A Canterbury Tale

Late on Friday night, 27 August 1943, at the railway station of the fictional Kent town of Chillingbourne (filmed in Chilham, Fordwich, Wickhambreaux and several other nearby villages around Canterbury), three young people—British Army Sergeant Peter Gibbs, Dennis Price; U.S. Army Sergeant Bob Johnson, and a Land Girl, Miss Alison Smith Sheila Sim—begin a weekend that will pull them into a local wartime mystery.

Alison is the first to fall victim to a menacing figure described by locals as “the glue man”: an assailant in uniform pours glue on her hair, a crude motif that has struck others too. The fear and curiosity surrounding these incidents pull the trio together: Alison asks Bob to stay in Chillingbourne to help solve the case, and the three decide to investigate, enlisting help from the townspeople and a cadre of local boys who stage large-scale war games for amusement and suspense.

Over the next day, their investigation unfolds through a mix of fieldwork and clever sleuthing. Alison interviews the victims to chart dates and times, while Gibbs and Johnson apply their wartime discipline and curiosity to the puzzle. Gibbs gains access to the town’s files by visiting the home of a respected local figure, and he secretly takes the fire-watch roster listing the nights Colpeper was on duty in the town hall. A paper drive—organized by Johnson’s boy commandos—unearths receipts for glue-making gum, a crucial clue that ties the attacks to Colpeper.

The dates line up with Colpeper’s night watches, and the trio’s deductions point toward him as the culprit. They assemble their evidence and confront Colpeper aboard a train to Canterbury. He does not deny the accusations, but reveals a motive built on power and control: the local magistrate, a gentleman farmer and respected community member who also delivers lectures on local history, wants to keep the soldiers’ attention away from female companionship, ensuring that local women remain faithful to their absent boyfriends. In his own words, he suggests that Canterbury’s pilgrims go to the city to “receive a blessing or to do penance.”

When the trio reaches Canterbury, the city itself bears the scars of wartime bombing, and the three are greeted with a different kind of blessing. Alison learns that her boyfriend has survived the war, despite earlier rumors of his death; his father, who had blocked the match, finally relents. Bob discovers letters from his sweetheart, now serving with the WAC in Australia, providing a long-awaited emotional payoff. Peter, whose prewar life was tied to cinema organ music, is given a chance to play Johann Sebastian Bach on the grand organ at Canterbury Cathedral, a moment that feels both triumphant and poignant. He then leaves with his unit, choosing not to report Colpeper in the end, a decision that underscores the complex moral choices faced during wartime.

The film gracefully blends small-town wartime tension with a coming-of-age romance, showing how youthful courage, comic improvisation, and shared purpose can illuminate truth even in a town shaken by conflict. The suspense builds through clever investigative beats—from stolen rosters and salvage drives to intimate interviews and cross-checking alibis—culminating in a Canterbury finale that binds the fates of the three protagonists to the city’s battered but enduring spirit.

“receive a blessing or to do penance”

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 08:45