Eric Portman

Sheila Sim

Dennis Price

John Sweet

Charles Hawtrey

Esmond Knight

Hay Petrie

George Merritt

Edward Rigby

Freda Jackson

Betty Jardine

Eliot Makeham

Parry Jones Jr.

Beresford Egan

Esma Cannon

Anthony Holles

Maude Lambert

Wallace Bosco

Charles Paton

Jane Millican

Michael Golden

John Slater

Graham Moffatt

Judith Furse

Barbara Waring

Jean Shepeard

Margaret Scudamore

Joss Ambler

H.F. Maltby

Eric Maturin

George Hall

Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

John Seabourne Sr.

Erwin Hillier

Allan Gray

Alfred Junge

George Paternoster

Elliot Scott

Harold Hurdell

Jim Body

Desmond Dew

George Maynard

Dorothy Edwards

Ernest Gasser

C. C. Stevens

Alan Whatley

W. Percy Day

Miss Johnstone

Alan Thorne

George Blackler

J.H. Kay

Arthur Breton

Hilda Sheardown-Course

Drama

Mystery

Comedy

A Canterbury Tale

The Archers

J. Arthur Rank Organisation

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

This is a curious film to describe. In the best traditions of Chaucer, from whom the title is borrowed - it is a bit of an English whimsy. Not whimsical, not in any light and fluffy sense, but a story that though rooted in characterisations has something more intangible about it. This tale centres around three strangers who meet at railway station near Canterbury. "Alison" (Sheila Sim) is a naive, but determined land girl, "Peter" (Dennis Price) a British solider on a few days leave and "Bob" (John Sweet) - a young GI who accidentally gets off at the wrong stop. On their way to report to the town hall, the young lass is attacked by the local peril that is the "glue man", a mysterious individual who tips glue over the heads of women out with soldiers late at night. When they arrive, the locals try to help and they are introduced to the rather imperious magistrate Eric Portman "(Mr. Colpeper) who pretty much runs the town. In the brief time that they have together, the three seek out this miscreant and the search turns into a modern day pilgrimage of their own as they are exposed, by degree, to the chequered history of their locale.. Each has their own journey to make, and they take us along for the enjoyable interesting ride. As we have come to expect from Messrs. Powell and Pressburger, the story has a richness to it. It interweaves their task with an evaluation of "Britishness" - a bucolic idyll that had largely bumbled along for centuries with little by way of profound development or intervention. Horse drawn carts, respect for the landed gentry - and the clergy - and for traditions that had long outlived their usefulness, but in which the population still had a certain faith. It's celebratory, not detracting of this society, no WWII jingoism or propaganda, just a delicately poised degree of introspection that isn't self indulgent, more evocative... The photography is superb, the acting - particularly from Sweet who epitomises the visiting forces with a mischief, a charm that is engaging and respectful; and from Price who really only wants to get back to his cinema organ. Eric Portman could be a difficult actor to appreciate - his demeanour and style frequently emotionless and staccato. Here that works, it gives him a solid base from which to evolve as his relationship with "Alison", herself charmingly and determinedly played by Sim - grows. It sort of has a narrative to it, but that's not really so important. Don't expect this to follow any established pattern - it's unique and a grand film to watch.

English