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'When Harry Met Sally' (1989)

R | July 21 1989 | 95 mins

Can two friends sleep together and still love each other in the morning?

During their travel from Chicago to New York, Harry and Sally debate whether or not sex ruins a friendship between a man and a woman. Eleven years later, and they’re still no closer to finding the answer.

Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan [+]
Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Nora Ephron
Producers: Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Jeffrey Stott, Steve Nicolaides, Nora Ephron
Cinematographer: Barry Sonnenfeld
Editors: Robert Leighton
Music: Marc Shaiman
Distribution: Columbia Pictures

The Rom Com Catalog Review

Name
Character
Release Date
June 13, 2025
Runtime
116 minutes
Production Companies
2AM, Killer Films
MPAA Rating
R
Language
English
Country
United States
Filming Dates
August 29, 1988 – November 15, 1988
 
Filming Locations
The Arch
Washington Square Park Arch, Greenwich Village, New York
Where Sally drops off Harry in New York.
Old Giants Stadium (Demolished)
50 Route 120, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Football game where Harry tells Jess he’s getting divorced.
Loeb Boathouse, East 72nd Street and Park Drive North, Central Park, New York
Where Sally tells her friends she and Joe had broken up.
Shakespeare & Co Booksellers (Closed)
Broadway 2259 Ecke 81st Street New York, New York
Where Harry spots Sally again, after they’re both single.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, New York
Harry’s “pepper on my paprikash” routine is done here.
205 East Houston Street, New York City, New York
The infamous “I’ll have what she’s having.” scene took place here.
Plant Shed
209 West 96th Street, New York City, New York
Where Harry and Sally buy a Christmas tree.
200 W 70th St, New York, New York
The double date with Marie and Jess.
The Sharper Image
4 West 57th Street, New York, New York
Where Sally and Harry sing karaoke before his ex-wife shows up.
Residential Building
32 West 89th Street, Central Park West, New York, New York
Jess and Marie’s new apartment.
Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, New York New York
Jess and Marie get married in the Grand Ballroom.
Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, New York New York
The New Year’s Eve party at the end of the film takes place in the Skylight Ballroom.

Harry: Would you like to have dinner?… Just friends.
Sally: I thought you didn’t believe men and women could be friends.
Harry: When did I say that?
Sally: On the ride to New York.
Harry: No, no, no, I never said that… Yes, that’s right, they can’t be friends. Unless both of them are involved with other people, then they can… This is an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are in relationships, the pressure of possible involvement is lifted… That doesn’t work either, because what happens then is, the person you’re involved with can’t understand why you need to be friends with the person you’re just friends with. Like it means something is missing from the relationship and why do you have to go outside to get it? And when you say “No, no, no it’s not true, nothing is missing from the relationship,” the person you’re involved with then accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you’re just friends with, which you probably are. I mean, come on, who the hell are we kidding, let’s face it. Which brings us back to the earlier rule before the amendment, which is men and women can’t be friends.

Sally: Most women at one time or another have faked it.
Harry: Well, they haven’t faked it with me.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: Because I know.
Sally: Oh. Right. That’s right. I forgot. You’re a man.
Harry: What was that supposed to mean?
Sally: Nothing. It’s just that all men are sure it never happened to them and all women at one time or other have done it, so you do the math.

Harry: The fact that you’re not answering leads me to believe you’re either (a) not at home, (b) home but don’t want to talk to me, or (c) home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it’s either (a) or (c), please call me back.

Sally: Amanda mentioned you had a dark side.
Harry: That’s what drew her to me.
Sally: Your dark side?
Harry: Sure. Why? Don’t you have a dark side? I know, you’re probably one of those cheerful people who dot their “i’s” with little hearts.
Sally: I have just as much of a dark side as the next person.
Harry: Oh, really? When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.

Harry: I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

Sally: You see? That is just like you, Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you.

Marie: Tell me I’ll never have to be out there again.
Jess: You will never have to be out there again.

Harry: I miss her.
Sally: I don’t miss him. I really don’t.
Harry: Not even a little?
Sally: You know what I miss? I miss the idea of him.
Harry: Maybe I only miss the idea of Helen… No, I miss the whole Helen.

Harry: We’re talking dream date compared to my horror. It started out fine, she’s a very nice person, and we’re sitting and we’re talking at this Ethiopian restaurant that she wanted to go to. And I was making jokes, you know like, “Hey I didn’t know that they had food in Ethiopia? This will be a quick meal. I’ll order two empty plates and we can leave.” Yeah, nothing from her, not even a smile.

