A Canterbury Tale
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''A Canterbury Tale'' is a 1944
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring
Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...
,
Sheila Sim Sheila Beryl Grant Sim, Baroness Attenborough (5 June 1922 – 19 January 2016) was an English film and theatre actress. She was also the wife of the actor, director and peer Richard Attenborough. Career Sheila Beryl Grant Sim was born in ...
,
Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...
and Sgt. John Sweet;
Esmond Knight Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...
provided narration and played two small roles. For the post-war American release,
Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...
narrated and
Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...
was added to the film. The film was made in black and white, and was the first of two collaborations between Powell and Pressburger and cinematographer Erwin Hillier. Much of the film's visual style is a mixture of British realism and Hillier's
German Expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
style that is harnessed through a neo-romantic sense of the English landscape. The concept that 'the past always haunts the present' in the English landscape was already part of English literary culture, e.g. in works by
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
such as ''
Puck of Pook's Hill ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'', and would become a notable
trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
for British novelists and film-makers from the 1960s. ''A Canterbury Tale'' takes its title from ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'' of
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
and loosely uses Chaucer's theme of "eccentric characters on a religious pilgrimage" to highlight the wartime experiences of the citizens of
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and encourage wartime Anglo-American friendship and understanding.
Anglo-American relations Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
were also explored in Powell and Pressburger's previous film ''
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' is a 1943 British romantic drama war film written, produced and directed by the Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film making team of Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It s ...
'' and in more detail in their subsequent film '' A Matter of Life and Death''.


Plot

The story concerns three young people: British Army Sergeant Peter Gibbs (
Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...
), U.S. Army Sergeant Bob Johnson (played by real-life Sergeant John Sweet), and a " Land Girl", Miss Alison Smith (
Sheila Sim Sheila Beryl Grant Sim, Baroness Attenborough (5 June 1922 – 19 January 2016) was an English film and theatre actress. She was also the wife of the actor, director and peer Richard Attenborough. Career Sheila Beryl Grant Sim was born in ...
). The group arrive at the railway station in the fictitious small
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
town of Chillingbourne (filmed in
Chilham Chilham is a mostly agricultural village and parish in the English county of Kent with a clustered settlement, Chilham village centre, in the northeast, and a smaller linear settlement, Shottenden. Well-preserved roads and mostly residential liste ...
,
Fordwich Fordwich is a market town and a civil parish in east Kent, England, on the River Stour, northeast of Canterbury. It is the smallest community by population in Britain with a town council. Its population increased by 30 between 2001 and 2011. ...
,
Wickhambreaux Wickhambreaux ( ) is a small rural village in Kent, England. The village is just off the A257 Sandwich Road, four miles east of the city of Canterbury. Since Roman times the village has had connections to the Church and the Crown, including bei ...
and other villages in the area), near
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
, late on Friday night, 27 August 1943. Peter has been stationed at a nearby Army camp, Alison is due to start working on a farm in the area, and Bob left the train by mistake, hearing the announcement "next stop Canterbury" and thinking he was in Canterbury. As they leave the station together Alison is attacked by an assailant in uniform, who pours glue on her hair before escaping. It transpires that this has happened to other women, and the mystery attacker is known locally as "the glue man". Alison asks Bob if he will spend the weekend in Chillingbourne to help her solve the mystery. The next day, while riding a farm cart in the countryside, Alison meets Peter, who surrounds her cart with his platoon of three
Bren Gun Carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...
s. Alison agrees to meet Peter again. The three decide to investigate the attack, enlisting the help of the locals, including several small boys who play large-scale
war game A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
s. The three use their detective skills to identify the culprit as a local magistrate, Thomas Colpeper (
Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...
), a gentleman farmer and pillar of the community, who also gives local history lectures to soldiers stationed in the district. Alison interviews all the glue man's victims to identify the dates and times of their attacks. Gibbs visits Colpeper at his home and steals the fire watch roster listing the nights Colpeper was on duty in the town hall, whilst a paper drive for salvage by Johnson's boy commandos lets Johnson discover receipts for gum used to make glue sold to Colpeper. The dates of the attacks correspond with Colpeper's night watches, for which he wore a
Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
uniform kept in the town hall. On their train journey to Canterbury on the Monday morning, Colpeper joins the three in their compartment. They confront him with their suspicions, which he does not deny, and they discover that his motive is to prevent the soldiers from being distracted from his lectures by female company, as well as to help keep the local women faithful to their absent British boyfriends. In Colpeper's words, Chaucer's pilgrims travelled to Canterbury to "receive a blessing or to do penance". On arriving in the city of Canterbury, devastated by wartime bombing, all three young people receive blessings of their own. Alison discovers that her boyfriend, believed killed in the war, has survived after all; his father, who had blocked their marriage because he thought his son could do better than a shopgirl, finally relents. Bob receives long-delayed letters from his sweetheart, who is now a WAC in Australia. Peter, a cinema organist before the war, gets to play the music of
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
on the large organ at
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
, before leaving with his unit. He decides not to report Colpeper to the Canterbury police, as he had planned to do.


