23. What is the great mystery that the characters Peter, Alison and Bob wish to solve in "A Canterbury Tale"?
From Quiz The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Answer:
Who is pouring glue into girls' hair in the town
The story of the glue man, who attacks girls whom he deems to be unpatriotic for fraternising with American soldiers, whilst ostensibly the central plot of the film, is secondary to the true themes of the film; the beauty of the English countryside, the necessity for Anglo-American harmony in war time and a paean to the pre-war English lifestyle. "A Canterbury Tale" was another Powell and Pressburger film that had its roots in war-time propaganda, even if it received no input or funding from the government.
Alison, a land girl traveling to Kent to take up work on a farm, is attacked by the glue man shortly after leaving the train at the village of Chillingbourne, near Canterbury. Her companions Peter Gibbs, a cinema organist turned British Army Sergeant and Bob Johnson, a US Army sergeant, decide that they ought to investigate the attacks. Whilst on their way to Canterbury (deemed by Powell as "a modern pilgrimage") they unmask the culprit.