A Canterbury Tale

1944

2h 4m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

93%

Tomatometer

15 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

On the way to Canterbury during World War II, American G.I. Bob Johnson (John Sweet) mistakenly gets off the train in Chillingbourne, where he encounters British Sgt. Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price) and British "land girl" Alison Smith (Sheila Sim), who's working as a shopkeeper. When they're confronted with a serial criminal who puts glue in women's hair, and Alison becomes his newest victim, the travelers are drawn into a mystery that brings them closer together.

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Michael Atkinson

Village Voice

Is this the strangest film produced by (and about) an Allied nation during WWII?

Mar 3, 2015

Full Review

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Curious allegorical epic which was supposed to speak to Allied spirits during the second world war but was a trifle obscure in its symbolism even then.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 3, 2015

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Sincerity and simplicity shine through every foot of this oversized modern version of the Chaucer epic tale. Here is rare beauty.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

An adorably quaint snapshot...of the war in Britain and an English countryside perhaps properly spoiled by progress and by too many years of TV’s “Escape to the Country.”

Rated: 3/4

Jul 19, 2023

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Despite A Canterbury Tale's national-patriotic aims and its fantasy of a peaceful, rustic English countryside peopled by plain-spoken but astute farmers and craftsmen, the work retains a considerable impact.

Feb 16, 2021

Full Review

Peter Galvin

sbs.com.au

It's a wonderful film; bizarre, and pulsing with a weird sexual undertow, it abounds with mysticism, beautiful images and a plot that's as compelling as it is daffy.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 3, 2015

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Alec B

A thoroughly strange movie but a rewarding one, especially by its end where the "Pilgrims" all receive their blessings or penances.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

Matthew B

Not much happens during the two-hour running time of A Canterbury Tale. An American sergeant travelling to Canterbury gets off the train at the wrong stop, and is forced to stay in the small town of Chillingbourne. While there he teams up with a British sergeant and a young woman to find the identity of a mysterious assailant called The Glue Man, who pours glue over the hair of British girls who date American soldiers. Later the three companions travel to Canterbury where a final miracle is waiting for them. Such is the storyline, but the story is sometimes the least important part of a movie that is made with thoughtfulness, intelligence and great skill. What A Canterbury Tale lacks in narrative drive, it makes up for with its brilliant visual style and its rich literary, historical, contemporary and spiritual subtext. While the film is called A Canterbury Tale, most of the action takes place before the characters arrive in the city. Indeed only the final 20 minutes of the movie are set in Canterbury. Nonetheless the town looms large over the action. It is constantly referred to by the other characters, and we get glimpses of the distant city, with particular focus on its imposing cathedral. The title carries a deliberate echo of The Canterbury Tales, a collection of verses written in story form by the medieval poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. Indeed the film opens with the pilgrims from Chaucer's tale. We watch as they travel along the Pilgrim's Way, the road that leads to the cathedral, where they will seek blessings. While we watch their antics, a narrator quotes from Chaucer's work, or perhaps an imitation of Chaucer's style. However this is not a medieval tale, and this scene is designed to link the past and the present, both by similarity and by contrast. Soon we will see three modern pilgrims finding a blessing at Canterbury, but the Pilgrim's Way changes much over that time. The transition from the past takes place while we watch a hawker release his bird. He looks up at the bird and we watch it soar in the sky. The scene abruptly cuts to the present-day (1940s Britain). The sky-borne hawk has become a fighter place, and the hawker is replaced by a soldier, who gazes up at this modern invention in the same manner. The scene anticipates a similar and more famous time transition in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but director Michael Powell used this image 20 years before Kubrick. A Canterbury Tale opened to poor critical reviews, and was less successful than earlier Powell and Pressburger collaborations. Perhaps that is because it is an acquired taste and not for everyone. It is unashamedly highbrow, and more interested in creating a mood than in generating suspense. For those of us who do appreciate A Canterbury Tale however, it is sublimely beautiful and moving. Watching the film is an enriching experience. I wrote a longer appreciation of the film on my blog page if you're interested in reading more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/a-canterbury-tale-1944/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/17/23

Full Review

rob b

As close to cinematic perfection as it is possible to get.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

jordan m

I couldn't see the forest for the trees with this one. I was apparently supposed to zoom out and view this as the filmmakers' love letter to England and its inhabitants. What I did instead was sit through an entirely too-long whodunit where the sole suspect ended up being the culprit. Worse, he gives a list of reasons for attacking women that reveals he was doing it to try and ensure that the townsfolk conform to his personal standards of decency. Worse still, those reasons are deemed acceptable by committee and he's set free to presumably continue his work. It's hard to imagine how this movie has maintained its status as a classic. The part with the guy getting to play the church organ was nice though.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

william d

The cinematographer works wonders with the lighting. However, the story was just too inconsequential.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Regarded as something of a classic but I'm none the wiser as to why. The plot is absurd and the ending meekly ridiculous. The one interesting aspect is seeing wartime Kent and Canterbury.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

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Michael Powell

Director

Emeric Pressburger

Director

Eric Portman

Thomas Colpeper, JP

Sheila Sim

Alison Smith

John Sweet

Bob Johnson

Dennis Price

Peter Gibbs

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Synopsis

On the way to Canterbury during World War II, American G.I. Bob Johnson (John Sweet) mistakenly gets off the train in Chillingbourne, where he encounters British Sgt. Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price) and British "land girl" Alison Smith (Sheila Sim), who's working as a shopkeeper. When they're confronted with a serial criminal who puts glue in women's hair, and Alison becomes his newest victim, the travelers are drawn into a mystery that brings them closer together.

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Screenwriter: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Production Co: The Archers
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 20, 2016
Runtime: 2h 4m

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