Cast

*
Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...
as Thomas Colpeper, a gentleman farmer and
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
in Chillingbourne. He is a bachelor, living with his mother and, being very keen on the local history of the area, wants to share that knowledge with everyone around him, particularly with the soldiers from elsewhere in Britain who have been billeted nearby. * Sgt. John Sweet, U.S. Army as Acting Sgt. Bob Johnson, ASN 31036062, hails from Three Sisters Falls,
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. On his way from
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
to
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
to meet his friend and fulfil a promise to his mother to see
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
, he gets off the train at Chillingbourne (filmed at Selling railway station between
Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
and
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
) by mistake and almost immediately gets caught up in the mystery of the "glue man". He has come to Britain as a part of the American Army preparing for the
invasion of Europe Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
. He becomes more and more willing to learn something about England during his visit. The original script mentioned that Johnson was on his way to Canterbury as his ancestors had come from there. The producers had originally planned to use
Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...
in the role but changed their mind in favour of an unknown. Meredith acted as a script editor for Johnson's character. *
Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...
as Sgt Peter Gibbs, a cinema organist from London. He has been conscripted into the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and has just been stationed at the military camp outside Chillingbourne, where his unit is engaged in training manoeuvres. *
Sheila Sim Sheila Beryl Grant Sim, Baroness Attenborough (5 June 1922 – 19 January 2016) was an English film and theatre actress. She was also the wife of the actor, director and peer Richard Attenborough. Career Sheila Beryl Grant Sim was born in ...
as Alison Smith, a shop assistant in a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
in London. She has joined the
Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the W ...
to "do her bit" to help in the defence of her country. She has been assigned to the farm of Thomas Colpeper, the local JP in Chillingbourne. Alison had previously spent a happy summer just outside Chillingbourne, living in a caravan with her fiancé, an archaeologist who has since joined the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
and is missing in action at the outset of the film. (He is reported at the end as alive and in Gibraltar). Alison is determined to solve the mystery of the "glue man" and seeks the help of Bob Johnson to do so. Johnson replies "You need about as much help as a
Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
". * Charles Hawtrey as Thomas Duckett, the town's stationmaster. *
Esmond Knight Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...
as Narrator/Seven-Sisters Soldier/Village Idiot. The Narrator reads the modernised extract from
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
'', followed by a piece in Chaucerian style on the changes to Kent since Chaucer's time (both only in the original version). * George Merritt as Ned Horton and
Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizab ...
as Jim Horton, play the
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
and the
wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...
. The real Horton brothers, Ben and Neville, are seen acting as assistants to the actors. * Hay Petrie as Woodcock. *
Freda Jackson Freda Maud Jackson (29 December 1907 – 20 October 1990) was an English stage actress who also worked in film and television. Early life and career Jackson was born in Nottingham in 1907. She made her stage debut on 1 January 1934 at the ...
as Mrs Prudence Honeywood, the farming woman who employs Alison. *
Eliot Makeham Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in ...
as the church organist in Canterbury. *
Betty Jardine Betty Jardine (17 April 1903 – 28 February 1945) was a British stage and film actress. She began as an actress in Manchester in 1926. In 1934 she made her West End debut in ''Disharmony'' at the Fortune Theatre.Wearing p.307 Subsequent roles ...
as Fee Baker. * Harvey Golden as Sgt Roczinsky, Bob Johnson's friend in Canterbury. * Leonard Smith (Leslie) James Tamsitt (Terry) and David Todd (David), play among the group of boys enjoying an adventure and river battle in a bucolic setting. All of them were local to the Canterbury area. Smith, Tamsitt and Todd were selected for speaking roles. * Beresford Egan as PC Ovenden. * Antony Holles as Sergt. Bassett. * Maude Lambert as Miss Grainger. * Wally Bosco as ARP man. * Charles Paton as Ernie Brooks. * Jane Millican as Susanna Foster. * John Slater as Sergt. Len. * Michael Golden as Sergt. Smale. *
Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-sa ...
as Sergt. 'Stuffy'. * Mary Line as Leslie's mother. * Winifred Swaffer as Mrs Horton. * Michael Howard as Archie. *
Judith Furse Judith Furse (4 March 1912 – 29 August 1974) was an English actress. Career A member of the Furse family, her father was Lieutenant-General Sir William Furse and mother Jean Adelaide Furse. Her brother, Roger, became a stage designer and ...
as Dorothy Bird. * Barbara Waring as Polly Finn. * Jean Shepeard as Gwladys Swinton. * Margaret Scudamore as Mrs Colpeper. * Joss Ambler as Police Inspector. * Jessie James as Waitress. * Kathleen Lucas as a passer- by. * HF Maltby as Mr Portal. * Eric Maturin as Geoffrey's father. * Parry Jones jnr as Arthur *
Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...
as Johnson's Girl (American release). *
Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...
as Narrator (American version) (voice). *
Esma Cannon Esma Ellen Charlotte Littmann (née Cannon) (27 December 1905 – 18 October 1972), credited as Esme or Esma Cannon, was a diminutive () Australian-born character actress and comedian, who moved to Britain in the early 1930s. Although she freque ...
as Agnes the maid


