50 Fun Facts About When Harry Met Sally

Who directed When Harry Met Sally...?

Reiner had just made Stand by Me and The Princess Bride; Ephron wrote the script but did not direct until This Is My Life in 1992.

Who wrote the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally...?

She based Harry on interviews with Reiner and producer Andrew Scheinman, and Sally on herself and her friends.

In which year was When Harry Met Sally... released?

It opened against Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which had Billy Crystal worried it would flop.

What are the full names of the title characters?

They meet as fresh graduates of the University of Chicago in 1977.

Harry and Sally first meet sharing a drive from Chicago to which city?

Sally is heading to journalism school; Harry is dating her friend Amanda, which is how they end up in the same car.

What is the central question the film asks?

Harry's answer on the first drive is no, because 'the sex part gets in the way'; Meg Ryan's real-life answer was yes.

At which real New York deli does Sally fake an orgasm?

The deli still hangs a sign over the table reading 'Where Harry met Sally... hope you have what she had!'

Who delivers the line 'I'll have what she's having' in the deli scene?

Estelle Reiner was 94 when she died in 2008, and the New York Times credited her with one of the funniest lines in movie history.

Who came up with the punchline 'I'll have what she's having'?

Ephron suggested the topic of faking orgasms, Ryan suggested actually doing one in a restaurant, and Crystal supplied the button.

Which actress suggested Sally should actually fake an orgasm on screen, not just discuss it?

She then demonstrated it for hours of takes; Reiner noticed at a test screening that the women laughed and the men sat silent.

Where does 'I'll have what she's having' rank on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes?

The film also placed 23rd on AFI's list of the funniest American films.

Who plays Marie, Sally's best friend?

Marie keeps a Rolodex of eligible men and ends up marrying Harry's best friend Jess after the disastrous double date.

Who plays Jess, Harry's best friend?

Kirby reunited with Crystal two years later in City Slickers.

The actor who plays Sally's ex-boyfriend Joe is the son of which US President?

Steven Ford is best known for the soap The Young and the Restless; his father gave his high school commencement address as vice president.

How does Harry describe himself to Sally on their drive?

Ephron drew Harry's gloomy pessimism from her interviews with the recently divorced Reiner, who was 'constantly depressed and pessimistic yet funny'.

Over how many years does the film follow Harry and Sally?

They meet in 1977, cross paths in 1982 and 1987, and marry three months after New Year's Eve 1988.

Where do Harry and Sally run into each other for the third time, in 1987?

Sally has split from Joe and Harry's wife Helen has left him, so they finally decide to try being friends.

What is Harry watching alone at home on the last night of 1988 before he runs to find Sally?

It was Clark's 16th annual broadcast; Harry ends up walking the city and reminiscing before sprinting to the party.

The interludes with older couples telling how they met were originally based on what?

Ephron did the interviews when she didn't feel like writing; the material was rewritten and reshot with actors.

Which real-life friendship supplied much of Harry and Sally's dialogue?

The split-screen scene of them channel-surfing on the phone was something Crystal and Reiner did every night.

What was the screenwriter's original working title for the film?

Reiner ran a contest during filming: whoever came up with the final title would win a case of champagne.

How did the script originally end?

Ephron and Reiner both thought that was the true ending; Reiner changed his mind after meeting his second wife Michele Singer.

Which of these actors turned down the role of Harry Burns?

Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Keaton and Albert Brooks also passed; Brooks thought it was too much like a Woody Allen film.

Which comedian-filmmaker had the director recently divorced when the film's ideas began?

Billy Crystal, Reiner's best friend at the time, watched the return to single life up close and later called it unconscious research for Harry.

At which New York restaurant did the director, producer and writer first meet in 1984?

Reiner's first pitch was rejected; the second lunch turned into a long conversation about being single, which became the film.

Which singer performs the standards on the film's soundtrack?

Reiner was tipped off by Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer Bobby Colomby and thought Connick sounded like a young Sinatra.

What did the soundtrack's singer win for his work on it?

The album topped Billboard's traditional jazz chart and went double platinum.

Which 1924 standard from the film made AFI's list of the 100 greatest movie songs?

Isham Jones and Gus Kahn wrote it; it ranked 60th on the AFI list.

Who arranged the big band and orchestra on the soundtrack?

Shaiman went on to a long partnership with Billy Crystal, including his Oscar-hosting musical numbers, and later wrote Hairspray.

Roughly how much did the film gross in North America?

It cost about $16 million and took another $100 million overseas.

How did Columbia roll the film out, opening in just 41 theaters first?

Its opening weekend on under 50 screens was the second-biggest ever at the time, behind only Star Wars.

Which award did the screenplay win?

She was nominated for the other three; the Oscar that year went to Dead Poets Society.

What grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film?

The rare top grade matched a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, though the New York Times called it 'amazingly hollow'.

Which two actors starred in the 2004 London stage adaptation?

Molly Ringwald and Michael Landes took over the roles for the second cast at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

In what year was the film added to the US National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress selects films it deems 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

Where does the film rank on AFI's list of the 100 funniest American movies?

AFI also named it the sixth-best romantic comedy of all time in its 2008 'Ten Top Ten'.

Which brand's 2025 Super Bowl ad reunited Ryan and Crystal at Katz's, with Sydney Sweeney's famous line?

The mayonnaise ad ran during Super Bowl LIX, 36 years after the film.

Which relationship terms did the film help popularize?

The A.V. Club said traces of the film's DNA can be found in virtually every romantic comedy made since.

What did the actor playing Harry do to get into his lonely, divorced mindset while shooting in Manhattan?

Crystal also worried the film would be crushed by that summer's blockbusters, Batman and the third Indiana Jones.

Which 1970s sitcom made the film's director famous as an actor?

His Michael 'Meathead' Stivic won two Emmys; his parents Carl and Estelle Reiner were both actors.

The film's screenwriter later directed Meg Ryan in which two romantic comedies opposite Tom Hanks?

Ephron directed both, in 1993 and 1998, and each paired Ryan with Tom Hanks.

The actor who plays Harry had earlier played Jodie Dallas on which sitcom?

He then spent a season on Saturday Night Live and would go on to host the Oscars nine times.

Which soap opera gave Meg Ryan her early break in 1982?

Four years later she was in Top Gun, and by 1989 she was the summer's breakout star.

What is Meg Ryan's birth name?

She was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, to a math teacher and a former actress.

In what year was the deli from the famous scene founded?

It sits at Houston and Ludlow on the Lower East Side and is famous for pastrami on rye.

The screenwriter's semi-autobiographical novel Heartburn was about her marriage to which journalist?

The 1986 film version starred Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson; Ephron adapted it herself.

Which actor passed on the role of Harry, feeling the film was too reminiscent of Woody Allen?

Dreyfuss and Keaton also turned the part down before it went to Billy Crystal, the director's best friend.

What prize did Reiner offer the crew for coming up with the film's title during shooting?

Ephron had cycled through several working titles before the final one stuck.

Who recommended Harry Connick Jr. to Reiner by passing along a tape of his music?

The Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer was a friend of the director; the resulting soundtrack went double platinum.

What was the film's production budget?

It earned back nearly six times that in North America alone, with a worldwide total close to $193 million.