Harry and Sally meet when she gives him a ride to New York after they both graduate from the University of Chicago. The film jumps through their lives as they both search for love, but fail, bumping into each other time and time again. Finally a close friendship blooms between them, and they both like having a friend of the opposite sex. But then they are confronted with the problem: "Can a man and a woman be friends, without sex getting in the way?"
Written by
Greg Bole
Plot Synopsis:
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1977. Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) share a long car ride from the University of Chicago to their new, post-graduation lives in NYC. En route, they discuss whether a man and a woman can be friends, without sex getting in the way. Concluding that they cannot be friends, they part ways upon their arrival.

1982. Sally and Harry share a plane flight. Sally is now in a relationship with Joe (Steven Ford), while Harry is about to get married to Helen (Harley Kozak). Once again, Harry explains why men and women can't be friends, even if they're in relationships with other people. They part ways again once the flight is over.

1987. Sally tells her friends, Marie (Carrie Fisher) and Alice (Lisa Jane Persky), that she and Joe broke up; while Harry tells his friend Jess (Bruno Kirby) that Helen has left him. Harry and Sally meet again in a bookstore, and over dinner discuss their lives. Harry is surprised to realize he has a "woman friend", and they go on to have late-night phone conversations (about Casablanca, for example, and whether Ingrid Bergman should have stayed with Humphry Bogart at the end of the movie), visit museums, and so on. Sally feels uncomfortable telling Harry she is dating again, but he encourages her to do so, and tells her about his dates. They discuss his relationships with women, and Sally fakes an orgasm at a diner, to prove to him that it can be done, after which another customer (director Rob Reiner's mom, Estelle Reiner) orders "what she's having".

Over dinner, Harry tries to match Sally to Jesse, while Sally tries to match Harry to Marie. Marie and Jesse end up together.

Four months later, Harry and Sally are shopping for Jesse and Marie's upcoming wedding when they bump into Harry's ex-wife. Later, we learn that Sally is now dating Julian (Franc Luz), while Harry is dating Emily (Tracy Reiner), but when Sally learns that her ex-boyfriend, Joe, is getting married, she calls Harry in the middle of the night. He comes over to comfort her, and they end up having sex.

Not sure how to handle the situation, Harry and Sally grow apart. At Jesse and Marie's wedding they have a fight, but later, at a New Year's Eve party, Harry comes over and tells Sally that he loves her. They kiss and later get married.

The segments of married couples telling the stories of how they met are real stories that director Rob Reiner collected for the film. The actors related the stories.
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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.
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According to screenwriter Nora Ephron, the infamous "I'll have what she's having" line was actually suggested by Billy Crystal.
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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!"
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In an interview with National Public Radio on November 2, 2004, screenwriter Nora Ephron credited Meg Ryan not only with the idea of faking an orgasm in the famous restaurant scene, but also with the idea of setting it in a restaurant in the first place.
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The scene where we see all four lead characters talking to each other individually on various telephones took sixty takes to nail.
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Director Rob Reiner, screenwriter Nora Ephron, and producer Andrew Scheinman chose beautiful locations to highlight the characters' lack of insight. Harry and Sally are as blind to romance as they are to the love growing between them. The same logic was used for Harry's apartment. The windows overlook the Empire State Building; it could either the loveliest, or loneliest, view in the world.
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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... (1989)?"
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Harry and Sally's final interview at the end of the film was completely improvised.
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For the infamous orgasm scene, the original script called for Harry and Sally to merely talk about women faking an orgasm, until Meg Ryan suggested that Sally actually fake an orgasm at the table. Director Rob Reiner loved the idea and put it into the script.
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Sally's picky and crazy eating habits were put into the movie after director Rob Reiner saw screenwriter Nora Ephron ordering her food, in the same way Sally does in the film. When Reiner brought this up, Ephron stated, "I just want it the way I want it," a line which was put into the movie.
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The "Win, Lose or Draw" scene was entirely improvised.
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The off-camera voice that says, "Hey, everybody, ten seconds until new year," is director Rob Reiner.
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Before deciding on the title, "When Harry Met Sally...," screenwriter Nora Ephron, producer Andrew Scheinman, and director Rob Reiner considered: "Just Friends," "Playing Melancholy Baby," "Boy Meets Girl," "Blue Moon," "Words of Love," "It Had To Be You," "Harry, This Is Sally," and "How They Met."
