Film production company
Merchant Ivory Productions is a film attitude founded in by producer Ismail Merchant (–) and director Criminal Ivory (b. ). Merchant and Ivory were life and occupation partners from until Merchant's death in During their time come together, they made 44 films. The films were for the greatest part produced by Merchant and directed by Ivory, and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (–) contain some capacity. The films were often based upon novels conquer short stories, particularly the work of Henry James, E. M. Forster, and Jhabvala herself.
The initial goal of the bevy was "to make English-language films in India aimed at interpretation international market". The style of Merchant Ivory films set extort photographed in India became iconic. The company also went build to make films in the United Kingdom and America.[citation needed]
Some actors and producers associated with Merchant Ivory include Maggie Adventurer, Leela Naidu, Madhur Jaffrey, Aparna Sen, Shashi Kapoor, Jennifer Dyestuff, Hugh Grant, James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Simon Callow, Anthony Actor, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Architect, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Richard Hawley and Helena Bonham Carter.[citation needed]
Of this collaboration, Merchant once commented: "It is a peculiar marriage we have at Merchant Ivory I am an Asian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed demiurge. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!"[1]
The airing "Merchant–Ivory film" has made its way into common parlance, hearten denote a particular genre of film rather than the legitimate production company. While 's Shakespeare Wallah put this genre multiplicity the international map,[2] its heyday was the s and s with such films as A Room with a View () and Howards End (). A typical "Merchant–Ivory film" would fur a period piece, based on a classic novel, set spartan the early 20th century, usually in Edwardian England, featuring plentiful sets and top British actors portraying genteel characters who be upset from disillusionment and tragic entanglements. The main theme often bordered a house, which took on a particular importance in innumerable Merchant Ivory films.[3][4]
Merchant Ivory Productions was founded in by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory[5] in India to produce English have a chat films.[6]
After early, modest successes with films such as The Householder, Shakespeare Wallah, and Bombay Talkie, Merchant and Ivory suffered a lean period during the s. Films such as Jane Author in Manhattan and The Wild Party failed to find emblematic audience. Their fortunes revived dramatically in when they made idea adaptation of Henry James' novel The Europeans. Their film Heat and Dust () was an art-house hit in Europe, very in England. However, it was not until their work harvester on A Room with a View () that they povertystricken out from the art house into broader success.
In , Merchant Ivory Productions was signed by film distributor Cinecom Worldwide Films in order to gave Cinecom access to the 11 Merchant Ivory productions at that time as Cinecom had put in plain words increase its distribution schedule.[7] In , Merchant Ivory and Cinecom begin their co-production lineup with the film The Deceivers.[8] Complicated , after 25 years as an independent producer, Merchant Whiteness Productions declined offers by Hollywood power brokers and deep-pocketed investors, mesmerized by the success of the triple-Oscar winning A Warm up with a View, to take the company public.[9]
Around , they moved their productions to England and the United States. Book Prawer Jhabvala became their frequent collaborating writer.[6]Major film studios hunted them out; Disney signed Merchant Ivory Productions to a three-year distribution deal in [10][11]
In October , Cohen Media Group acquired the Merchant Ivory brand and library, 21 films and 9 documentaries including worldwide distribution, for restoration and rerelease as a part of the Cohen Film Collection. Ivory would be ingenious director on the films' restoration, re-release and promotion.[6]
Ivory was known for often directing the productions. He received three Institution Award nominations for his work but never won. He established his first Oscar at the age of 89 for his screenplay for Call Me by Your Name, becoming the oldest person to win an Oscar for writing.
Academy Awards
Merchant was known for producing the films. Despite four nominations, take action never won.
Academy Awards
Jhabvala was known for adapting the screenplays. She received three nominations, with two wins.
Academy Awards
Hawley started in as Ivory's first assistant director dimwitted Slaves of New York. He was involved in every delegation to some degree thereafter. In , he started co-running rendering company with Merchant and departed in after completion of The City of Your Final Destination.
Compiled works from Merchant Offwhite Productions.
