James Francis Ivory (born Richard Jerome Hazen; June 7, 1928) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a principal in Merchant Ivory Productions along with Indian film producer Ismail Merchant (his domestic and professional partner) and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The trio made film adaptations of stories by authors such as E.M. Forster and Henry James. Their body of work is celebrated for its elegance, sophistication, literary fidelity, strong performances, complex themes, and rich characters.
Merchant–Ivory was established in 1961 in India where they made modestly budgeted films including The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), and Bombay Talkie (1970). Ivory began adapting films from classic novels such as The Europeans (1979), Quartet (1981), Heat and Dust (1983), The Bostonians (1984), Maurice (1987), and Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990). During this period he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for A Room with a View (1985), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). At the age of 89, Ivory won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name (2017), becoming the oldest competitive Academy Award winner.
Ivory's accolades also include three BAFTAs, and a Writers Guild of America Award as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. He received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. Ivory released his autobiography Solid Ivory: Memoirs (2021) and directed the documentary A Cooler Climate (2022).
Early years and education
James Ivory was born Richard Jerome Hazen on June 7, 1928, in Berkeley, California, and adopted shortly after birth by Hallie Millicent (née de Loney) and Edward Patrick Ivory, a sawmill operator; they renamed him James Francis Ivory. He grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He attended the University of Oregon, where he received a degree in fine arts in 1951. Ivory is a recipient of the Lawrence Medal, UO's College of Design's highest honor for its graduates. His papers are held by UO Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives. He was UO's 2019-2020 honorary degree recipient.
Ivory then attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he directed the short film Four in the Morning (1953). He wrote, photographed, and produced Venice: Theme and Variations, a half-hour documentary submitted as his thesis film for his master's degree in cinema. The film was named by The New York Times in 1957 as one of the ten best non-theatrical films of the year. He graduated from USC in 1957.
Career
1959–1978: Beginnings and early films
Ivory met producer Ismail Merchant at a screening of Ivory's documentary The Sword and the Flute in New York City in 1959. In May 1961, Merchant and Ivory formed the film production company Merchant Ivory Productions. Merchant and Ivory became long-term life partners.
1979–1993: Breakthrough and acclaim
In 1986, Ivory directed a film adaptation of the classic E. M. Forster novel A Room with a View. The film starred Helena Bonham Carter who was 18 years old at the time, in her first major film role. The film also co-starred Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, and Daniel Day-Lewis. The film received universal praise with The Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, writing: "It is an intellectual film, but intellectual about emotions: It encourages us to think about how we feel, instead of simply acting on our feelings." The film received eight Academy Award nominations including Best Director for Ivory. He also received Best Director nominations from the British Academy Film Awards, the Golden Globes Awards, and the Directors Guild of America.
The following year Ivory directed another Forster adaptation, the romantic drama Maurice (1987). The film is a gay love story in the restrictive and repressed culture of Edwardian England. The story follows its main character, Maurice Hall, through university, a tumultuous relationship, struggling to fit into society, and ultimately being united with his life partner. The film stars James Wilby and Hugh Grant in their first major film appearances, and also features Rupert Graves, Simon Callow, Denholm Elliott, Mark Tandy, Billie Whitelaw, Judy Parfitt, Phoebe Nicholls, and Ben Kingsley. In a 2017 retrospective in The New Yorker, Sarah Larson wrote, "...For many gay men coming of age in the eighties and nineties, Maurice was revelatory: a first glimpse, onscreen or anywhere, of what love between men could look like". Director James Ivory has added to the legacy on the film saying, "So many people have come up to me since Maurice and pulled me aside and said, 'I just want you to know you changed my life.'" The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (Joanne Woodward), as well as two New York Film Critics Circle awards. Ivory would later call Mr. & Mrs. Bridge a personal favorite, adding that it was the one film he would most like to see reappraised.
In 1992, Merchant-Ivory tackled their third Forster adaptation, Howards End, based on the acclaimed novel and starring Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Anthony Hopkins, and Vanessa Redgrave. The film premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or and went on to critical acclaim. Ivory received his second Academy Award for Best Director nomination. The film also received three Academy Awards for Best Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Production Design. The film also received eleven British Academy Film Award nominations, and four Golden Globe Award nominations. In 2016, the film was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically after restoration on August 26, 2016.
The following year, Merchant-Ivory directed the period drama The Remains of the Day (1993), adapted from the acclaimed novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. American filmmaker Mike Nichols served as one of the film's producers, and the film reunited Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Supporting performances included James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant, and Lena Headey. The film revolved around a dedicated butler who serves an English landlord in the years leading up to the second World War. The film was a commercial and critical success with Vincent Canby of The New York Times said, in another favorable review, "Here's a film for adults. It's also about time to recognize that Mr. Ivory is one of our finest directors, something that critics tend to overlook because most of his films have been literary adaptations." The film received eight Academy Award nominations with Ivory receiving his third nomination for Best Director. He also received nominations from the British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Directors Guild of America.
In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked The Remains of the Day the 64th-greatest British film of the 20th century.
1995–2009: Established work
In 1995 he directed the film Jefferson in Paris starring Nick Nolte as Thomas Jefferson, Thandiwe Newton as Sally Hemings, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Patsy Jefferson. The following year he directed the film Surviving Picasso starring Anthony Hopkins as the painter Pablo Picasso. In 1998 he directed and co-wrote the film A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, a film divided into three segments each named after a different protagonist. In 2000 he directed the romantic period drama The Golden Bowl which was adapted from the Henry James novel of the same name. He directed the romantic comedy Le Divorce starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts.
