| 84 Charing Cross Road | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Jones |
| Written by | Hugh Whitemore |
| Based on | 84, Charing Cross Road 1970 book byHelene Hanff |
| Produced by | Geoffrey Helman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Brian West |
| Edited by | Chris Wimble |
| Music by | George Fenton |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,538,291 |
84 Charing Cross Road is a 1987drama film directed byDavid Jones, and starringAnne Bancroft,Anthony Hopkins,Judi Dench,Mercedes Ruehl, and Jean De Baer. It is executive produced by Bancroft's husband,Mel Brooks. The screenplay byHugh Whitemore is based on a play byJames Roose-Evans, which itself is an adaptation of the1970 epistolary memoir of the same name byHelene Hanff — a compilation of letters between Hanff andFrank Doel dating from 1949 to 1968. Several characters who are not in the play were added for the film, including Hanff'sManhattan friends and Doel's wife Nora.
The film garnered mainly positive reviews from critics, as well as receiving numerous industry awards and nominations. Bancroft won theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Hanff. Additionally, Dench was nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Whitemore for Best Adapted Screenplay. Dench has said that 84 Charing Cross Road is one of her favourite films in which she has appeared. The film has become something of a cult classic amongbibliophiles and epistemophiles.
In 1971,New Yorker Helene Hanff is on an airplane heading forLondon. She is on apromotional tour for her book84 Charing Cross Road which is about her 20-year correspondence with a secondhand bookshop specializing inout-of-print books.
By the time Helene arrives in London, the book shop has permanently closed, but she still visits it. To the sound of hammering and a builder's radio, Hanff recalls the first letter she wrote to the shop in 1949.
As aflashback, at a bookstore in 1949 in New York City, Hanff seeks obscure British literary classics. Frustrated after entering yet a fourth book shop without the books she seeks, she buys a copy of theSaturday Review of Literature. In it, she finds an advertisement placed by antiquarian booksellersMarks & Co, located at the titular address in London. She contacts the shop, where chief buyer and manager Frank Doel fulfills her requests.
Over time, a long-distance friendship develops between Hanff and Doel and also the other staff members; even Doel's wife corresponds with Hanff. In gratitude for their extraordinary service, Hanff begins sending small gifts: holiday packages and food parcels to compensate for post–warfood shortages in Britain as she has learned from a British neighbour a way to send food from Denmark relatively inexpensively.
Cecily sneaks off a private letter to Helene, although asks her not to let Frank know, as she senses he might consider it to be improper and that he views her as his private correspondent. She says they all speculate as to what she is like, so requests a photo. In this way, Helene gets some detail as what Frank is like, sweet but married. Helene likewise sends Cecily a private letter. A non college graduate, she lives in and works from a brownstone studio apartment, editing and writing scripts.
Correspondence between Helene and Frank includes discussions about topics as diverse as the sermons ofJohn Donne, how to makeYorkshire pudding, theBrooklyn Dodgers and thecoronation of Elizabeth II. As time goes on, as they get to know one another, he senses which books that come in would interest her.
Helene gets a break, writing scripts for a TV series. At the same time, Frank is travelling around England to old estates for sale, seeking books for their shop. Helene's friend Maxine, who gets a role in a theatre in London, pops into Marks & Co. Although she does not meet any of the people Helene mentioned, she is able to describe it in detail. Later, when the show closes, she gifts nylons to the ladies of the book shop.
Hanff intends to visit London and meet her bookseller friends but has to postpone her plans. Firstly, she has to have extensive dental work. Then, Helene and other tenants get evicted, so she is forced to move to another building. In January 1969, she receives word that Doel has died and the bookshop has closed.
She finally visits Charing Cross Road and the vacant shop in the summer of 1971. The last scene of the film shows Helene standing in the doorway and saying, "Here I am, Frankie; I finally made it."
The film was shot on location in London and New York City. London settings includeBuckingham Palace,Soho Square,Trafalgar Square,St James's,Westminster,Griffin Park inBrentford standing in forWhite Hart Lane inTottenham and suburbanRichmond. Manhattan settings includeCentral Park,Madison Avenue, andSaint Thomas Church. Interiors were filmed at Lee International Studios andShepperton Studios inSurrey.
Variety described it as "an appealing film on several counts, one of the most notable being Anne Bancroft's fantastic performance in the leading role... [She] brings Helene Hanff alive in all her dimensions, in the process creating one of her most memorable characterizations."[1]
In hisChicago Tribune review,Gene Siskel wrote: "Years ago,84 Charing Cross Road would have been called a 'woman's picture' or a 'perfect matinee.' But it's that and more. It should be irresistible to anyone able to appreciate the goodness of its spirit and its spirited characters."[citation needed]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times observed, "The film is based on a hit London and New York play, which was based on a best-selling book. Given the thin and unlikely subject matter, that already is a series of miracles. And yet there are people who are pushovers for this material. I should know. I read the book and I saw the play and now I am reviewing the movie, and I still don't think the basic idea is sound... Miss Fiske... was the librarian at the Urbana Free Library when I was growing up... She never had to talk to me about the love of books because she simply exuded it and I absorbed it. She would have loved this movie. Sitting next to her, I suspect, I would have loved it, too. But Miss Fiske is gone now, and I found it pretty slow-going on my own."[2]
Vincent Canby forThe New York Times gave84 Charing Cross Road a less favourable review, citing it as "a movie guaranteed to put all teeth on edge . . . a movie of such unrelieved genteelness that it makes one long to head forSchrafft's for a double-gin martini, straight up, and a stack of cinnamon toast from which the crusts have been removed."[3]
In its opening weekend in the U.S. the film grossed $24,350 at one theater. The total U.S. box office was $1,083,486.[4]
Anne Bancroft won theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Judi Dench was nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Hugh Whitemore forBAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. At the15th Moscow International Film Festival, Anthony Hopkins was named Best Actor, and David Hugh Jones was nominated for the Golden Prize for his direction.[5] Whitemore and Helene Hanff shared the firstUSC Scripter Award for their contributions to the screenplay.