

Four modern pilgrims in a story of today - yet away from war.

Plot:

A 'Land Girl', an American GI, and a British soldier find themselves together in a small Kent town on the road to Canterbury...

Plot Keywords:

Glue | England | Soldier | Magistrate | Village

Cast

Eric Portman	...	Thomas Colpeper, JP
Sheila Sim	...	Alison Smith
Dennis Price	...	Peter Gibbs
Sergeant John Sweet	...	Bob Johnson (as Sergt. John Sweet, U.S. Army)
Esmond Knight	...	Narrator (non-US versions) / Seven-Sisters Soldier / Village Idiot
Charles Hawtrey	...	Thomas Duckett
Hay Petrie	...	Woodcock
George Merritt	...	Ned Horton
Edward Rigby	...	Jim Horton
Freda Jackson	...	Prudence Honeywood
Betty Jardine	...	Fee Baker
Eliot Makeham	...	Organist
Harvey Golden	...	Sergt. Roczinsky
Leonard Smith	...	Leslie
James Tamsitt	...	Terry

Runtime:

124 min | USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Bridge over Little Stour, Wickhambreaux, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Archers, The

Trivia:

Because Canterbury Cathedral's windows had been taken out because of the air raids, the interior of the cathedral was rebuilt in Denham Studio.

Quotes:

Prudence Honeywood: That's your room. You won't get much of a view I'm afraid.
Alison Smith: You should have seen the view from my room in London.
Prudence Honeywood: Was it a long street with every house a different sort of sadness in it?
Alison Smith: It was a long row of back gardens, and the tall, sad houses were all the same.
Prudence Honeywood: Ghastly in winter.
Alison Smith: Airless in summer. You seem to know them.
Prudence Honeywood: The only man who ever asked me to marry him wanted me to live in a house like that. I'm still a maid.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Arena: A Pretty British Affair" (1981)

A deep & entertaining study

This is a multilayered, erudite, passionate exploration of England's national character. The route Powell and Pressburger take for this rather difficult task is to follow John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. During the second war a group of disparate people are thrown together one night at a deserted railway platform in Kent. Using a plot device of a mysterious, though harmless, assailant who preys upon women, P & P examines English country life, the Englishman's love for nature, the idisyncracies, the distrust of foreigners, the 'pubbing', the resilience, the faith in institutions (the church, the gentry), etc.

The scope of the movie is amazing, and in 2 hours it covers enormous ground. The entire thing is so skillfully and assuredly done that in spite of the absence of any stars and (almost) of a story, and the fact that John Bull is never my companion of choice in any desert island, I was riveted to this movie. Besides the acting, this effect was achieved also by Alfred Junge's brilliant art direction (I couldn't believe the Canterbury church was just a set) and William Hillier's black and white photography. Two scenes stand out - a bird 'turning into' an airplane signifying time going on ahead by a few centuries, and an armoured car breaking through bushes and undergrowth (a very 'Predator'-ish shot).

This is a must see.