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Actors: Anne Bancroft ,Anthony Hopkins
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about 84 Charing Cross Road |
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84 Charing Cross Road
Directed by David Jones, 1986
Staring Anne Bancroft (Helene Hanff) and Anthony Hopkins (Frank Doel)
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.
--Chuck Nugent, Resident Scholar
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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).
--Jenny, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of 84 Charing Cross Road |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- email/letter/phone/fax relationship
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 40%
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- London
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
- encouraged
Any profanity?
- None
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Chuck Nugent
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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