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The film is based on director Rob Reiner's experiences post-divorce and as a single man. Ironically, Reiner met his current wife during the making of this film.
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The character of Harry was somewhat based on director Rob Reiner. Reiner was depressed, cynical, and neurotic, but with a big heart underneath, like Harry Burns in the film. The character of Sally was somewhat based on screenwriter Nora Ephron. Ephron was optimistic, cheerful, loved control, and was the type of person who was "just fine" with everything, like Sally Albright.
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To help him capture the mood of a newly divorced, single man, Billy Crystal would hole himself up in a hotel room in isolation, deliberately keeping himself away from cast and crew.
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Harry is shown reading Stephen King's "Misery." The film adaptation would be the next movie directed by Rob Reiner.
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When Harry Met Sally... (1989) was ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the ten greatest films in the genre "Romantic Comedy."
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Tom Hanks turned down the role of Harry, as he thought the film was "too lightweight". Michael Keaton was also considered.
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The infamous orgasm scene was edited out of some airline prints of the film.
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Joe is played by Steven Ford, the son of 38th U.S. President Gerald Ford.
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Screenwriter Nora Ephron was pleased with how the film turned out, but was unhappy with its title; she said it was the one thing she would go back and fix if she could.
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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.
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The quote, "I'll have what she's having," was not only voted #33 on the AFI's list of "Best 100 Movie Quotes in American Film," as well as the only quote on the list to be spoken by a non-professional actor (Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle Reiner, delivered the line). It was also the only dialogue line ever delivered on film by mother Estelle.
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When posed the film's central question, can men and women just be friends, Meg Ryan replied, "Yes, men and women can just be friends. I have a lot of platonic (male) friends, and sex doesn't get in the way." Billy Crystal said, "I'm a little more optimistic than Harry. But I think it is difficult. Men basically act like stray dogs in front of a supermarket. I do have platonic (women) friends, but not best, best, best friends."
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During the ending scene, Harry mentions never understanding what the song "Auld Lang Syne" was about. Some years earlier, director Rob Reiner also questioned the meaning of the song when portraying Mike Stivic on an episode of All in the Family (1971).
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Albert Brooks turned down the role of Harry Burns.
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Meg Ryan had to go through her fake orgasm repeatedly as the scene was shot over and over.
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While writing the script, director Rob Reiner once said, "You know how women have a base of make-up? I have a base of depression. Sometimes I sink below it. Sometimes I rise above it." Since the character of Harry Burns was based on the depressed Reiner, screenwriter Nora Ephron threw the line into the script, which Reiner cut somewhere along the line.
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Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Sally Albright, but was forced to decline due to a busy schedule. She would later go on to play the character in 2004 in the stage version of the film, on London's West End.
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Naming the film proved to be problematic. At one point, director Rob Reiner ran a competition amongst his Castle Rock Entertainment employees, looking for suggestions.
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In many romantic comedies, there is a bullying significant other or a contrived misunderstanding that would keep the two leads apart. This film is special in that it has neither of these clichès; the only thing keeping Harry and Sally apart is their own various neuroses.
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Director Rob Reiner originally wanted Susan Dey to play Sally Albright. When Dey turned down the part, he approached Elizabeth Perkins, Elizabeth McGovern and Molly Ringwald. At this point, Meg Ryan started lobbying hard for the part.
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Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay, and its numerous drafts, over a period of nearly five years.
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This film marked the first appearance on a soundtrack for Harry Connick Jr.
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The split-screens were an homage to Pillow Talk (1959). In those days, the Hays Code set moral guidelines for all the films released by major studios. Movies weren't allowed to show a couple in bed (or bath or beyond) together, or any sort of sexual relationship between unmarried partners. (The code was abandoned in 1968.) Harry and Sally were kept apart to show how close they were as "just friends."
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Much of the dialogue that screenwriter Nora Ephron wrote was taken from the banter between real-life friends Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal.
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Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
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The football game scene uses footage from an actual New York Giants game. However, the long range crowd shots are of a Buffalo Bills home game at Rich Stadium. It had the same colors on the fans but a more spirited version of "the wave."
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Included among the "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider.
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Bill Murray, Jeff Bridges and Harrison Ford were considered to play Harry, before Billy Crystal was cast.
