Hanover Street
Encyclopedia
Hanover Street is a 1979
Anglo
-American
war film
written and directed by Peter Hyams
, starring Harrison Ford
, Lesley-Anne Down
and Christopher Plummer
.
) an American bomber pilot serving with the Eighth Air Force
in the UK and Margaret Sellinger (Lesley-Anne Down
) a British nurse meet in Hanover Street in a chance encounter during an air raid
They meet again two weeks later in a secret assignation in Hanover Street. Although she is married, Sellinger and Halloran rapidly fall in love. She tries to resist, but is drawn to the charismatic American. By contrast her husband Paul Sellinger (Christopher Plummer
) is, by his own description, suave, pleasant, but fairly dull. A former teacher
, he is now a trusted member of British intelligence.
Halloran is subsequently sent on an undercover mission in Nazi-occupied France
to deliver a British agent (Lieutenant Wells). At the last moment, Sellinger takes the place of the agent, and himself joins the mission. His reasons are initially unclear, but he slowly reveals that he wants to prove himself.
Flying over France
the plane is hit, killing the rest of the crew. After being shot down in France
, Halloran initially plans to try to head for the coast, but realizing that Sellinger is not capable of surviving alone in enemy country (he cannot find the North, and badly injures his ankle after a matter of moments) he agrees to accompany him.
Sellinger slowly reveals his mission. He is to proceed to the German headquarters in Lyon
and, posing as an SS officer, photograph an important document that lists the German double-agents in British intelligence. Halloran is immediately horrified at the appalling risk, but realizing there is little else to be done, agrees to co-operate with Sellinger.
Making contact with the local French resistance
, they manage to get hold of a captured German vehicle and a spare uniform for Halloran. They proceed to Lyon, and deposit a document in the safe, allowing them to case the safe in which it is kept.
Returning the same evening, Sellinger initially starts to photograph the documents, but Halloran grabs the documents from the safe and gives them to Sellinger. As they are escaping, a party of real SS troops raise the alarm. They manage to escape after a lengthy car chase, and make it back to the same farm
where they had received assistance. However, they are betrayed by a collaborator
and are forced to flee again, pursued by hundreds of Nazi troops.
It has slowly dawned on Halloran that Sellinger is his lover's husband. He makes no mention of it to Sellinger (who is clearly devoted to his wife Margaret), as both men must work together in order to survive. They manage to reach a bridge, on the opposite bank of which lies safety in the form of the resistance. As the bridge
comes under heavy fire it begins to collapse, leaving Sellinger, who has been shot and badly wounded, hanging over a deep plunge.
Instead of leaving him to die, as Sellinger tells him to, Halloran reaches down and grabs hold of the Englishman. Sellinger looking up, asks him to visit his wife and tell her he loves her and his daughter. Refusing to let him die, Halloran drags him up, and carries him to safety. Jokingly, Sellinger looks up and says he has got a "wet coat, again" a reference to his pleasing but unheroic personality, contrasted with Halloran's dashing persona. The American shakes his head, saying "this time you got the girl". Sellinger then passes out, leaving Halloran fearing he will die of blood loss.
In London, Sellinger's wife waits anxiously for news. She has unsuccessfully tried to find out what has happened to her husband, both from the British and American authorities, but has worked out that Halloran and Sellinger are together. The phone rings, and she bursts into tears. They are back home, and her husband is alive.
Going to visit him in the hospital
in Hanover Street, she meets Lt. Halloran for the last time. The embrace and kiss, and he tells her that he loves her "enough to let her go", she goes in to see her husband, while he goes out into Hanover Street, the same scene where the story had begun.
, at the time a bigger box-office draw than Harrison Ford, was cast as the male lead in the film, but backed out after one week of filming and subsequently announced his retirement from acting. Kristofferson had been intrigued by the aerial sequences he had read in the script, as he had served as a helicopter pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army for five years himself. Still, the failure of Heaven's Gate
left him with no confidence in his own acting abilities, and considered it best to back out. Lesley-Anne Down also replaced Sarah Miles
, who dropped out.
The aerial sequences were mostly filmed at the by then-disused Bovingdon
airfield using five North American B-25s
Mitchell bombers flown over to England from USA specially for the filming.