  • The segments of married couples telling the stories of how they met are real stories that Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner collected for the film. Then they hired actors to relay the stories.
  • The orgasm scene was filmed at Katz’s Deli, an actual restaurant on New York’s E. Houston Street. The table at which the scene was filmed now has a plaque on it that reads, “Where Harry met Sally…hope you have what she had!”
  • The concept of Sally being a picky eater was based on the film’s screenwriter, Nora Ephron. Years after the movie came out, when Ephron was on a plane and ordered something very precise, the stewardess looked at her and asked, “Have you ever seen the movie When Harry Met Sally?”
  • In the museum scene, Billy Crystal (Harry) ad-libbed, “But, I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie.” Meg Ryan (Sally) laughed and looked to her right where director Rob Reiner silently prompted her to go with it.
  • The film is based on director Rob Reiner’s experiences after his divorce and as a single man. Coincidentally, Reiner met his current wife while making the film.
  • Nora Ephron supplied the structure of the film with much of the dialogue based on the real-life friendship between Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal. For example, in the scene where Sally and Harry appear on a split screen, talking on the telephone while watching their respective television sets, channel surfing was something that Crystal and Reiner did every night.
  • At a test screening, director Rob Reiner reported that during the fake orgasm scene, all of the women in the audience laughed uproariously, while all of the men were silent.
  • Harry is shown reading the Stephen King novel “Misery”. The film adaptation Misery (1990) would be the next film directed by Rob Reiner.
  • Prior to the wedding, Marie tells Sally that Harry was seeing an anthropologist. Sally asks her what she looks like and Marie responds with “Thin. Pretty. Big tits. Your basic nightmare.” This line also appears in Nora Ephron’s book “Heartburn”, published in 1983.
  • In addition to Rob Reiner’s mother, Estelle Reiner, appearing in the film, so does his adopted daughter, Tracy Reiner, whose birth mother was Reiner’s wife, Penny Marshall.
Awards
Year
Recipient
Category
Result
Academy Awards
1990
Nora Ephron
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominee
American Comedy Awards
1990
Carrie Fisher
Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Nominee
American Comedy Awards
1990
Meg Ryan
Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)
Winner
American Comedy Awards
1990
Billy Crystal
Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)
Winner
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
1990
Marc Shaiman
Top Box Office Films
Winner
BAFTA Awards
1990
Rob Reiner
Best Film
Nominee
BAFTA Awards
1990
Nora Ephron
Best Screenplay – Original
Winner
Casting Society of America
1990
Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson
Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy
Winner
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
1990
Meg Ryan
Best Actress
Nominee
David di Donatello Awards
1990
Rob Reiner
Best Foreign Director (Migliore Regista Straniero)
Nominee
David di Donatello Awards
1990
Meg Ryan
Best Foreign Actress
Nominee
Directors Guild of America
1990
Rob Reiner
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Nominee
Golden Globes
1990
When Harry Met Sally
Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Nominee
Golden Globes
1990
Rob Reiner
Best Director – Motion Picture
Nominee
Golden Globes
1990
Meg Ryan
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Nominee
Golden Globes
1990
Billy Crystal
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Nominee
Golden Globes
1990
Nora Ephron
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Nominee
Jupiter Award
1990
Meg Ryan
Best International Actress
Nominee
Jupiter Award
1990
When Harry Met Sally
Best International Film
Nominee
Writers Guild of America
1990
Nora Ephron
Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominee
Budget
$ 0
Box Office
$ 0

Videos

When Harry Met Sally

17 Videos
Song
Artist
Length
Lyrics
It Had To Be You (With Big Band And Vocals)
Harry Connick Jr.
2:39
Our Love Is Here To Stay
Harry Connick Jr.
4:12
Stompin’ At The Savoy
Harry Connick Jr.
4:13
Lyrics
But Not For Me
Harry Connick Jr.
4:32
Winter Wonderland
Harry Connick Jr.
3:02
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Harry Connick Jr.
4:22
Autumn In New York
Harry Connick Jr.
2:48
Lyrics
I Could Write A Book
Harry Connick Jr.
2:28
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off
Harry Connick Jr.
4:12
It Had To Be You (Instrumental Trio)
Harry Connick Jr.
1:43
Lyrics
Where Or When
Harry Connick Jr.
3:52