Production


Writing

Powell and Pressburger, who were known collectivity as "The Archers", wrote the script together, linking the concepts of landscape and history (light and time) with the personal journey of three people—the pilgrims—to show a basis of common identity. Powell was said to have used the work of
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
as inspiration to create a film that showed "the love of his birthplace and all that he felt about England".


Casting

All three leads were unknowns. Many local people, including a lot of young boys, were recruited as extras for the extensive scenes of children's outdoor activities such as river "battles" and
den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...
s.


Filming

The film was shot throughout the county of Kent not long after the
Baedeker raids The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, includ ...
of May–June 1942 which had destroyed large areas of the city centre of Canterbury. Much of the film is shot on location in and around Canterbury Cathedral and the city's bomb sites, including the High Street, Rose Lane and the Buttermarket. The cathedral was not available for filming as the
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
had been taken down, the windows boarded up and the organ, an important location for the story, removed to storage, all for protection against air raids. By the use of clever perspective, large portions of the cathedral were recreated within the studio by art director
Alfred Junge Alfred Junge (29 January 1886, Görlitz, Silesia (now Saxony), Germany – 16 July 1964, London) was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry. Junge had wanted to be an artis ...
. Chilham Mill features in the film in the scene where GI Bob meets children playing in the river on a boat and later, with Peter, when they get the proof about Colpeper. The village was used for scenes showing Chillingbourne village. In the scene where soldiers gather for a lecture at the Colpepper Institute they are actually in Fordwich. Selling Station appears in the film as "Chillingbourne" Station at the beginning of the film. Bob and Alison ride on a cart through the village, the local Wickhambreaux Mill can be clearly seen. Colpeper's house was Wickhambreaux Court. A local Wingham village pub "The Red Lion" was used for some exterior shots of "The Hand of Glory" inn where Bob stays whilst in the village. Other exterior shots of "The Hand of Glory" were filmed at "The George & Dragon", Fordwich. Before the credits, the following acknowledgement appears over an image of the cathedral viewed from the Christ Church Gate,


