Hanover Street (1979)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writer:

Peter Hyams (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 1979 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The fateful entanglements of two men in love with the same woman.

Plot:

Margaret is a nursein England during WW2, and married to a secret agent. Things get complicated when she falls for David, an American pilot.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Nurse | London Air Raid | Beautiful Woman | Motorcycle

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	David Halloran
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Margaret Sellinger
Christopher Plummer	...	Paul Sellinger
Alec McCowen	...	Maj. Trumbo
Richard Masur	...	2nd Lieut. Jerry Cimino
Michael Sacks	...	2nd Lieut. Martin Hyer
Patsy Kensit	...	Sarah Sellinger
Max Wall	...	Harry Pike
Shane Rimmer	...	Col. Ronald Bart
Keith Buckley	...	Lieut. Wells
Sherrie Hewson	...	Phyllis
Cindy O'Callaghan	...	Paula
Di Trevis	...	Elizabeth
Suzanne Bertish	...	The French Girl
Keith Alexander	...	Soldier in Barn

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Singapore:PG | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Lesley-Anne Down replaced a performer who dropped out.

Goofs:

Factual errors: British fire engines only had electric or hand bells, not the continental type sirens as heard in this film.

Quotes:

2nd Lt. Jerry Cimino: Someone forgot to tell the Germans we're only supposed to have light to moderate flak today.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Monster Squad Forever! (2007) (V)

Gorgeous Score - Total Chick Film - w/ Spy Mission Thrown In

This film has many great elements, but the whole things fails primarily due to overwrought dialogue that is very soap operatic with words put in character's mouths that mostly teenage girls would think of. Without John Barry's romantic score, this film would be pathetic, leaning towards hilarious.

In any film, when two characters meet and fall in love there is a certain amount of time and shared experiences that pass in the story before the love between them is credible. In this film, the love is instant, deeply romantic -- yet torrid, and lasting. Completely impossible! Having said all that, the film still provides some great military movie sequences. There are some funny bits with Halloran and his co-pilot Cimino mouthing off during their missions and briefings. And a whole military caper pulled off by Halloran (Ford) and Mr. Sallinger (Plummer) which is both exciting and easy to follow.

After a while, one realizes that Margaret Sallinger, (Down) never speaks her lines, she whispers them in a plaintive, teary voice, always on the verge of boo-hoo. This becomes grating after a while. Further, it makes the audience wonder what Halloran sees in her.

Well, the answer to what the attraction is never comes, but the noble dialogue at the end is a struggle to listen to and is a riff on the immortal Casablanca "Hill of beans/Here's lookin' at you" farewell between Rick and Ilsa. It is well that this Hanover Street high-road sign-off sequence comes last as it is the most indulgent in melodrama. Still, Ford and Plummer work so effectively to make this movie almost passable that you really have to give them credit for their commitment to their characters.