In 2005 he directed the film The White Countess written by Kazuo Ishiguro starring Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, and Vanessa Redgrave. In 2009, Ivory reunited with Anthony Hopkins for the romantic drama The City of Your Final Destination co-starring Laura Linney. The film is the first Merchant Ivory film production without the participation of producer Ismail Merchant due to his death in 2005.
2017–present: Career resurgence
thumb|Ivory at a film presentation in 2024
In 2017, Ivory wrote and co-produced the film adaptation of Call Me by Your Name, a 2007 coming-of-age novel by André Aciman. The film, a romantic drama, was directed by Luca Guadagnino and is the final installment in his thematic "Desire" trilogy, following I Am Love (2009), and A Bigger Splash (2015). Set in 1983 in northern Italy, the story chronicles the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old, Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), and Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old graduate-student assistant to Elio's father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an archaeology professor.
Ivory originally was to co-direct the film based on Guadagnino's suggestion; however, there was no contract to that effect. Ivory accepted the offer to co-direct on the condition that he would also write the film; Ivory stepped down from a directorial role in 2016, leaving Guadagnino to direct the film alone. Ivory retained the sole credit as screenwriter. The film was the only narrative feature he has written but not directed.
In 2018, Ivory took part in the film Dance Again with Me Heywood! directed by Michele Diomà. At 94 he directed the documentary film, A Cooler Climate (2022), about boxes of film footage he shot during a life-changing trip to Afghanistan in 1960, which had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival in 2022. Raymond Ang of GQ wrote that the project "might be the most personal" film of his career. In May 2023, an upcoming biographical documentary portrait titled, James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty, directed by Christopher Manning was announced. The film chronicles the life and work of Ivory and features Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Wes Anderson and others.
Personal life
Ivory is gay. His memoir, Solid Ivory, gives details of his relationships with his business partner, Ismail Merchant; their composer, Richard Robbins; and others such as Bruce Chatwin. Merchant was Ivory's long-term life partner.
Works
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Writer
! Producer
! Notes
|-
| 1953
|Four in the Morning
|
|
|
|Short film
|-
| 1957
|Venice: Theme and Variations
|
|
|
|Short film
|-
| 1959
|The Sword and the Flute
|
|
|
|Short film
|-
| 1963
|The Householder
|
|
|
|Feature directorial debut <br> Co-screenwriter (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 1964
|The Delhi Way
|
|
|
|Documentary <br> Also cinematographer and editor
|-
| 1965
|Shakespeare Wallah
|
|
|
|Co-writer (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 1969
|The Guru
|
|
|
|Co-writer (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 1970
|Bombay Talkie
|
|
|
|Co-writer (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 1972
|Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization
|
|
|
|BBC TV documentary
|-
| 1972
|Savages
|
|
|
|Screenplay based on an original idea by Ivory
|-
| 1973
|Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls
|
|
|
|Short film
|-
| 1975
|Autobiography of a Princess
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1975
|The Wild Party
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1977
|Roseland
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1978
|Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1979
|The Europeans
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1979
|The Five Forty-Eight
|
|
|
|TV film
|-
| 1980
|Jane Austen in Manhattan
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1981
|Quartet
|
|
|
|Co-screenwriter (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) <small> (uncredited) </small>
|-
| 1983
|Heat and Dust
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1984
|The Bostonians
|
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|A Room with a View
|
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|American Playhouse
|
|
|
|Episode: "Noon Wine" <br> Co-executive producer (with Ismail Merchant)
|-
| 1987
|Maurice
|
|
|
|Co-screenwriter (with Kit Hesketh-Harvey)
|-
| 1989
|Slaves of New York
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1990
|Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1992
|Howards End
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1993
|The Remains of the Day
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1995
|Jefferson in Paris
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1995
|Lumière and Company
|
|
|
|Anthology film: co-director of Segment #31: Merchant Ivory/Paris (with Ismail Merchant)
|-
| 1996
|Surviving Picasso
|
|
|
|
|-
| 1998
|A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries
|
|
|
|Co-screenwriter (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 2000
|The Golden Bowl
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2003
|Le Divorce
|
|
|
|Co-screenwriter (with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
|-
| 2005
|The White Countess
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2005
|Heights
|
|
|
|Co-producer (with Ismail Merchant and Richard Hawley) <small> (uncredited) </small>
|-
| 2009
|The City of Your Final Destination
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2010
|Arcadia Lost
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2017
|Call Me by Your Name
|
|
|
|Co-producer (with Émilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Howard Rosenman, Peter Spears and Rodrigo Teixeira)
|-
| 2019
|American Marriage
|
|
|
|Short film <br> Written in collaboration with Giorgio Arcelli Fontana
|-
| 2022
|A Cooler Climate
|
|
|
|Documentary <br> Co-director (with Giles Gardner) <br> Co-writer (with Giles Gardner)
|-
| 2022
|Chinese Laundry
|
|
|
|Short film
|-
| 2023
|The Way It Was: Paris Restaurants in the 1970s
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2024
|Merchant Ivory
|
|
|
|Documentary <br> Also appears in the film as a subject as well as an interviewee
|-
|}
Bibliography
- Ivory, James. Solid Ivory: Memoirs. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021. Howards End was immediately followed by The Remains of the Day, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
For his work in Call Me by Your Name (2017), Ivory received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and USC Scripter Award for Best Screenplay. He was also nominated for the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay, and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay. At 89, Ivory is the oldest person to ever win an Academy Award in competition.
In 2022, Ivory was honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at the 17th Rome Film Festival.
See also
- List of Academy Award records
- List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees
References
External links
- IMP Poster Gallery
- James Ivory at Screen Online
- Biography from Merchant Ivory Productions
- James Ivory papers at the University of Oregon