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 & 4 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 City 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 P. Doel (Sir Anthony Hopkins), the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road.

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Plot Keywords:

epistolary | letter writing | exchanging letters | dictation | longing | 

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Taglines:

A true story

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Production designer Eileen Diss acquired over 12,000 books to stock the shelves of the bookstore set on the studio lot.

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Goofs

Frank refers to "the complete Braybrooke edition" of Pepys' Diary. While he may have meant that no part of the Braybrooke edition (there were actually four Braybrooke editions) was missing, none of the Braybrooke editions is by any means a complete Pepys' Diary, and so Frank shouldn't be surprised that excerpts are missing. (This error also exists in the book.)

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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 Juliet, Naked (2018)

User Reviews

A love story, but not the way you're thinking

Helene and Frank never actually say they love each other - hell, they never even meet - but they love each other in an unspoken way that people today would not understand. The movie never plays it for sappy romance; its way better than stooping to that level of convention. They are good to one another and enrich one another's life - isn't that love?

Hopkins has an amazing moment when Helene has to cancel her trip to London due to some much-needed dental work. His face shows so many things, all at once, that it really is beautiful and breaks my heart, no matter how often I see it.

For Oscar fans - this movie has four winners - Bancroft, Hopkins, Mercedes Ruehl and Judi Dench.

I am grateful that this movie got made with such care and humanity.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

84 Charing Cross Road

Filming Locations:

Hyde Park Corner, Hyde Park, London, Greater London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,350, 16 February 1987

Gross USA:

$1,083,486

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,083,486

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brooksfilms, Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1