84 Charing Cross Road (1987)

True story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.

Director:

David Hugh Jones

Writers:

Helene Hanff (book), James Roose-Evans (play),

Stars:

Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne Bancroft	...	Helene Hanff
Anthony Hopkins	...	Frank P. Doel
Judi Dench	...	Nora Doel
Jean De Baer	...	Maxine Stuart
Maurice Denham	...	George Martin
Eleanor David	...	Cecily Farr
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Kay
Daniel Gerroll	...	Brian
Wendy Morgan	...	Megan Wells
Ian McNeice	...	Bill Humphries
J. Smith-Cameron	...	Ginny
Tom Isbell	...	Ed
Anne Dyson	...	Mrs. Boulton
Connie Booth	...	The Lady from Delaware
Ronn Carroll	...	Businessman on Plane

Storyline

When a humorous script-reader in her New York apartment sees an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature for a bookstore in London that does mail order, she begins a very special correspondence and friendship with Frank Doel, the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road.

---

Plot Keywords:

bookstore | correspondence | book | friendship | love | 

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Rua do Adeus

Filming Locations:

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$1,083,486 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brooksfilms, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 95 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When they made the film the famous shop was a record store so they rebuilt it at Shepperton Studios. That also made it easier to change the passing traffic from the 1940's to the 1970's.

---

Goofs

As Helene types, she never once hits the space bar.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Businessman on plane: Your first trip to London?
Helene Hanff: Yes.
Businessman on plane: You want a word of advice? Don't trust the cab drivers; they'll take you five miles to go three blocks... and, uh, don't waste your time looking at a street map. Nobody can find their way around London - not even Londoners.
Helene Hanff: Maybe I should go to Baltimore instead.
Businessman on plane: No; you'll enjoy it. London's a great place. What kind of trip is it - business or pleasure?
Helene Hanff: Unfinished business.

---

Crazy Credits

The production teams in New York and London were almost completely separate, and the closing credits reflect this: in front of a split screen showing Helene in New York and Frank in London, the crews for the two cities scroll side by side. In most cases the same jobs are shown in both columns, and the job titles are then shown in the center.

---

Connections

Version of Play for Today: 84, Charing Cross Road (1975)

User Reviews

My favourite film

Whenever anyone asks me, which isn't often, I tell them this is it. And they invariably have never heard of it, which is a terrible shame.

I love the film, and advise those who love it as well that they SHOULD read the book too... and also read The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, and find out what happened when Helene went to England after all those years.

And don't stop there... look up the Oxford Book of English Prose and the Oxford Book of English Verse (http://www.bartleby.com/101/), edited by the venerable Q (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch), and see what inspired Helene to begin the correspondence in the first place (basically she decided to read everything Q mentioned, "unless it's fiction.")