84 Charing Cross Road | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | David Jones |
Written by | Hugh Whitemore |
Based on | 84, Charing Cross Road 1970 book by Helene Hanff |
Produced by | Mel Brooks Geoffrey Helman |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Brian West |
Edited by | Chris Wimble |
Music by | George Fenton |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2,538,291 |
84 Charing Cross Road is a 1987 British-American drama film directed by David Jones, and starring Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Mercedes Ruehl, and Jean De Baer. It is produced by Bancroft's husband, Mel Brooks. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore is based on a play by James Roose-Evans, which itself is an adaptation of the 1970 epistolary memoir of the same name by Helene Hanff — a compilation of letters between Hanff and Frank Doel dating from 1949 to 1968. Several characters who are not in the play were added for the film, including Hanff's Manhattan friends and Doel's wife Nora.
The film garnered mainly positive reviews from critics, as well as receiving numerous industry awards and nominations. Bancroft won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Hanff. Additionally, Dench was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Whitemore for Best Adapted Screenplay. Dench has said that 84 Charing Cross Road is one of her favourite films in which she has appeared. The film has become something of a cult classic among bibliophiles and epistemophiles.