84 Charing Cross Road

UK, USA 1987

Dir: David Hugh Jones

100 mins

Cast: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench

Rating: G - The content is very mild in impact

David Jones' film of Helene Hanff's book, recording the bizarre transatlantic relationship between a New York bibilophile and a London bookseller, comes as a pleasant surprise. Though inevitably literary in tone - the letters between Hanff and the Marks employees structure the narrative - it is never less than intelligent, touching, humorous. Central to this success is the subtle contrast between the austerity of postwar London and the comparatively bright affluence of Hanff's New York; also rewarding is the way images wittily counterpoint and comment on the lovingly intoned letters. ... Thankfully, the film has nothing to do with easy nostalgia; it's about real, credible people, and as such finally becomes very moving.

Time Out

... Director David Jones does a fine job hop-scotching back and forth across the Atlantic as these two aging pen pals rely more and more on each other to infuse something special into their lives. Based on a volume of letters between American writer Helene Hanff and Englishman Frank Doel, the screenplay by Hugh Whitemore abounds with pithy commentary on books, literature, and philosophy. 84 Charing Cross Road vividly conveys the magical ways that friendship can open up new worlds of experience and meaning.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and practice