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A Canterbury Tale (1944) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   1,565 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Writers:
Michael Powell (written by) &
Emeric Pressburger (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for A Canterbury Tale on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 January 1949 (USA) more
Genre:
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
A deep & entertaining study more (47 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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
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Additional Details

Runtime:
124 min | USA:95 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Upon arriving in Canterbury, Sgt. Gibbs goes to the Police Station and asks to speak to Superintendant Hall. George Hall was the real-life Superintendant of the Canterbury Police at the time (1944). The Police Station was also real. more
Quotes:
Sergt. Roczinsky: Hey, let's have some tea first, huh?
Bob Johnson: That stuff?
Sergt. Roczinsky: Sure; it's a habit, like marijuana.
Bob Johnson: I'll take marijuana.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Days of Heaven (1978) more

FAQ

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49 out of 51 people found the following comment useful.
A deep & entertaining study, 14 October 1999
Author: Dibyaduti Purkayastha (tipup@hotmail.com) from New Delhi, India

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.

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