When a humorous script-reader in her New York apartment sees an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature for a bookstore in London that does mail order, she begins a very special correspondence and friendship with Frank Doel, the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road.

When they made the film the famous shop was a record store so they rebuilt it at Shepperton Studios. That also made it easier to change the passing traffic from the 1940's to the 1970's.

[first lines]


Businessman on plane:
Your first trip to London?


Helene Hanff:
Yes.


Businessman on plane:
You want a word of advice? Don't trust the cab drivers; they'll take you five miles to go three blocks... and, uh, don't waste your time looking at a street map. Nobody can find their way around London - not even Londoners.


Helene Hanff:
Maybe I should go to Baltimore instead.


Businessman on plane:
No; you'll enjoy it. London's a great place. What kind of trip is it - business or pleasure?


Helene Hanff:
Unfinished business.

Continuity: Paper suddenly appears in the typewriter when Helene is writing to Frank about the diary.