The Love Letter is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Chan and starring Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Everett Scott, and Tom Selleck. It is based on the novel by Cathleen Schine. The original music score was composed by Luis Enriquez Bacalov. The film takes place in the New England town of Loblolly-by-the-Sea and was filmed in Rockport, Massachusetts. This was Kate Capshaw's final film before her retirement from acting in 2001. Plot Recently divorced Helen MacFarquhar, a middle-aged bookseller, after sending her daughter off to summer camp, is ready to move on in her life. One morning, going through the mail, she discovers an anonymous blue love letter, without an envelope or a name. Having discovered this letter in her mail, in her bookstore, she naturally thinks it is for her. The only question is, from whom? At first, she thinks it is from George Matthias, the local fireman, but decides it couldn't be him, after giving him subtle hints ("Have you ever been 'on fire'?"). Not having any idea who may be the writer of the love letter, she just puts it away in her purse, trying to forget about it. Then, Johnny, a college student working in Helen's bookstore for the summer, is invited to her house for dinner. At dinner she puts two wine glasses and a bottle next to her purse, with the letter in it. Helen accidentally knocks the letter out of the purse. While in the kitchen cooking, she tells Johnny to have some wine. Finding the letter, he mistakenly thinks it is for him from Helen, Later that night, he begins to "peel an orange", a line from the letter. Believing it's his hint, Helen rushes into the house and says goodnight, and Johnny leaves. In the next few weeks, Johnny and Helen meet and begin an affair, each thinking the other wrote the letter. Helen goes to the bookstore, bringing the letter with her, in her purse on the desk. Then, her manager, Janet Hall, arrives, but she decides not to tell her about the letter just yet. While she is upstairs working, George comes in with new smoke detectors for the store. Janet accepts them, but the desk collapses, along with Helen's purse, which contains the letter. In all the chaos, the letter is mixed in with the instruction manuals for the smoke detectors. George, before leaving,