Hanover Street (1979)

For a long period of time, Harrison Ford was the most bankable movie star in the industry. None of his films was ever less than a moderate box-office success, with the exception of Hanover Street. More than 20 years after its initial release, the reasons for this are not clear. The film is no classic, but does provide a well-crafted version of the war romance genre. Ford is an American pilot stationed in England during World War II, where he meets and falls in love with a nurse played by Lesley-Anne Down. But there's one problem: she's married to a secret agent played very nicely by Christopher Plummer. The kicker comes in when Ford is assigned to fly a special mission with a British agent who just happens to be Plummer. The setup isn't the greatest, but it's an interesting premise nonetheless. Will Ford fulfill his military obligations or will he sacrifice his comrade so that he can have his wife? Unfortunately, that particular aspect of the character's dilemma is never really exploited. It's hinted at many times but never really comes to bear. The Down character also tends to come across as unsympathetic, perhaps because she is the only one, at first, who knows that she is cheating on her husband. So even with all these elements, the poor reception the film has received is still somewhat of a mystery. Ford steps out his Han Solo persona that had made him famous and shows some acting chops that he wouldn't really stretch again until Witness. Down is certainly lovely and Plummer, one of those actors who always seems to rise above the material no matter what he's in, does so again here. Director Peter Hyams, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to have been going for a Gone With the Wind type of romance, and perhaps that's where he failed, but how could he possibly have succeeded? It simply isn't that type of story. It's a cute date movie, but it's not a grand statement on love and war. His inability to recognize that in his own work dooms him in the end. ~ Dan Friedman, All Movie Guide