The Love Letter (1998 film)
Encyclopedia
The Love Letter is a 1998 Hallmark Hall of Fame
television film starring Campbell Scott
and Jennifer Jason Leigh
. It is based on Jack Finney
's short story of the same name, which was first published in The Saturday Evening Post
on August 1, 1959, and reprinted in the same magazine in January/February 1988 issue. The story has since appeared in several books.
After getting the desk home, he opens a drawer and finds original stationery from the previous century, along with several old stamps from that period. He also finds a love letter from a woman named Helen Elizabeth Worley, who lived in the Brooklyn of the 1880s, to her fiance.
Enchanted with the letter, he feels compelled to answer Helen, by writing to her using the old stationery, pen and ink, and putting an 1869 stamp on the letter (from his collection) and mailing it at the old "Wister" post office, which has been around for decades in Brooklyn, unchanged by time.
He returns home and opens the second drawer, to find to his shock, that Helen has received his letter, and she wishes to know who he is and why he has written to her. He writes her another letter, describing who he is, and the fact that he lived in the year 1959 and although they have fallen in love with each other, to meet is impossible because of the years between them. Expecting to receive a final, long love letter from her, he is surprised to find in the bottom drawer, only her picture and the inscription "I will never forget".
After doing research on her whereabouts, he finally finds her grave in a local cemetery, and on her tombstone is engraved, "I never forgot". Miss Worley had died in 1934.
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
television film starring Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...
. It is based on Jack Finney
Jack Finney
Jack Finney was an American author. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers, including The Body Snatchers and Time and Again. The former was the basis for the 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers and its remakes.-Biography:Finney was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and given the...
's short story of the same name, which was first published in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
on August 1, 1959, and reprinted in the same magazine in January/February 1988 issue. The story has since appeared in several books.
The short story as originally written by Jack Finney
In 1959, Jake Belknap, a young, lonely, single man in Brooklyn, New York is looking for used furniture to furnish his recently-acquired apartment. Walking in a section of the borough that contains very large, ancient, magnificent mansions about to be torn down, he finds a yard sale of antique furniture from a mansion about to be demolished, and is fascinated by an antique roll-top desk from the 1800s, which he purchases.After getting the desk home, he opens a drawer and finds original stationery from the previous century, along with several old stamps from that period. He also finds a love letter from a woman named Helen Elizabeth Worley, who lived in the Brooklyn of the 1880s, to her fiance.
Enchanted with the letter, he feels compelled to answer Helen, by writing to her using the old stationery, pen and ink, and putting an 1869 stamp on the letter (from his collection) and mailing it at the old "Wister" post office, which has been around for decades in Brooklyn, unchanged by time.
He returns home and opens the second drawer, to find to his shock, that Helen has received his letter, and she wishes to know who he is and why he has written to her. He writes her another letter, describing who he is, and the fact that he lived in the year 1959 and although they have fallen in love with each other, to meet is impossible because of the years between them. Expecting to receive a final, long love letter from her, he is surprised to find in the bottom drawer, only her picture and the inscription "I will never forget".
After doing research on her whereabouts, he finally finds her grave in a local cemetery, and on her tombstone is engraved, "I never forgot". Miss Worley had died in 1934.
The movie and differences from the short story
The made-for-television movie is based on Finney's short story, but there are a number of differences:- The movie takes place in the year 1998, whereas in the book, the "modern" year is 1959.
- The woman in the movie, Elizabeth, lives in the United States Civil War era, whereas Helen in the short story lives in the 1880s in Brooklyn, New York.
- In the film version, a modern look-a-like of Elizabeth runs into the lead male character, Scott Corrigan, at the cemetery while Elizabeth falls in love with a soldier who is a dead-ringer for Scott. Presumably they are the ancestor/descendant of their counterpart. Whereas in the book, Helen never meets Jake. In the story, Helen dies in 1934, 25 years before he buys the desk.