or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
28 used & new from £2.32
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
A Canterbury Tale [DVD] [1944]
 
See larger image 

See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images

A Canterbury Tale [DVD] [1944]

DVD ~ Eric Portman
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £2.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.01 (57%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
17 new from £2.98 11 used from £2.32
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this item with I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945] DVD ~ Roger Livsey

A Canterbury Tale [DVD] [1944] + I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945]
Price For Both: £6.26

Show availability and shipping details

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Canterbury Tale [DVD] [1944]
89% buy the item featured on this page:
A Canterbury Tale [DVD] [1944] 4.7 out of 5 stars (21)
£2.98
I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945]
5% buy
I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945] 4.8 out of 5 stars (12)
£3.28
Classic Films Triple - The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp/A Matter Of Life And Death/I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1943]
2% buy
Classic Films Triple - The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp/A Matter Of Life And Death/I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1943] 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£6.88
A Matter Of Life And Death [DVD] [1946]
2% buy
A Matter Of Life And Death [DVD] [1946] 4.7 out of 5 stars (32)
£8.28
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price, Sergeant John Sweet, Esmond Knight
  • Directors: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
  • Writers: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
  • Producers: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell, Jock Laurence
  • Format: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: U
  • Studio: ITV DVD
  • DVD Release Date: 11 Oct 1999
  • Run Time: 119 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CZVF
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4,890 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #73 in  DVD > Classics > War and Westerns

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the most beloved of all British films, A Canterbury Tale marks yet another occasion to celebrate the Criterion Collection's growing DVD legacy of Powell and Pressburger classics. Originally conceived as good-natured propaganda to support the British-American alliance of World War II, the film became something truly special in the hands of the Archers (a.k.a. writer/director/producers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger). Taking its literary cues from Chaucer's titular classic, it begins with a prologue that harkens back to Chaucer's time before match-cutting to present-day August of 1943, with the night-time arrival of U.S. Army Sgt. Bob Johnson (played with folksy charm by John Sweet, an actual American GI) on the shadowy platform of Canterbury station in the magically rural county of Kent (where Powell was born and raised). He is soon joined by two fellow train passengers: Alison Smith (Sheila Sim), a brashly independent recruit in the British Woman's Land Army; and Peter Gibbs (Dennis Price), a sergeant in the royal Army, and before long they're tracking clues to find "the glue man", a mysterious figure who's been pouring "the sticky stuff" on unsuspecting women as the midnight hour approaches. Their investigation leads to Thomas Colpeper (Eric Portman), a village squire whose local slide-shows celebrate life in an idyllic rural England threatened by wartime change. As Graham Fuller writes in an observant mini-essay that accompanies this DVD, is this a whodunit? Historical documentary? War film? Rustic comedy? It's all these and so much more: As photographed in glorious black and white by Erwin Hiller (faithfully preserved by one of Criterion's finest high-definition digital transfers), A Canterbury Tale has an elusive, magical quality that encompasses its trio of Canterbury "pilgrims" and translates into a an elusive, spiritually uplifting sense of elation that has made it an all-time favorite among film lovers around the world. --Jeff Shannon


DVD Description

A Canterbury Tale is a compelling drama set amidst the backdrop of World War Two Britain. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger ("A Matter of Life and Death"; "The Red Shoes"), it has been acknowledged as one of the duo's finest films. Their reworking of Chaucer's epic fourteenth century tale--largely set in Kent--revolves around an American army sergeant, a British soldier and a land girl who, before making a modern-day pilgrimage to Canterbury, solve the bizarre mystery of a man who pours glue over the hair of village girls at night.

See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945]

I Know Where I'm Going [DVD] [1945]

DVD ~ Roger Livsey
4.8 out of 5 stars (12)  £3.28
Millions Like Us [1943] [DVD]

Millions Like Us [1943] [DVD]

DVD ~ Patricia Roc
4.9 out of 5 stars (7) 
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp [DVD] [1943]

The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp [DVD] [1943]

DVD ~ Roger Livesey
4.5 out of 5 stars (16)  £11.88
Went The Day Well? [DVD] [1942]

Went The Day Well? [DVD] [1942]

DVD ~ Leslie Banks
4.6 out of 5 stars (13)  £4.78
49th Parallel [DVD] [1941]

49th Parallel [DVD] [1941]

