Hidden Movie Gem: “A Canterbury Tale”

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from Walker.

Movie Title: A Canterbury Tale

Year: 1944

Writers: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Lead Actors: Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price, John Sweet

Directors: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Plot Summary: A ‘Land Girl’, an American GI, and a British soldier find themselves together in a small Kent town on the road to Canterbury. The town is being plagued by a mysterious “glue-man”, who pours glue on the hair of girls dating soldiers after dark. The three attempt to track him down, and begin to have suspicions of the local magistrate, an eccentric figure with a strange, mystical vision of the history of England in general and Canterbury in particular.

Why I Think This Movie Is A Hidden Gem: One of the lesser-known films by the brilliant writing and directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, A Canterbury Tale follows a handful of modern pilgrims as they discover their individual paths to a war-torn Canterbury. The search for the elusive, allusive Glue Man is simply a Chaucerian McGuffin, an excuse for Powell and Pressburger (known as “The Archers”) to mount their very loose adaptation of the Tales.
Although tonally and thematically similar to some of their more famous films (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I’m Going, A Matter of Life and Death) A Canterbury Tale takes The Archers’ fondness for eccentric British characters to new heights, becoming a celebration of British eccentricity. It is not just that the village, countryside, locals and lore have a magic effect on the characters; here the magic itself becomes a character. Elusive, winking, tricky, it’s the magic that we root for. The result is impossibly quirky and ultimately haunting.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: In a droll subplot, a group of young boys is shown throughout the movie: running, hiding, playing war games, they even assist in the hunt for the Glue Man. Their “battle at sea”, filmed in boats and on the banks of a small river, is a beautifully staged commentary on the story and on World War II.

My Favorite Dialogue In The Movie:

Colpeper: Pity.
Bob Johnson: Pity?
Colpeper: Pity when you get home and people ask what you’ve seen in England and you say “Well I saw a movie in Salisbury. And I made a pilgrimage to Canterbury and I saw another one.”
Bob Johnson: [laughs] You’ve got me all wrong. I know that in Canterbury I have to look out for a cathedral.
Colpeper: Yes, do look out for it. It’s just behind the movie theatre. You can’t miss it.

Alison: There are a lot of funny things in the world.
Colpeper: What, for instance?
Alison: For instance, why should people who love the country have to live in big cities? Something’s wrong.
Colpeper: Miracles still happen you know.
Alison: Do you believe in miracles?
Colpeper: When I was your age I didn’t believe in anything. Now I believe in miracles.
Alison: For shop girls?
Colpeper: For everybody. You know I think a shop girl has a bigger chance of a miracle than a millionaire.
Alison: I can see you’ve never been a shop girl.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: As with everything by The Archers, the film is full of beautiful and striking visuals. Cinematographer Erwin Hillier’s roots in German Expressionism are evident in the long shadows and low angles and in the way bombed-out Canterbury is framed. But what is truly impressive is the evocative rendering of a bucolic pastourelle in black and white.

Movie, Part 1:

Movie, Part 2:

Thanks, Walker! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

Tomorrow: Another Hidden Movie Gem!

Note: We filled up the month of October, so I don’t need any more guest posts. Thanks to everyone who participated!