84 Charing Cross Road
Directed by David Jones, 1986
Staring Anne Bancroft (Helene Hanff) and Anthony Hopkins (Frank Doel)
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The movie, like the book, is the story of author Helene Hanff's (played by Anne Bancroft) twenty year correspondence with Frank Doel (played by Anthony Hopkins), manager of the Marks & Company bookstore located at 84 Charing Cross Road in London.
Hanff, was a reader for a New York film company in 1949 when she wrote to Marks & Company requesting some out of print English titles but indicating that she had a limited budget and could not afford to compete with collectors of antiquarian books. The letter was given to Doel who replied back with a letter and a couple of books. This was the beginning of regular correspondence between Hanff and Doel and regular purchases by Hanff. Her letters were lively, often witty and sometimes demanding. Over time a friendship developed between Hanff, Doel and the staff with whom Doel began sharing the letters and relying on to help locate the books Hanff requested. Hanff became a well known, and well liked, customer of Marks & Co. despite the fact that she never set foot in the store until after Doel's death.
Book lovers, especially those who enjoy browsing through bookstores, will find this to be a first rate adventure film in which Hanff, by means of her letters and with the aid of Doel and his staff, searches the shelves of Marks & Co. for the treasures hidden within. Along with the on going book search adventures we also watch the characters develop and get to know them personally as the movie progresses.
This is currently available on video and DVD.
The review of this Movie prepared by Chuck Nugent
A bitter sweet true story about lifelong letters correspondence between a struggling New York writer Helene Hanff(Bancroft) and a London book dealer Frank Doel(Hopkins).
The review of this Movie prepared by Jenny
