A Canterbury Tale (1944)

A US Army sergeant (John Sweet) on his way to the English city of Canterbury accidentally gets off the train one stop too early, where he meets a British sergeant (Dennis Price) and pretty Alison (Sheila Sim). When some man puts glue into Alison’s hair, the three are determined to track him down.

The title is a reference to The Canterbury Tales, a fourteenth century collection of stories by Geoffrey Chaucer. Director Michael Powell grew up just outside the city and this film is his love letter to it. There is an ancient road that pilgrims used centuries ago to travel to Canterbury, where they would receive blessings. This is important, because our heroes are modern day pilgrims, apparently, even though they aren’t actually going to Canterbury for much of the film.

All three leads were unknowns, none more unknown than Sweet, an actual sergeant in the US Army with no acting experience. Other than a short released the same year, this was his only screen credit. His lack of acting skill was quite evident. Alison, as was actress Sim, is in the Woman’s Land Army, a program to place women on farms to replace men who left for the war. She and Sergeant Johnson cross paths with characters that feel like they will become part of the story, but don’t.

A Canterbury Tale begins as a detective story, then becomes something different. I have high expectations for a Powell/Pressburger production, especially one as revered as this. It does feature some excellent visuals (black and white in academy aspect, as it is), but initial audiences didn’t quite know what to make of the film. I seem to be in their camp. Perhaps a second viewing. AMRU 3.