A Canterbury Tale
A Canterbury Tale is a 1944 British film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt. John Sweet; Esmond Knight provided narration and played two small roles. For the post-war American release, Raymond Massey narrated and Kim Hunter 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.
Plot
The story concerns three young people: British Army Sergeant Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price), U.S. Army Sergeant Bob Johnson (played by real-life Sergeant John Sweet), and a "Land Girl", Miss Alison Smith (Sheila Sim). The group arrive at the railway station in the fictitious small Kent town of Chillingbourne (filmed in Chilham, Fordwich, Wickhambreaux and other villages in the area), near Canterbury, 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.
More details
| author | Michael Powell |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Kent |
| director | Emeric Pressburger Michael Powell |
| editor | John Seabourne |
| events | World War II |
| genre | comedy-drama |
| keywords | army camp army sergeant attack baedeker raids bomb bren gun carrier british army canterbury canterbury cathedral chilham chill cinema organist fordwich hear home guard johann sebastian bach kill land girl local history military simulation morning railway station rid small boy theatre organ think town hall wac war game wickhambreaux women\'s army corps women\'s land army young people |
| musicBy | Allan Gray |
| producer | Emeric Pressburger Michael Powell |
| publisher | Eagle-Lion Films General Film Distributors |