Merchant Ivory Productions was a film company founded in May 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (born in 1928). Ivory and Merchant had met two years earlier in 1959 in New York City at a screening of Ivory's documentary short film, The Sword and the Flute (1959). 1961 was also the year that Merchant and Ivory became romantic partners. Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005.
During their time together, they made 44 films – beginning with 1963's The Householder and ending with 2005's The White Countess. The films were for the most part produced by Merchant and directed by Ivory. Twenty-three of those films were scripted by novelist and screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013), in some capacity. The films were often based upon novels or short stories, particularly the works of Henry James, E. M. Forster, and Jhabvala herself. The company's final feature film production was 2009's The City of Your Final Destination, directed by James Ivory.
This month (April 2025) cable network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), is showing seven of Merchant Ivory's feature films over two nights (April 17th and 24th). This TCM programming includes what may be the company's most famous and acclaimed films: A Room with a View (1985), Howard's End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). TCM will also screen the 2024 documentary film, entitled Merchant Ivory, which follows the company's history.
It can be said, in general, that the films of Merchant Ivory Productions have a nostalgia for an idealized past,which usually photographed in sweeping cinematography. The lush landscapes of its films depict cultural shifts in a society's rigid class structures and also how those changes and shifts affect people of differing classes and social orders.
In conjunction with TCM's programming, I am going to review some of Merchant Ivory's films. I don't know how many and for how long I will do this, other than that I will likely continue to do so past TCM's Merchant Ivory programming dates.
Negromancer reviews of Merchant Ivory Productions' filmography:
Review: Shakespeare Wallah (1965)
Review: The Wild Party (1975)
Review: The White Countess (2005)
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