In the film, Down emerges hurriedly from a Piccadilly line
tube station called "Hanover Street". In reality there was no such station and, since Hanover Street links upper Regent Street and Brook Street, this would not, in any case, match the alignment of the Piccadilly line – unless there were a fictitious spur similar to that which ran from Holborn to Aldwych
from 1907 to 1994.
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
Anglo
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
written and directed by Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, probably best known for directing the 1984 science fiction adventure 2010 , Capricorn One, the comic book adaptation Timecop and the Arnold Schwarzenegger horror/action film End of Days.-Family:Hyams was born in New York...
, starring Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
and Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
.
Plot
Set in London during the Second World War, Lieutenant David Halloran (Harrison FordHarrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
) an American bomber pilot serving with the Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
in the UK and Margaret Sellinger (Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
) a British nurse meet in Hanover Street in a chance encounter during an air raid
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
They meet again two weeks later in a secret assignation in Hanover Street. Although she is married, Sellinger and Halloran rapidly fall in love. She tries to resist, but is drawn to the charismatic American. By contrast her husband Paul Sellinger (Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
) is, by his own description, suave, pleasant, but fairly dull. A former teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, he is now a trusted member of British intelligence.
Halloran is subsequently sent on an undercover mission in Nazi-occupied France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to deliver a British agent (Lieutenant Wells). At the last moment, Sellinger takes the place of the agent, and himself joins the mission. His reasons are initially unclear, but he slowly reveals that he wants to prove himself.
Flying over France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
the plane is hit, killing the rest of the crew. After being shot down in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Halloran initially plans to try to head for the coast, but realizing that Sellinger is not capable of surviving alone in enemy country (he cannot find the North, and badly injures his ankle after a matter of moments) he agrees to accompany him.
Sellinger slowly reveals his mission. He is to proceed to the German headquarters in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and, posing as an SS officer, photograph an important document that lists the German double-agents in British intelligence. Halloran is immediately horrified at the appalling risk, but realizing there is little else to be done, agrees to co-operate with Sellinger.
Making contact with the local French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, they manage to get hold of a captured German vehicle and a spare uniform for Halloran. They proceed to Lyon, and deposit a document in the safe, allowing them to case the safe in which it is kept.
Returning the same evening, Sellinger initially starts to photograph the documents, but Halloran grabs the documents from the safe and gives them to Sellinger. As they are escaping, a party of real SS troops raise the alarm. They manage to escape after a lengthy car chase, and make it back to the same farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
where they had received assistance. However, they are betrayed by a collaborator
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
and are forced to flee again, pursued by hundreds of Nazi troops.
It has slowly dawned on Halloran that Sellinger is his lover's husband. He makes no mention of it to Sellinger (who is clearly devoted to his wife Margaret), as both men must work together in order to survive. They manage to reach a bridge, on the opposite bank of which lies safety in the form of the resistance. As the bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
comes under heavy fire it begins to collapse, leaving Sellinger, who has been shot and badly wounded, hanging over a deep plunge.
Instead of leaving him to die, as Sellinger tells him to, Halloran reaches down and grabs hold of the Englishman. Sellinger looking up, asks him to visit his wife and tell her he loves her and his daughter. Refusing to let him die, Halloran drags him up, and carries him to safety. Jokingly, Sellinger looks up and says he has got a "wet coat, again" a reference to his pleasing but unheroic personality, contrasted with Halloran's dashing persona. The American shakes his head, saying "this time you got the girl". Sellinger then passes out, leaving Halloran fearing he will die of blood loss.
In London, Sellinger's wife waits anxiously for news. She has unsuccessfully tried to find out what has happened to her husband, both from the British and American authorities, but has worked out that Halloran and Sellinger are together. The phone rings, and she bursts into tears. They are back home, and her husband is alive.
