A Canterbury Tale

Starring: Portman, Eric

A U.S. soldier, a British sergeant and a London girl see minor miracles and catch a prude.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 715515018920
• Release Date: July 2006
• Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Criterion/ Distribution S
• Directors: Powell, Michael, Pressburger, Emeric
• Starring: Portman, Eric
• Runtime: 2 hours, 4 minutes
• Number of Disks: 2
• Other Video Info: DVD
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Beware the Glue Man.

The tale starts with a historical reference to Chaucer. For a fraction of a second, you wonder if you are watching the film you expected. And then you see the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger eagle that transitions us from mid-evil times to present-day (1944) England. Time is taken to give depth and background to all the main characters through the use of interactive dialog. We find that each brings different technical skills and interpretations of the road to Canterbury: U.S. Army Sergt. Bob Johnson (U.S. Sergeant John Sweet) on his way to Canterbury mistakenly gets off too soon in the hamlet of Kent. He is accused of having his stripes upside down. British Sgt. Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price) is temporarily stationed at Kent while staging overseas. He was and theater organ player before the war. Alison Smith (Sheila Sim) a London store clerk before the war is now seeking a job as a ‘Land Girl'. She seems to have an uncanny knowledge of Kent and the Pilgrims’ Road to Canterbury. The night they got off the train at Kent they had a strange encounter with the mysterious “Glue Man”. Then befriended by the local magistrate, Thomas Culpeper, JP (Eric Portman), is interested in the history of the Pilgrims’ Road from Kent to Canterbury. Until you get pretty much through this story you are never really sure where they are trying to take you. Is the focus on a local mystery? The interaction of the players or the lives of the characters themselves? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Be sure to get the Criterion version with the second DVD. The main item besides the film is the voice-over commentary by film historian Ian Christie which will rival the film for entertainment and after watching you may want to give the film that another star. Next to view – “I Know Where I'm Going!” (1945) (The Criterion Collection)