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 (as David 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.

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Plot Keywords:

bookstore | correspondence | book | friendship | love | 

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Taglines:

A true story

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nunca te vi, siempre te amé

Filming Locations:

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,350, 16 February 1987, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,083,486

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brooksfilms,Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As of June 2017, 84 Charing Cross Road, London, has been turned into a McDonald's fast-food restaurant.

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Goofs

After Helene is arrested and she returns to her apartment building, she can clearly be seen putting on her glasses as she goes to her mailbox. As the scene continues up in her apartment, you can see her putting on her glasses again as she opens the mail.

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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.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Larry King Live: Episode dated 27 July 1993 (1993)

User Reviews

Simply the best.

84 Charing Cross Road is one of my favorite movies. Based on the memoirs of Helene Hanff (the book contains the letters from which they read throughout the film), this is the story of a single New York woman named Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) who builds a forty-year friendship with some people who work in a bookstore in England. The movie begins during WWII as Helene, a writer, is searching for out-of-print books and, frustrated at the poor selection in the city's bookstores, starts writing letters to the Marx brother's bookstore in England. Through her letters, she not only becomes a frequent customer, but eventually, becomes quite close with all of the bookstore's employees. And through their letters, they share experiences over the years, which the viewer witnesses through a juxtasposition of two different cultures: American and British.

I like the technique used in this film. The interaction between Helene and her British friends occurs only through letters, so rather than have the characters write a letter and then dub what is written, eventually, the characters just face the camera and say what they would have written, with the camera cutting back and forth for each others response at times as though we suddenly become the recipient of their conversations.

The film also has a wonderful cast with Anne Bancroft as Helene, Anthony Hopkins as the generous Frank P. Doel, Judi Dench as his wife, and Mercedes Ruehl as Helene's neighbor. It is a wonderful story.