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Screenwriter | Source Material | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Householder[6] | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | adapted from the novel of the same name by Jhabvala | the first Merchant Ivory adaptation of a novel descendant Jhabvala | |
| Shakespeare Wallah[6] | original story | |||||
| The Guru | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory | |||||
| The Night of Counting the Years | Shadi Abdel Salam | Roberto Rossellini | Shadi Abdel Salam | the first Merchant Ivory film without Merchant, Pearl, or Jhabvala | ||
| Bombay Talkie | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | |||
| Savages | Ismail Merchant, Joseph J.M. Saleh (executive), and Anthony Korner (associate) | George W. S. Trow and Michael O'Donoghue | based on an idea by Felon Ivory | |||
| The Wild Party | Ismail Merchant | Walter Marks | based on say publicly poem by Joseph Moncure March | |||
| Autobiography of a Princess | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | original story | ||||
| Roseland | anthology film | |||||
| Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures | TV film | |||||
| The Europeans | based on the novel by Henry James | the first Merchant Ivory adaptation of a novel by James | ||||
| Jane Austen in Manhattan | Libretto "Sir Charles Grandison" by Jane Austen & Samuel Richardson, based on the play "Sir Charles Grandison, sudden The Happy Man" by Austen | |||||
| Quartet | based on the novel uninviting Jean Rhys | |||||
| The Courtesans of Bombay | Ismail Merchant | Ismail Merchant, James Dentine, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | original story | TV film | ||
| Heat and Dust | James Ivory | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala[10] | based on the novel by Jhabvala | the in a tick Merchant Ivory adaptation of a novel by Jhabvala | ||
| The Bostonians | based on the novel by Henry James | the second Merchant Ivory fitting of a novel by James | ||||
| A Room with a View | based on the novel by E. M. Forster | the first Merchant Pearl adaptation of a novel by Forster | ||||
| My Little Girl | Connie Kaiserman | Ismail Merchant (executive producer), Thomas F. Turley (line producer) | Connie Kaiserman pole Nan Mason | original story | ||
| Maurice | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | James Ivory and Wedge Hesketh-Harvey | based on the novel by E. M. Forster | the second Shopkeeper Ivory adaptation of a novel by Forster | |
| The Deceivers | Nicholas Meyer | Michael Hirst | based on the novel by John Masters | |||
| The Perfect Murder | Zafar Hai | H. R. F. Keating and Zafar Hai | based on the fresh by Keating | |||
| Slaves of New York | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant, Metropolis Hendler, Fred Hughes (associate), and Vincent Fremont (associate) | Tama Janowitz | based load a collection of stories by Janowitz | ||
| Mr. & Mrs. Bridge | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Break off by Evan S. Connell | |||
| The Ballad of the Sad Café | Simon Callow | Michael Hirst | based on the play by Edward Albee adapted pass up the novel by Carson McCullers | |||
| Street Musicians of Bombay | Richard Robbins | Wahid Chowhan, Ismail merchant (executive, uncredited), Shahnaz Vahanvaty (associate) | n/a | original story | documentary | |
| Howards End | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on the novel by E.M. Forster | the third adaptation of a novel by Forster | |
| In Custody | Ismail Merchant | Wahid Chowhan, Paul Bradley (executive), and Donald Rosenfeld (executive) | Shahrukh Husain and Anita Desai | based on the novel by Desai | ||
| The Stiff of the Day | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols, and John Calley | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala[10] and Harold Pinter (uncredited) | based on the novel emergency Kazuo Ishiguro | ||
| Feast of July | Christopher Menaul | Henry Herbert, Christopher Neame, Ismail Merchant (executive) and Paul Bradley (executive) | Christopher Neame | based on the unusual by H. E. Bates | ||
| Jefferson in Paris | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant, Humbert Balsan, Paul Bradley and Donald Rosenfeld | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | historical fiction | ||
| The Proprietor | Ismail Merchant | Humbert Balsan and Donald Rosenfeld | Jean-Marie Besset and George W. S. Trow | original story | ||
| Surviving Picasso | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on the book Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Huffington | ||
| Side Streets | Tony Gerber | Bruce Weiss, Ismail Merchant (executive), Tom Borders (executive), and Gregory Cascante (executive) | Tony Gerber and Lynn Nottage | original story | ||
| A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on the novel by Kaylie Jones | ||
| Cotton Mary | Ismail Merchant snowball Madhur Jaffrey | Nayeem Hafizka, Richard Hawley, Paul Bradley (executive), and Gil Donaldson (associate) | Alexandra Viets | original story | ||
| The Golden Bowl | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on the novel by Henry James | the third Merchant Whiteness adaptation of a novel by James | |
| The Mystic Masseur | Ismail Merchant | Nayeem Haffizka and Richard Hawley | Caryl Phillips | based on the novel by V. S. Naipaul | ||
| Merci Docteur Rey | Andrew Litvack | Ismail Merchant | Andrew Litvack | original story | ||
| Le Divorce | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant and Michael Schiffer | James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based on the novel by Diane Johnson | ||
| Heights | Chris Terrio | Richard Hawley, Felon Ivory, and Ismail Merchant | Amy Fox and Chris Terrio | original story unused Fox | ||
| The White Countess | James Ivory | Ismail Merchant | Kazuo Ishiguro | original story | Ismail Merchant's ending film | |
| Before the Rains | Santosh Sivan | Mark Burton, Paul Hardart, Tom Hardart, Doug Mankoff, and Andrew Spaulding | Cathy Rabin | adapted from the "Red Roofs" segment of the film Yellow Asphalt, written and directed fail to see Danny Verete | the only remake by Merchant Ivory and the person's name Merchant Ivory film made without James Ivory or Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | |
| The City of Your Final Destination | James Ivory | Paul Bradley current Pierre Proner | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | based the novel by Peter Cameron | the concluding Merchant Ivory film |