Dan Curtis' The Love Letter Airing on Hallmark Movie Channel

[David]

 

1998's The Love Letter was/is Dan Curtis' most romantic production since the original DS.
Jennifer Jason Leigh & Campbell Scott star in this lovely, lyrical film that brings up memories of Victoria Winters & Jeff Clark.

Leigh/Scott (ironic combination of names!!)
play lovers, one who's in the 19th Century, one who's in the 20th.
They communicate by leaving each other letters
in an antique desk.

The film is currently rotating on the recently launched Hallmark Movie Channel.
I don't think too many systems are
carrying this channel yet, but Dish Network airs it on channel 187.

The Love Letter was available on DVD a few years ago but I think it's now out of print.
It's well worth seeing for DS & Curtis fans.

David

[Philippe Cordier]

It was disappointing to hear that the DVD of Dan Curtis' "The Love Letter" has been allowed to go out of print by Hallmark.  This was actually one of Hallmark's more interesting (less bland) productions.  The acting, including the supporting actors, was very good, and the scenic locations were picturesque.  "The Love Letter" was based on a short story of the same name by Jack Finney, originally published in the "Saturday Evening Post" in 1959.

The movie shared one of DS's notable themes: love that transcends time - with a suggestion of reincarnation at the end (which apparently confused some Hallmark viewers).

Another DS motif, which David referred to above, was the exchange of letters across time by use of the secret drawer of an old desk.

- Vlad

[barnabasjr]

Excellent movie for the most part, stupid ending IMHO. I caught it a few years ago on the Hallmark Channel, and, not knowing it was a Dan Curtis flick, I kept thinking that's the same thing that happened in 1897. Frustrated that I couldn't find for sale via Hallmark, I was fortunate enough to snag a copy of the DVD from ebay, where a couple of DVDs are currently for sale.

[retzev]

DeepDiscount.com has it for $7.45 and ships for free. I think I'm gonna pick this up, thanks for the heads-up -

[Philippe Cordier]

I would be curious to know why you didn't like the ending, barnabasjr!  The ending does remind me somewhat of the "ABC Movie of the Week" types of endings, where there's an element of surprise.  In this case, there's the theme of reincarnation.

Retzev:  I was about to write, "Glad to hear that you can still get the DVD from deepdiscount ....  Just as a caution, the movie really isn't like DS at all in terms of atmosphere, etc., although it does share the similar themes mentioned above."

Actually I wrote that.  Then I clicked on your link, and the movie you found is for a different movie titled "The Love Letter" - not the Dan Curtis TV movie!  Having checked amazon, also, it does appear that this is no longer available new ... but you might want to check around.  Buy.com and ccvideo.com have both had DVDs or VHS that I was looking for that had gone out of stock elsewhere.  Or mayble Hallmark.com still has it.

-Vlad

[Philippe Cordier]

Correction:  I'm not sure about buy.com - the company I meant to say was overstock.com (where I found a DVD that no one else had).

Hallmark's website still shows "The Love Letter" as available, but it was rather difficult to find there, so I'll copy the URL :

The Love Letter (DVD) from Hallmark.com

It is a bit pricey.  The lead actors are Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh.  Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons plays Campbell Scott's mother.  Music by Bob Cobert.

- Vlad

[retzev]

my bad

[barnabasjr]

I would be curious to know why you didn't like the ending, barnabasjr!  The ending does remind me somewhat of the "ABC Movie of the Week" types of endings, where there's an element of surprise.  In this case, there's the theme of reincarnation.

Vlad, I will be more prepared to respond to your question later today, hopefully, after I've taken another look at the flick. I can't remember exactly what it was that made me think "Hmph!" at the end but I do believe it was the manner in which the final 2 characters met. More later.

[barnabasjr]

Wow, I'd forgotten that this flick was as good as it turned out to be. I got all choked up at the part where Lizzie and Scotty "meet" on the stairs, as well as when she had her picture taken for him. Great stuff.

The ending didn't bother me at all this time around, so please disregard the witness's previous statement.

[Lydia]

The ending didn't bother me at all this time around, so please disregard the witness's previous statement.

Hmm...maybe I should try watching it again and see if I like the ending any better.  It's been years since I watched it, but if I remember correctly, I didn't like the reincarnation business at all; it detracted from the focus of the story, and provided a happy ending that didn't fit.  I read the written story later, when somebody (thank you, Somebody!) posted a link in this Forum.  There's no reincarnation in it, and I liked it much better.

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting comments ... glad you liked the ending upon re-viewing the movie, barnabasjr ...

The short story and Dan Curtis's filmed version are definitely two different entities.  I read the story only much later, so I wasn't in the position of seeing a favorite story completely changed in the film version.  However, the TV movie really only used the story as a basis for a more expansive story, and in so doing created a separate and distinct creative work, clearly inspired by (and giving credit to) Jack Finney.

I felt that reincarnation was an integral aspect to Dan Curtis' version, since it became increasingly clear from the moment that Lizzie met Col. Caleb Denby that Scottie in the present not only was a dead ringer for Denby but was also somehow connected with him (as Lizzie recognizes).  (And there were subtle hints early on, such as items in Scottie's loft showing he was a Civil War buff.)

I didn't find the ending overly sweet or sentimental ... the idea of reincarnation, rather, brought about a happy ending, but the pain of loss that had been experienced earlier is not necessarily wiped out by a charming - albeit extraordinary - resolution.

-Vlad