Soundtrack

Besides that composed by Allan Gray for the film, musical works featured include: * ''
Angelus ad Virginem "" (Latin for "The angel came to the virgin", also known by its English title, "Gabriel, from Heven King Was to the Maide Sende") is a medieval carol whose text is a poetic version of the Hail Mary and the Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel to th ...
'' mid-15th century polyphony heard as a peal of bells in orchestral guise under the opening titles * ''Commando Patrol'' by Allan Gray, Stan Bowsher,
Walter Ridley Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
– quickstep heard in the background during Johnson and Gibbs's scene in the lobby of the Hand of Glory * ''I See You Everywhere'' by Allan Gray, Stan Bowsher, Walter Ridley – slow foxtrot heard in the background during Johnson and Gibbs's scene in the lobby of the Hand of Glory * ''Turkey in the Straw'' – folksong heard as Agnes leaves Bob's bedroom * ''Come to the Church in the Wild Wood'' – Bob sings as he washes * '' Hear my prayer, O Lord'' by
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...
– the ethereal choral music heard as Gibbs pauses on entering the cathedral * ''Bond of Friendship'' – Regimental March of the King's Division. Played as the band nears the Cathedral *
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 565, is a piece of organ repertoire, organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, follow ...
by
J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
(the original while inside the cathedral and the orchestration by
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...
outside the cathedral) and the hymn ''
Onward Christian Soldiers "Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Erne ...
'' – played on the organ by Gibbs


Reception

The world premiere was held on 11 May 1944 at the Friars' Cinema (later the second site of the
Marlowe Theatre The Marlowe Theatre is a 1,200-seat theatre in Canterbury named after playwright Christopher Marlowe, who was born and attended school in the city. It was named a Stage Awards, 2022 UK Theatre of the Year. The Marlowe Trust, a not for profi ...
, now demolished), Canterbury, England, an event commemorated there by a plaque unveiled by stars Sheila Sim and John Sweet in October 2000. Although the film initially had very poor reviews in the UK press, and only small audiences, the film became a moderate success at the British box office in 1944. The film was the first production of
Powell and Pressburger The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. ...
not to be a major box office draw.Tritton, Paul.
A Canterbury Tale – Memories of a Classic Wartime Movie
'. Canterbury: Tritton Publications, August 2000. .
With the war over Powell was forced by the studio to completely re-edit the film for the U.S. release, cutting over 20 minutes to make the film shorter and faster moving, adding narration by
Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...
, and filming "bookends" which introduced
Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...
as Sergeant Johnson's girlfriend to make the film more contemporary. At the time of filming, Hunter and Massey were preparing to film '' A Matter of Life and Death'' for Powell. Powell filmed Hunter's sequences with Sweet on an English set simulating New York City where the couple, now married, presented the film as a flashback similar to the openings of ''
The Way to the Stars ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' and '' 12 O'Clock High''. Sweet was actually filmed in New York with the sequences combined. The film was fully restored by the British Film Institute in the late 1970s and the new print was hailed as a masterwork of British cinema. It has since been reissued on DVD in both the UK and USA.


Legacy

There is now an annual festival based around the film in which film fans tour the film's locations. The theme of the film was used by
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
for the
Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1 ...
''The Phantom Head Shaver of Brighton'' in 1954. The film was shown in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral on 19 September 2007 to help raise money for the cathedral restoration fund. In May 2014 the film was shown in Chilham village hall to help raise money for the restoration of its war memorial. The screening, which took place in the village where the film was made, coincided with the 70th anniversary of the film's première in Canterbury. Several
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
ists have recut the more visionary sections of the film as video art. Dialogue from the film was sampled on the track "Introduction" on the album '' Merrie Land'' and ''Dreadzones '' Second Light''.


References


Bibliography

* . * . * .


External links

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Reviews and articles
at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages

''A Tribute: A Canterbury Tale''
an essay by
Peter von Bagh Kari Peter Conrad von Bagh (29 August 1943 – 17 September 2014) was a Finnish film historian and director. Von Bagh worked as the head of the Finnish Film Archive. He was the editor-in-chief of ''Filmihullu'' magazine and co-founder and direct ...
at the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

Scorsese and Schoonmaker talk about ''A Canterbury Tale''

A screening of ''A Canterbury Tale'' in Canterbury cathedral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury Tale, A 1944 films 1940s road comedy-drama films British black-and-white films British road comedy-drama films Films shot at Denham Film Studios Eagle-Lion Films films 1940s English-language films Films by Powell and Pressburger Films set in 1943 Films set in Kent Films shot in Kent World War II films made in wartime 1944 comedy films 1944 drama films 1940s British films