James Ivory

James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. All three were principals in Merchant Ivory Productions, whose films have won six Academy Awards; Ivory himself has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one.

For other uses, see James Ivory (disambiguation).
James Ivory
Born
James Francis Ivory

(1928-06-07) June 7, 1928
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Oregon
University of Southern California
Occupation
  • Film director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1953–present
Home townKlamath Falls, Oregon, U.S.
Partner(s)Ismail Merchant (1961–2005; Merchant's death)

Ivory’s directorial work includes A Room with a View (1986), Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). For his work on Call Me by Your Name (2017), which he wrote and produced, Ivory won awards for Best Adapted Screenplay from the Academy Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Writers Guild of America, the Critics' Choice Awards, and the Scripter Awards, among others. Upon winning the Oscar and BAFTA at the age of 89, Ivory became the oldest-ever winner in any category for both awards.[1][2]

Background

Ivory was born in Berkeley, California, the son of Hallie Millicent (née de Loney) and Edward Patrick Ivory, a sawmill operator.[3] He grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon.[4] 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.[5]

He 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.[6] 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.[7]

Merchant Ivory Productions
Main article: Merchant Ivory Productions

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 were long-term life partners.[8][9] Their professional and romantic partnership lasted 44 years, from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005.[8] Ivory owned several homes, including the Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer House and Mill Complex in Claverack, New York.[10][11][9]

Their partnership has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history. Until Merchant's death in 2005, they produced 40 films, including a number of films that received Academy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards among many others. Ivory directed 17 theatrical films for Merchant Ivory, and novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for 22 of their productions in addition to another film produced by Merchant Ivory after Merchant's death.

Of this collaboration, Ismail Merchant once commented: "It is a strange marriage we have at Merchant Ivory ... I am an Indian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American. Someone once described us as a three-headed god. Maybe they should have called us a three-headed monster!"[12]

Accolades

In 1985 A Room with a View, based on the E. M. Forster novel, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three, for Jhabvala's adaptation of Forster's novel as well as for Best Costume and Best Production Design. A Room With a View was also voted Best Film of the year by the Critic's Circle Film Section of Great Britain, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the National Board of Review in the United States and in Italy, where the film won the Donatello Prize for Best Foreign Language Picture and Best Director. In 1987, Maurice received a Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival as well as Best Film Score for Richard Robbins and Best Actor Awards for co-stars James Wilby and Hugh Grant.

This was followed in 1990 by Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, which was adapted by Jhabvala from the novels by Evan S. Connell. This film received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (Joanne Woodward), as well as Best Actress and Best Screenplay from the New York Film Critics Circle.

In 1992 Ivory directed another film adapted from Forster, Howards End. The film was nominated for nine Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three: Best Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Screenplay – Adaptation (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Luciana Arrighi/Ian Whittaker). The film also won Best Picture at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, as well as awards for Best Picture, Best Actress for Emma Thompson and Best Director for Ivory from the National Board of Review. The Directors Guild of America awarded the D.W. Griffith award, its highest honor, to Ivory for his work. At the 1992 Cannes Film Festival the film won the 45th Anniversary Prize.[13] 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,[14] Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and USC Scripter Award for Best Screenplay.[15] He was also nominated for the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay, and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay.[16][17][18] At 89, Ivory is the oldest person to ever be nominated for or win an Academy Award.[19]

Filmography

As director
Year Title Notes
1953 Four in the Morning Short
1957 Venice: Theme and Variations Short
1959 The Sword and the Flute Short
1963 The Householder
1964 The Delhi Way Documentary
1965 Shakespeare Wallah also co-writer
1969 The Guru also co-writer
1970 Bombay Talkie also co-writer
1972 Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization (BBC-TV Documentary)
1972 Savages
1975 Autobiography of a Princess
1975 The Wild Party
1976 Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures
1977 Roseland
1979 The Europeans
1979 The Five Forty-Eight TV film
1980 Jane Austen in Manhattan
1981 Quartet
1983 Heat and Dust
1984 The Bostonians
1986 A Room with a View
1987 Maurice also co-writer
1989 Slaves of New York
1990 Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
1992 Howards End
1993 The Remains of the Day
1995 Jefferson in Paris
1995 Lumière and Company segment
1996 Surviving Picasso
1998 A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries also co-writer
2000 The Golden Bowl
2003 Le Divorce also co-writer
2005 The White Countess
2009 The City of Your Final Destination