DVD ~ Leslie Howard
4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £7.98
› Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(7)
(5)
(4)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A love song to England, 8 Aug 2009
By Fiction Fan (Madchester) - See all my reviews
This is something of a slow burner. Filmed in Black and White during WWII by the marvellous Powell and Pressburger it is, on the face of it, an inconsequential tale of latter day pilgrims re-tracing the steps of Chaucer's pilgrims to Canterbury Cathedral. Yet beneath this veneer it's essentially a study of the English character; of the values and traditions that the English held dear for so long and which have been under attack by liberal dogma for the last few decades. This was a love poem written to England at a time when it was by no means certain that England and all it stood for would survive, and it now seems sad and poignant that England survived the trials of WWII only to lose its way in peacetime through complacency and poor leadership. A masterly and moving film.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Unease of Being English, 19 Dec 2002
By Edward Barry "Out of the ordinary comes..?" (Suffolk, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is the most effective account of what it is like to be English within the encroaching tide of American popular culture.

That it was made when it was makes it truly prophetic.

It's blissfully hard to categorise. It is sentimental, it does have comedy but there is an underlying menace - a malevolent incongruity that seems to hallmark director Powell's best work. The whole notion of a midnight prowler deliberately pasting glue into women's hair is a good example of this kind of alternate reality. There is a specific scene where a many hands are vigorously washing the hair which seems disturbingly loaded with sadism.

Yet the subject (and the reason for buying) is history - what in the middle of WWII can be realistically retained. What has to give way? So we see the cocky GI find an affinity with an English carpenter, a cynical cinema pianist collaborating with a cathedral organist and a middle aged magistrate judged and sentenced by one of his own victims.

It's beautifully photographed, particularly the scenes of rural life yet contains a strangely powerful message for this generation, faced with the cultural narrowing of globalisation of the arts.

Not a Multiplex fave...but you should see it for just this reason.

Recommended unreservedly.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A magical film, 19 Sep 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: A Canterbury Tale [VHS] [1944] (VHS Tape)
I had the extreme luck of watching this film for the first time at a special showing in Canterbury itself. I found it compelling and wonderful. It is British in the same sense as 'Brief Encounter'. Both of them capture the nuances of midcentury England. This film focuses on the beauty of the dwindling countryside, evoking wonderfully a way of life that was disappearing even then. The director, Michael Powell, came from Canterbury, and it shows. This film is clearly a labour of love. It even understands the magic of Canterbury cathedral, with each of the main characters setting out on a pilgrimage of their own, to have a boon granted or do penance. Even though it is in black and white, it is a film filled with sunshine. I recommend it to anyone who feels nostalgia for the past, even a past they never experienced.
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING ARCHERS AGAIN: THE 2ND OF 7 MASTERPIECES IN 7 CONSECUTIVE YEARS
Another masterpiece from this team: the 2nd of 7 in a row over a consecutive 7 year period from 1943 to 1949. Think of that. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Simon Turner

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor
Turgid. It starts well but the pace is slow and there isn't really a story. If you like a plot, then dont buy this film. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Alex da Silva

5.0 out of 5 stars Sunday Afternoon Treat
Like most of the reviewers I have given this film 5 stars - why? simple really; do you remember, those of you of a certain age, those Sunday afternoon films, you know the ones,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by A. Roberton

4.0 out of 5 stars A real curiosity with much to recommend it
How do you categorise this curious film? A war prop movie - that's essentially what it is, but it's so unlike the others of the period, and so indirect and subtle that it is... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lou Knee

5.0 out of 5 stars Scorsese liked it
I heard about this film on radio 4 and it was mentioned in the item that it had been instrumental in Martin Scorsese's decision to become a director. Read more
Published 22 months ago by The holo-man

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful film
Just like all the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger films "A Canterbury Tale" is just super - outstanding. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2007 by "Smith" Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars A luminous, magical masterpiece from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
In 1980, Emeric Pressburger said, "A script can only create nests in which magic may settle." With A Canterbury Tale, he and his partner, Michael Powell, created one of the most... Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2007 by C. O. DeRiemer

5.0 out of 5 stars a miraculous pilgrimage to penance and blessings
'A Canterbury Tale' - set during the war-torn days of the 40s in Kent where the paths of three young people, alighting from a train during the black-out, fortuitously converge in... Read more
Published on 8 April 2007 by Nigel C. Jackson

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT ALWAYS WHAT IT SEEMS - BUT A MASTERPIECE
Powell and Pressburger films are usually hard to pigeon-hole, none more so than this one. Is it a thriller (who is the mysterious glue-man)? Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2007 by Klingsor Tristan

4.0 out of 5 stars Very refreshing window on an era
I'm not specifically familiar with the dvd; I recorded this film from a showing on Turner Classic Movies. Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2007 by Webfarer

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.