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In early 2004, the film was adapted for the stage in a Theatre Royal Haymarket production starring Luke Perry and Alyson Hannigan. Molly Ringwald and Michael Landes later replaced Hannigan and Perry for the second cast.
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Director Rob Reiner and producer Andrew Scheinman are credited on some drafts of the script.
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The footage of Harry and Jess at the New York Giants game was taken from when the team played the Detroit Lions on October 16, 1988. The Giants won 30-10.
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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.
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The exteriors shown of the townhouse block where Jess and Marie live is West 89th St. It's also the very same Upper West Side block on which director/co-writer Nora Ephron later chose to shoot when she located Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly) 's apartment there in You've Got Mail (1998). In real life, Ephron and her husband, Goodfellas (1990) author Nicholas Pileggi, lived just a few blocks away on 79th St & Broadway in the historic Apthorp apt. building.
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Demi Moore showed up to the film's premiere braless, dressed in a plain white T-shirt tucked in jeans, and sporting a brand new haircut: the short boylike crop that would be emulated by millions of women when Ghost (1990) was released the next year.
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At least five of the film's cast members and creators came from show-business families. Most well known, of course, is Carrie Fisher, whose parents were Debbie Reynolds & Eddie Fisher. Rob Reiner's father was the veteran comic, Carl Reiner, while mother, Estelle Reiner, had been an accomplished jazz singer. Nora Ephron's parents, Henry Ephron & Phoebe Ephron, like her, had also been highly successful Hollywood screenwriters. Bruno Kirby had also followed in the footsteps of his character-actor dad Bruce Kirby. Finally, Billy Crystal's father and uncle were both prominent in the record & concert industry, working closely with legends such as Billie Holiday. (Coincidentally, Bruce Kirby had co-starred with both Billy Crystal & Rob Reiner just two years earlier in Throw Momma from the Train (1987).
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During their final interview it appears Sally wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
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Tragically, three of the principals from the film died relatively young, especially co-star Bruno Kirby, at age 57. Screenwriter Nora Ephron was only 71 when she succumbed to cancer. And most prominently, Carrie Fisher died at age 60...followed only one day later in Dec., 2016 by her legendary mom, Debbie Reynolds.
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For the scene in which Sally calls Marie and Harry calls Jess at the same time, there were three separate sets. As Rob Reiner explains: "We had three different sets: [One] where Bruno and Carrie were; a separate set where Billy was; and a [third] set where Meg was. It was all on the same soundstage. It's almost like doing a recording in a studio. The phones were all hooked up to each other, because there are no cuts, if you notice.... If somebody makes a mistake - and it's a three- to four-page scene - you can't cover it. You can't cut away to anything. You have to do it over again." So how many times did they try to get it right? "We shot it 61 times! If you remember at the end, they each hang up their phone - boom, boom, boom boom - in rhythm. It took forever to get it right. We did one I think 54 in, and we did it: They hung up the phones perfectly. Then Bruno blew his last line. So we had to start over again!"
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Carrie Fisher was best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films. In the sequel trilogy, her character is the mother of Kylo Ren, who is played by Adam Driver. Meg Ryan, on the other hand, is the real-life mother of actor Jack Quaid. Driver and Quaid appeared together in the film Logan Lucky (2017).
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In the first draft of the film, Harry and Sally did not end up together. It was only later that screenwriter Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner decided that Harry and Sally belonged together.
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When Harry realizes he wants to see Sally on New Year's Eve, he is near Washington Square Park. The party where Sally is attending is at the Puck Bulding, 295 W Lafayette Street, about a half mile away via Bleecker Street. If Harry runs five mph, he would have a six-minute run before arriving at the party.
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When Harry and Sally enter the diner in 1977, the credit card sticker on the door reads MasterCard. At the time, the company was still known as MasterCharge and the current name was adopted only in 1979.
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When Harry is dropped off in New York's Washington Square in 1977 the street signs are green and white. In 1977 the street signs in New York were still gold and black.
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When driving through Chicago on the way to New York in the 1970s, a 1980s model Chevy Cavalier is visible.
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There were no bollards to block traffic under the Washington Square arch in 1977, as depicted in the drop off scene.
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During the scenes set in 1982 (1977 plus "5 years later") a United Airlines Boeing 737-300 is shown landing. The 737-300 model did not start revenue service with any airline until 1984.
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When Harry and Sally are in the museum, Harry makes a joke about hieroglyphics being part of an ancient comic strip. When he says "...about a character named Sphinxy," his lips don't match the words he can be heard saying.