Other credits

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year Film Category Result
1986 Best Director A Room with a View Nominated
1993 Best Director Howards End Nominated
1994 Best Director The Remains of the Day Nominated
2018 Best Adapted Screenplay Call Me by Your Name Won

Golden Globe Awards

Year Category Film Result
1986Best DirectorA Room with a ViewNominated
1992Best DirectorHowards EndNominated
1993Best DirectorThe Remains of the DayNominated

BAFTA Film Awards

Year Category Film Result
1983Best DirectorHeat and DustNominated
1986Best DirectorA Room with a ViewNominated
1986Best FilmWon
1992Best DirectorHowards EndNominated
1992Best FilmWon
1993Best DirectorThe Remains of the DayNominated
1993Best FilmNominated
2017Best Adapted ScreenplayCall Me by Your NameWon

Cannes Film Festival

Year Category Film Result
1979Palme d'OrThe EuropeansNominated
1981QuartetNominated
1983Heat and DustNominated
1992Howards EndNominated
45th Anniversary PrizeWon
1995Palme d'OrJefferson in ParisNominated
2000The Golden BowlNominated

Directors Guild of America Award

Year Category Film Result
1986Best DirectorA Room with a ViewNominated
1992Howards EndNominated
1993The Remains of the DayNominated
1995Lifetime Achievement AwardN/AWon

Writers Guild of America Awards

Year Category Film Result
2017Best Adapted ScreenplayCall Me by Your NameWon

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Year Category Film Result
1993Best International FilmHowards EndNominated
2017Best FeatureCall Me by Your NameNominated
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References
  1. "James Ivory is oldest Oscar winner ever with screenplay award for Call Me by Your Name". The Guardian. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. "2018 BAFTA Awards backstage: James Ivory ('Call Me By Your Name') on his way to making Oscar history". Goldderby. 2018-02-18.
  3. "James Ivory Biography (1928-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  4. "Film-maker James Ivory donates a collection of personal documents to the University of Oregon". Merchant Ivory Productions. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  5. "UO alum James Ivory wins Oscar for 'Call Me by Your Name'". Around the O. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  6. add
  7. Notable Alumni, USC School of Cinematic Arts Archived 2009-08-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. Horn, John (May 26, 2005). "Obituaries; Ismail Merchant, 68; Producer of Stylish, Popular Period Dramas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  9. Larson, Sarah (May 19, 2017). "James Ivory and the Making of a Historic Gay Love Story". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  10. Giovannini, Joseph (April 3, 1986). "MERCHANT AND IVORY'S COUNTRY RETREAT". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  11. Hass, Nancy (September 11, 2015). "James Ivory's Home Befits His Extraordinary Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  12. "Ismail Merchant". The Times. London. May 26, 2005. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
  13. "Festival de Cannes: Howards End". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  14. "'The Shape Of Water' Named Best Picture, Takes Four Awards At 23rd Annual Critics' Choice Awards" (Press release). Los Angeles, CA: Broadcast Film Critics Association/Broadcast Television Journalists Association. January 11, 2018. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  15. Robb, David (February 10, 2018). "'Call Me By Your Name' Wins USC Scripter Award For Adapted Screenplay; 'The Handmaid's Tale' Nabs TV Honor". Deadline. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  16. "Australian Academy announces winners for the 7th AACTA International Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. January 6, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-10. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  17. Gettell, Oliver (January 9, 2018). "Call Me By Your Name takes top prize at 2017 Gotham Awards". BAFTA. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  18. Gettell, Oliver (November 27, 2017). "Call Me By Your Name takes top prize at 2017 Gotham Awards". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  19. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/05/james-ivory-is-oldest-oscar-winner-ever-with-adapted-screenplay-award-for-call-me-by-your-name
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