Going to visit him in the hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
in Hanover Street, she meets Lt. Halloran for the last time. The embrace and kiss, and he tells her that he loves her "enough to let her go", she goes in to see her husband, while he goes out into Hanover Street, the same scene where the story had begun.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Harrison Ford Harrison Ford Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in... |
Lt. David Halloran |
| Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs... |
Margaret Sellinger |
| Christopher Plummer Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five... |
Paul Sellinger |
| Alec McCowen Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan "Alec" McCowen CBE is an English actor. He is known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. He was awarded the CBE in the 1985 New Year's Honours List.-Personal:... |
Major Trumbo Marty Lynch |
| Michael Sacks Michael Sacks Michael Sacks is an American actor and tech executive who played the role of Billy Pilgrim in George Roy Hill's Slaughterhouse Five, an adaptation from the novel by Kurt Vonnegut.... |
2nd Lt. Martin Hyer |
| Patsy Kensit Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit is an English actress, singer, model and former child star, known for her television and film appearances. Her films include Lethal Weapon 2 and she has been married to rock stars Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher, as well as herself fronting the band Eighth Wonder... |
Sarah Sellinger |
| Max Wall Max Wall Max Wall , was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.-Early years:... |
Harry Pike |
| Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing... |
Col. Ronald Bart |
Production
Kris KristoffersonKris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, at the time a bigger box-office draw than Harrison Ford, was cast as the male lead in the film, but backed out after one week of filming and subsequently announced his retirement from acting. Kristofferson had been intrigued by the aerial sequences he had read in the script, as he had served as a helicopter pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army for five years himself. Still, the failure of Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (film)
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s...
left him with no confidence in his own acting abilities, and considered it best to back out. Lesley-Anne Down also replaced Sarah Miles
Sarah Miles
-Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
, who dropped out.
The aerial sequences were mostly filmed at the by then-disused Bovingdon
Bovingdon
Bovingdon is a large village in the Chiltern Hills, in Hertfordshire, England, four miles south-west of Hemel Hempstead and it is a civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum...
airfield using five North American B-25s
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
Mitchell bombers flown over to England from USA specially for the filming.
In the film, Down emerges hurriedly from a Piccadilly line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
tube station called "Hanover Street". In reality there was no such station and, since Hanover Street links upper Regent Street and Brook Street, this would not, in any case, match the alignment of the Piccadilly line – unless there were a fictitious spur similar to that which ran from Holborn to Aldwych
Aldwych
Aldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London, England.-Description:Aldwych, the road, is a crescent, connected to the Strand at both ends. At its centre, it meets the Kingsway...
from 1907 to 1994.
Aircraft
| Movie serial # | Nickname | Aircraft type | Actual serial # | Registration # | Disposition |
| 151632 | Gorgeous George Ann / Thar She Blows | B-25J-30NC | 44-30925 North American B-25 Survivors -B-25 survivors:-Argentina:Under Restoration.*B-25J Mitchell, s/n 44-31173, Was on display at Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés Airport. Under restoration to flightworthiness by Gustavo M... |
N9494Z | Brussels Air Museum |
| 151645 | Marvellous Miriam | B-25J-20NC | 44-29366 North American B-25 Survivors -B-25 survivors:-Argentina:Under Restoration.*B-25J Mitchell, s/n 44-31173, Was on display at Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés Airport. Under restoration to flightworthiness by Gustavo M... |
N9115Z | RAF Museum Hendon |
| 151790 | Amazing Andrea | B-25J-30NC | 44-86701 North American B-25 Survivors -B-25 survivors:-Argentina:Under Restoration.*B-25J Mitchell, s/n 44-31173, Was on display at Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés Airport. Under restoration to flightworthiness by Gustavo M... |
N7681C | Destroyed – Hangar Fire |
| 151863 | Big Bad Bonnie | B-25J-30NC | 44-86843 North American B-25 Survivors -B-25 survivors:-Argentina:Under Restoration.*B-25J Mitchell, s/n 44-31173, Was on display at Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés Airport. Under restoration to flightworthiness by Gustavo M... |
N9455Z | Grissom Air Museum Grissom Air Museum The Grissom Air Museum, near Peru, Indiana and named for astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, was founded in 1981 by seven prior service military personnel who lived in the area. The Heritage Museum Foundation wanted to preserve aircraft that were currently located at Grissom Air Reserve Base,... |
| 151724 | Brenda’s Boys | B-25J-20NC | 44-29121 North American B-25 Survivors -B-25 survivors:-Argentina:Under Restoration.*B-25J Mitchell, s/n 44-31173, Was on display at Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés Airport. Under restoration to flightworthiness by Gustavo M... |
N86427 | Museo del Aire, Madrid, Spain |