based on a book? - The Love Letter (1998) Discussion

[–] smileyshamrock 19 years ago

I think in the credits it says that, but I am not positive!

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[–] jg4pres 19 years ago

Yes, this movie is based on a short story. I'm a junior high teacher, and I just recently finished this story with my class. I found this copy of the movie, and was looking into showing the movie to my class.

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[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nopantsindian 19 years ago

I believe this short is in the comp. "I Love Galesburg in the Springtime", which is out of print, but shouldn't be hard to find. Grab anything you can by Jack Finney, there are very few writers who put as much wonder and joy into their work as mr. finney.
-s.davis

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[–] junkholder-1 19 years ago

The story is also in a book edited by Peter Crowther. The book is called "Tales in Time" which is a time travel genre anthology. You can get the book at amazon for about $7.50. I have the book and there are lots of fun time travel stories in it, including "The Love Letter" by Mr Finney.

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[–] waldenpond88 13 years ago

I finally received "Tales in Time" via ILL through our local library and read "The Love Letter". This short story takes place in 1880 Brooklyn and 1962 Brooklyn, whereas the movie version takes place in 1863 Willoughby, MA, and Boston, MA, in 1997.
It's amazing what a wonderful movie Dan Curtis was able to create from a short story that's only 13 pages long!

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[–] cjluk77 19 years ago

The short story "The Love Letter" can also be found in the book "11 Great Horror Stories" edited by Betty Owen. It is easily obtained through ebay stores or used booksellers on amazon.

Good luck finding it.

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[–] SIT Fan 19 years ago

If anyone e-mails me directly, I'll send you jpg images of the original short story by Finney.

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[–] waldenpond88 13 years ago

What's your e-mail address?

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[–] SilverArrow379 19 years ago

Any other leads guys?
I can't find either of those in my local library.

-Claire

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[–] mrathbun-1 19 years ago

I had a hard time finding TALES IN TIME (and nothing at amazon), but try this link (copy & paste it) at www.abebooks.com:

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bx=off&sts=t&ds=30&bi=0&an=Crowther%2C+Peter&y=11&tn=Tales+in+Time&x=56&sortby=2

It seems TALES IN TIME is hard to get (but only $20), but so are most of Jack Finney's books, especially GALESBURG. Over the years I've collected all of his first editions & paperbacks, had them inscribed and corresponded with him, but it petered out a few years before he died. I was always sorry I didn't stay in touch. I had hoped to write something about him as I had for Richard Matheson, but I noticed at amazon that this coming June, a book called STEALING THROUGH TIME: ON THE WRITINGS OF JACK FINNEY by Jack Seabrook should be out in paperback (at at steep $32). I hope it turns out to be a good book, and I hope it stimulates the reprinting Jack's short stories, including "The Love Letter."

Good luck with your search; you can also always purchase a first edition of GALESBURG--it's a fantastic book to have and it will only increase in value over time.

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[–] mrathbun-1 19 years ago

I forgot to mention that "The Love Letter" is a very short story, only 18 pages long. Jack Finney wrote several novels that dealt with time travel, THE WOODROW WILSON DIME (extended from his short story "The Coin Collector"), MARION'S WALL, and his most famous, TIME AND AGAIN. I urge everyone to read these if you can find them.

And if you enjoy time travel romances, I also urge you to pick up Richard Matheson's BID TIME RETURN (made into the film SOMEWHERE IN TIME)--it's easy to find in almost any used bookstore under both titles. As an aside, when I asked Richard Matheson who his favorite writer was, he didn't hesitate to say Jack Finney -- and so began my search beyond his famous THE BODY SNATCHERS, which became the 1956 film THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS; my advice is to find a copy that was printed before 1978, when he up-dated the novel due to the poorly remade film. I was also quite surprised to find that Finney had written GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM, a film I had watched many times as a kid!

My other recommendation is REPLAY by Ken Grimwood, a great novel that won the World Fantasy Award for best novel in 1986; it's been recently reprinted and can be found at any bookstore or amazon. Even though Grimwood was much younger than Finney, we lost both of them in 1995. But REPLAY is amazing -- it's a novel, like the others mentioned above, that can be read over and over and enjoyed each and every time. And again.

