84 Charing Cross Road
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Movie Reviews of 84 Charing Cross Road
Movie Review: Good adaptation of the book
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many people I saw this movie before I red the book. Naturally due to media constraints, you expect certain amount of the book to be homogenized. So I wanted to read what was missing. To my amazement very little was missing or modified. I was surprised at finding myself wanting more when it finished.
The whole book and story is about a collection of correspondence between Helene Hanff an avid book reader and Frank Doel an agent for British bookseller.
Not being able to find the books she wanted to read for a reasonable price she turned to a book seller in Brittan. In the process of buying books they strike up a friendship. As we follow the correspondents we learn about various books and also watch the timeline of what is happening in Britton through the years.
First time I watched this movie, not having any background on the story, characters or actors, I was waiting for the action to take place. At one point Hannibal Lector (oops), I mean Frank Doel says "Very nice,,, very tasty." When the final credits appeared, I realized this was not that kind of movie. Since then I have repented to the point that I am tracking down the books that are mentioned. Interestingly the movie is almost word for word the book.
Also not until I read the book I did not realize that Charing Cross Road was a real place.
My wife has taken this one step further and is collecting all the books that were mentioned in the correspondence. Some of these books appear to have been reprinted due to this publication.
If you can find it there is a book called "The Library of Helen Hanff." It will give a list of the books in the movie; otherwise you will just have to writ them down as you watch the movie or read the book. Some of these books appear to have been reprinted due to this publication.
I wonder what became of all the other people described in the correspondents after the book.
Q's Legacy
Movie Review: Bookaholics--just put that book down and watch this!
Summary: 5 Stars
Several years ago, I took a bus tour through Scotland. My companions couldn't understand why I spent an entire evening on my own prowling the local bookstore instead of the pub. Truth is--when I was young and on a limited budget, I decided I'd rather buy books than booze. Honestly, I'd rather buy books than almost anything.
In the Scottish bookstore, I loved perusing books I knew to see how the cover art, binding, and paper differed from ours. Then, there were the UK-only editions, which that filled my spare suitcase on return. Pity I didn't find an antiquarian, I might have managed to stumble onto a shop similar to the one in this film.
Seeing this film, I so wish I had.
The story details the correspondence between Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins). Helene is a voracious reader and freelance writer who cannot find the English books she seeks in Manhattan. When she sees an ad for Marks and Co, a bookstore in London offering hard to find and out of print books, she writes. She receives a reply from Frank, an employee of the firm--and thus their nearly 30 years of correspondence begins.
Letters between Helene and Frank span everything from WWII and the food rationing to their respective sports teams. As times goes on, professional relationships turn into friendships--and a good deal of the authors' lives are shared in the correspondence in addition to book sales.
I would not recommend this film to a die-hard action and adventure fan, but for those of us who love books and would rather buy them than almost anything, it's a must-see. Bookstores like Marks and Co are a rare find--and growing rarer as Ebay and online presences take over the business. The story and the store are a refreshing trip to a past time. Very well done.
Movie Review: A Movie About The Joy Of Books
Summary: 5 Stars
Released in 1987, this film is based on a book by the same name by New York author Helene Hanff of her correspondence with a bookseller Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins)of Marks & Co. at 84, Charing Cross Road, London. Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and Doel develop a friendship, beginning in 1949, when she orders her first book from the London company, that lasts for 20 years. The brash Hanff and the gentle Doel carry on a correspondence that deepens into something both beautiful and bittersweet since they never meet. Hanff gets sidetracked in her planned visits to London because of recurring unforeseen expenses. Dental work and new apartments get in her way.
The movie is not for everyone, just those who love books. It will easily become one of your favorite movies. You can practically smell the wonderful "antiquarian" books in the London shop where Doel works. (Hanff opines early on that the word "antiquarian" scares her since it often denotes expensive books.)
Brancroft and Hopkins are joined by Judy Dench who plays Hopkins' wife. All three actors give excellent performances. It's good to know that Ms. Bancroft can be remembered for other fine roles besides her portrayal of an older married woman (Mrs. Robinson) who seduces a younger man in THE GRADUATE.
There are many interesting touches here about current events-- actual television footage from Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, references to the Civil Rights Movement-- Hanff at one point gets arrested when she gets in the middle of a student demonstration-- and the rationing of meat in England after World War II.
The beauty of this film is that when you mention it to another booklover, they light up. You know if you aren't already, that you and they will become friends.
Movie Review: 84 Charing Cross Road
Summary: 5 Stars
The service from Amazon was great; the movie arrived within a few days in perfect condition. I actually just watched it last night (do you have a tap on my tv?) because I ordered it shortly after I viewed it on tv and decided I wanted my own copy but having just seen it thought I would wait a bit to enjoy it again. As per the movie, I love the story; it starts the year I was born and the scenery is so nostalgic to that era. It is a narrative movie and I like that style, as though you're viewing someone's life while they are thinking about it. It would be too slow for anyone wanting exciting action in their viewing; it has the reality of day to day existence as it was for people just after World War II. The theme is basically the correspondence between a woman writer in New York City and the head of a bookstore in London and their relationship developing through her search for various books not available in New York at an affordable price for her. I can feel the years passing in their exchanges and sharing of their experiences with their friends and coworkers. Her desire to go to England to visit is great, but always overcome by circumstance and cost. I am quite an anglophile and thoroughly enjoyed the visual and verbal references to England. The flow is smooth and the relationship development subtle in the movie. Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins are wonderful in their parts and Judy Dench has an interesting supporting role as Hopkins wife. If you like plays, literary references, historical period pieces and enjoy detail and ambiance, you will like this movie. If you like Masterpiece Theatre you will like it. If you like biographies you will probably like it. I could watch it just for the historical detail. I definitely recommend it.Movie Review: A Charming Movie Based on a True Story
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful film. No violence. No swear words. No blood and gore. Instead you have a fantastic film about post-war Britain and America and the relationship between Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins) in England and Helen Hanif in America(Anne Bancroft. He works in a bookshop in Charing Cross Road in London, she is a brash New Yorker with a passion for old books. Their relationship is purely platonic, he is happily married, but their friendship blossoms and for many years Helen and Frank correspond with each other as she increases her old book collection and the Post War Countries they reside in slowly head for modern times.The story follows the lives of Frank, the staff at the bookshop, Helen in New York and a variety of amusing incidents that will have you laughing and crying in the same breath. Anthony Hopkins is delightful as the gently pompous Frank and Anne Bancroft breathes life into her character Helen, funny, very Jewish and very tactless.
With Post-War austerity severe in Britain Helen sends American food packages to her new friends who recieve them with delight. One funny moment is when Helen realises that the owners of the bookshop Frank works in are Jewish and that she has just sent a huge ham to them! Frantically she writes to Frank, explaining though she is Jewish herself, she isn't orthodox and that she hopes his employers aren't too horrified with half a pig turning up on their doorstep! I had to chuckle at that.
This is a delightful film, and well worth buying as you can watch it again and again. The book it is based on is very good too, well worth reading as it has all the letters that went between Frank and Helen during their many years of correspondence.