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When Jess gives a speech at the wedding he says: "If Marie or I had found either of them remotely attractive... we would not be here today." The first half of the sentence does not match his mouth movements.
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When visiting their friends and helping to serve dessert, Sally tells Marie that "Harry hates sweets." However, on New Year's Eve, Harry is alone and eating a bag of "moon pie" chocolate cookies, telling himself they are the best in the world.
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The pictures that Sally drew for "Baby Talk" change during the game.
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When Harry and Sally are in the diner and discussing whether women can fake orgasms, Sally's sandwich changes shape between shots.
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When Sally tells Harry that she's watching Casablanca, she says it's on channel 11. A few moments later, when they're both watching the movie in their respective apartments, both TVs are turned to channel 7.
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The first time Harry and Sally stop at a diner (on the way from Chicago toNew York), Sally opens the menu, but on the next shot, she opens it again. Her hands are in different positions depending on the camera angle for most of the sequence.
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When Harry and Sally enter the diner during the road trip, Sally sits down and puts her hands on the table. It then cuts to a different angle and her hands are not on the table.
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Harry says, "I'll roll down the window," but the window alternately appears open and closed.
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When Harry and Sally are hugging after the fight at Jess and Marie's, their arms are in one position from the front and another from the back.
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Leaving the diner in 1977, Sally pulls the door with her right hand. From the outside, she opens the door with her left hand.
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At the final New Year's Eve party Sally's lipstick disappears and reappears between shots.
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When Harry, Sally, Marie and Jess are at dinner during the blind date, Marie's drink often jumps from her hand to the table between shots.
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When Harry and Sally are in the diner talking about whether the women have a good time in bed with him, the bite mark in Sally's sandwich keeps moving from being near the side, to the centre, and back to the side.
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In 1977, when Harry and Sally enter the diner and also while they eat, Sally's hair is limp and untidy. When Sally is tallying the bill, it is neat freshly styled. When they go outdoors, her hair is untidy again.
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At the very beginning of their 1977 road trip, the lock on Sally's door changes back and forth between being locked and unlocked even though she never touches it.
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The morning after Harry and Sally make love all four of them are on the phone reporting the incident. Jess and Marie are in bed on their respective phones. Harry and Sally are montaged on either side of the bed. There is a mirror behind Harry. A man can be seen crossing left to right in the mirror who is part of the crew.
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When Harry and Sally drive from the University of Chicago to New York, they should drive on the Lake Shore Drive heading to the south (to the direction of Gary), not to the north (to the direction of downtown). So they should not be on the Lake Shore drive on the north of downtown.
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When driving to New York from the University of Chicago, they mention it's an 18 hour drive. In reality it's only a 12.5 - 13 hour drive from Chicago to New York.
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When Sally is faking the orgasm in Katz's Deli, the woman who says "I'll have what she's having" is seated in the self service section and a waiter would not have come over to take here order. The waiter service section is against the wall to Sally's left.
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When Jess and Marie are talking to Harry and Sally after they make love, a person walks back and forth in the mirror behind Harry. The person is not a crew member but a restaurant worker as you can also see canned food on shelves.
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Near the end, when Sally is typing on her computer, apparently she is typing the longest word in the history of modern language, because her fingers never touch the "space" bar.
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At the end, when Harry and Sally are sitting on the couch talking about their marriage, Sally is actively hiding her left hand. When she waves it around, there is no wedding ring visible.
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When Harry is watching New Year's Rocking Eve, the channel on the TV is set to 3 instead of ABC's New York affiliate's channel, 7, revealing that he's actually watching a video tape of the show. In the age of VHS, channel 3 was almost exclusively used to connect VHS players to TVs.
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When Harry and Jess are talking in the crowd at the Giants vs Lions game, the overhead shots of the crowd doing the wave is not at the Giants stadium. It is actually the Rich Stadium, the home of the Buffalo Bills; now known as Ralph Wilson Stadium.
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At the New Year's Eve party at end of the film when Harry is telling Sally all the things he loves about her, people in the background are still seen dancing even though the music has stopped and you hear the crowd counting down to midnight.
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After Harry and Sally have sex, Sally is getting up for some water and is supposed to be naked, however as she stands to put on her robe, you can see her night gown around her legs, which must be tied up around her neck under her hair.
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