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[–] mrathbun-1 19 years ago

Well, I finally saw Dan Curtis' version of THE LOVE LETTER, and I must admit I was impressed how he and his writers were able to flesh out such a short story. I've had a love/dislike going on with Dan Curtis since DARK SHADOWS in the late '60s, but he also brought us KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, its sequel, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, TRILOGY OF TERROR & DEAD OF NIGHT, the last one adapting, amid all the Richard Matheson stories, another Jack Finney short story called "Second Chance," about a man who drives a Jordan Playboy into--where else--but the past!
I also had to laugh (out loud) at placing Elizabeth's (Helen in the short story) house in "Willoughby." I'm sure Dan Curtis came up with this--as it is a very obvious tip of the hat to Rod Serling from the first season of "The Twilight Zone"--a great Serling-penned story called "A Stop at Willoughby." It's one of my all-time favorite TZ shows, and deals with, of course, time travel. Amazon has it for only $6 in TZ #34.
But I digress. Fireside Books decided not to reprint "The Love Letter,"--now that decision could have been Finney's, also, as the reprints came 9 years before his death. Since so many people would like to read the story, I looked at my copy of GALESBURG and I thought it would hold up to one photocopy session, and I could send those of you who want it copys of that. No charge--I don't want to break any copyright rules--just cost--9 large photocopies (18 pages, 2 each sheet[hopefully]) would run about $1; you would send me a large SASE. If anyone is interested, please post; I can't do this right away, but in a few weeks. Make sure to take a look at TZ's "Willoughby," too!

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[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mrathbun-1 19 years ago

Many thanks for taking me up on my offer; I was beginning to worry! Just send me an email to:
[email protected]
and I will respond. Sorry that I'm not at a place where I can just burn off copies (like work, which I'm not doing) and that it will take me a few weeks to get to Kinko's or wherever and get this done.
Thanks again,
Mark

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[–] SIT Fan 19 years ago

By the way, "A Stop At Willoughby" was made into a magnificent TV movie called "For All Time" (2000) starring Mark Harmon and Mary McDonnell.

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[–] tony-baird1 18 years ago

By the way, "A Stop At Willoughby" was made into a magnificent TV movie called "For All Time" (2000) starring Mark Harmon and Mary McDonnell

Yes, now THATS another great fim. Fans of the Love Letter will enjoy that, also another of Jack finney's stories was turned into a film, 'Marions Wall' was made as 'Maxie', starring Glenn Close.
Its really rather good

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[–] waldenpond88 13 years ago

I will certainly check out "For all time". Thanks for the tip!
From our local library I just read "About Time" by Jack Finney. It also has "I Love Galesburg in the Springtime" included, but none of the short stories are the basis for "The Love Letter". Guess I'll have to request it via Inter Library Loan.

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[–] hera_g89 18 years ago

We read this short story by Jack Finney (Whose short stories are my favorite, they are amazing!) as a class in my High School this year. It was so devastating that a few of us girls started crying at the end. Such a beautiful story, that I just had to have it. Luckily, it was in our Paperback, writable books that we could keep. I hope you guys find it soon!

Monday Tuesday LOSTday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Save Darfur

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[–] SIT Fan 18 years ago

Here's Finney's entire short story "The Love Letter" online:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1189/is_n1_v260/ai_6273505

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[–] hera_g89 18 years ago

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1189/is_n1_v260/ai_6273505

Monday Tuesday LOSTday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Save Darfur

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[–] waldenpond88 13 years ago

Too bad, your link does not work.
All I receive is this:

This requested article does not exist.
The article you requested could not be loaded. Either the content has been removed or the request is invalid.

This error occurred at: 2012-03-01 09:48:38

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[–] billdar2 18 years ago

"The Love Letter" was a short story by Jack Finney, first appearing as a magazine story, probably in "The Saturday Evening Post", and then in a book of short stories entitled "I Love Galesburg in the Springtime", a wonderful book published in 1962 by Simon & Schuster, and now, sadly, out of print.

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[–] Clintessence 10 years ago

There is a fantastic new book out that deals with this same subject. It's about a young man who corresponds with a young nurse in the Civil War. They send their letters back and forth through a magic chest. The only difference is that the young man obtains the power to actually travel through time, as he strives to meet the girl at Gettysburg. It's called "In Due Time: The Awakening", by Larry Morton. I highly recommend this book. It's available on Amazon.

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