84 Charing Cross Road is a true story in which Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins give distinguished performances as two strangers on opposite sides of the Atlantic whose lives are linked through a series of letters spanning more than twenty years.
She’s Helene Hanff, a salty, opinionated New York spinster with a passion for rare books. He’s Frank Doel, a dull, repressed married clerk at antiquarian booksellers Marks & Co (whose address is given in the title).
Their friendship begins in 1949 with an advertisement in the Saturday Review.
The American book lover and the British bookseller begin corresponding, and as the letters continue, Helene sends post-war tins of Christmas hams and nylons (pictured below), bringing joy and generosity to the lives of overseas friends she’s never met.
Though they never meet, Helene’s letters from Frank finally take her, years later (and, sadly, after his death), to the London she loves so much, and give her one last chance to see the shop before it’s torn down.
What distinguishes this film is its feeling for character: Americans sending bundles of supplies to their deprived friends in Britain, and proud but impoverished Brits sending back the only things they have left, the sense of history and civilisation they’ve preserved through books.
The bookshop here is a Shepperton set, the better to recreate an authentic-seeming 50s atmosphere. Sadly, the shop’s actual site is now home to a McDonald’s.
84 Charing Cross Road is an intelligent, sophisticated, and soothing film that enriches the soul and warms the heart. The film was produced by Mel Brooks – the husband of Anne Bancroft.
Helene Hanff Anne Bancroft Frank Doel Anthony Hopkins Nora Doel Judi Dench Maxine Bellamy Jean De Baer George Martin Maurice Denham Cecily Farr Eleanor David Kay Mercedes Ruehl Brian Daniel Gerroll Megan Wells Wendy Morgan Bill Humphries Ian McNeice Ginny J. Smith-Cameron Ed Tom Isbell Sheila Doel (Age 29) Barbara Thorn Sheila Doel (Age 12) Rebecca Bradley Mary Doel (Age 21) Kate Napier Brown Mary Doel (Age 4) Zoe Hodges
Director David Jones
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