‘Merchant Ivory’ Review: Illuminating Doc Examines the Private and Professional Sides of an Enduring Film Partnership
The prolific company founded by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory became synonymous with elegant literary adaptations in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Read about it on Hollywood Reporter
Cohen Media Group Acquires ‘Merchant Ivory,’ Documentary About Legendary Filmmaking Team, Ahead Of DOC NYC Premiere
Read about it on Deadline
Mark Kermode reviews Merchant Ivory - Kermode and Mayo's Take
Follow the history of the Merchant Ivory partnership, featuring interviews with James Ivory and close collaborators detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the company.
Merchant Ivory review – handsome tribute to the masters of refined costume drama
An insightful appreciation of the director/producer team who gave us The Remains of the Day and launched the careers of Hugh Grant and Helena Bonham Carter
Read entire article on The Guardian
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Film Threat Review of ‘Merchant Ivory’ Documentary Film
Stephen Soucy’s Merchant Ivory wraps the viewer in a blanket of cozy nostalgia while relating the history of the wonderful, elegant films of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. Read More
James Ivory reveals why he kept his decades-long romance with Ismail Merchant private: 'I felt I had to protect him.'
At height of their fame in the 1980s and 1990s, director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant were a true partnership — on-screen and off. Movie lovers knew them as the two halves of Merchant Ivory, the company behind such beautifully-crafted period pieces as A Room with a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day. Read More
'Merchant Ivory' doc uncovers cinematic partnership behind James Ivory, Ismail Merchant
Chances are, you can spot a Merchant Ivory production just from a single scene. There's often stunning cinematography, dazzling costumes, star-studded casts, a mature script and a sweeping score, all working to whisk you off your feet and immerse you in a new world. Read More
Palm Springs International Film Festival programmers share highlights, movies not to miss
A documentary about the filmmaker, "Merchant Ivory," directed by Stephen Soucy, will also screen at the festival. The film lends new insight on the partnership, both professional and personal, of Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and their primary collaborators, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Read More
Local filmmaker pays tribute to James Ivory, collaborators in documentary honoring ‘granddaddy of independent film’
Director Stephen Soucy is one of millions of cinephiles who developed a love and appreciation for films like “Howards End,” “The Remains of the Day,” and “A Room with a View,” all movies that were the result of the creative collaboration of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, who formed the production company Merchant Ivory in 1961. Read More
Merchant Ivory Clip: Watch an Exclusive Scene from the Documentary
“If Ruth and Jim and Ismail decided they were going to make a film out of a script or one of Ruth’s books, Ismael would raise the money,” says editor Humphrey Dixon in Merchant Ivory. “There was no question that he would do it. You don’t find many producers able to do or say that.” Get an insider’s look at the art and craft of Merchant Ivory productions in this exclusive clip from the documentary that explores the oeuvre of the landmark cinematic team. Read More
Selig Film News – Interview with Filmmaker Stephen Soucy
Filmmaker Stephen Soucy talked with our Gadi Elkon about the feature documentary, MERCHANT IVORY. View Interview
‘Merchant Ivory’ Review: Time and Money
In these six carefully scripted/produced chapters, newcomers to this duos’ art of producing films with virtually no budget, can’t help but admire the busy savvy of Ismail Merchant and artistic integrity of James Ivory. Read More
LRM Online: Interview with Filmmaker Stephen Soucy
LRM Online's Gig Patta spoke with director Stephen Soucy for the documentary Merchant Ivory prior to its premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024. View Interview
‘Merchant Ivory,’ The Panoptic About The Formidable Film Team
The documentary directed by Stephen Soucy retraces one of the longest partnerships in the history of film. Merchant Ivory delves deep into the audacious company formed by Ismail Merchant as producer, James Ivory as director, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala as screenwriter and Richard Robbins as composer. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Deep Focus Review
Stephen Soucy’s affectionate new documentary, Merchant Ivory, takes the name of their production company, which, despite working with often meager budgets and under strenuous conditions, managed to produce acclaimed masterpieces such as A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Loud and Clear Review
Stephen Soucy’s Merchant Ivory documentary gifts film lovers with an elegant and intimate look into one of the most important award winning partnerships in cinema. Read More
Palm Springs Film Fest 2024 Interview: Stephen Soucy on the Period Pieces That Were Ahead of Their Time in ‘Merchant Ivory’
If Stephen Soucy was ever was in need of inspiration of how to deliver his debut feature on time and budget, he only needed to look at what his subjects Ismail Merchant and James Ivory were capable of, putting together opulent period pieces together with barely enough pennies to rub together. Read More
REVIEW: ‘Merchant Ivory’ looks back at decades of cinematic art
The new documentary Merchant Ivory, which is featured at this week’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, follows the careers of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, two partners in life and the art of film making. The film, expertly directed by Stephen Soucy, is divided into chapters that highlight the many triumphs of the Merchant Ivory brand, plus many of the struggles along the way. Read More
Eye on the Desert interviews Stephen Soucy about his film “Merchant Ivory”
38th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival full programme announced
The 38th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, one of the world’s most significant and long-standing queer film events in the LGBTQIA+ calendar, today reveals its full programme. Read More
Variety Exclusive
Real-Life Champagne Drama ‘Widow Clicquot’ Opens the Sonoma International Film Festival
The festival film lineup includes Thea Sharrock’s “Wicked Little Letters”; Tony Goldwyn’s “Ezra”; Daina O. Pusic’s “Tuesday,”; Gilles Legardinier’s “Mr. Blake at Your Service,”; Giorgio Diritti’s “Lubo.”; Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast”; Bob Byington’s “Lousy Carter,”; and Stephen Soucy’s “Merchant Ivory.” Read More
'I got you an Oscar. Why do I need to pay you?’ The secret shocking truth about Merchant Ivory
If you were asked to guess which prestigious film-making duo had spent their career scratching around desperately for cash, trying to wriggle out of paying their cast and crew, ping-ponging between lovers, and having such blood-curdling bust-ups that their neighbours called the police, it might be some time before “Merchant Ivory” sprang to mind.” Read More
James Ivory, Luis Guzman, Jacqueline Bisset to headline Albany Film Festival
Ivory, winner of the 2021 Ironweed Award, will join producer, writer and director Stephen Soucy for a screening and discussion of his documentary “Merchant Ivory.” The film examines Merchant Ivory Productions, founded by Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, and the personal and professional relationships behind the enduring film partnership..” Read More
Helena Bonham Carter, 57, shows off her kooky sense of style in an eye-catching look adorned with bows and pearls at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival
She's known for her quirky attire, but Helena Bonham Carter always manages to look good despite how outrageous her outfit is. And Saturday was no different as the actress, 57, turned heads as she led the stars at the Merchant Ivory screening during the BFI Flare Festival 2024..” Read More
BFI Flare 2024: "Merchant Ivory" Screening - Arrivals
BFI Flare 2024 Film Review: Merchant Ivory ★★★★
Back in the 80s and 90s there was a subset of gentile queerness that could best be summed up with three words, “Merchant Ivory gays,” after the lavish cinematic costume dramas released by independent film company Merchant Ivory Productions. Now producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, composer Richard Robbins and their close collaborators are the centre of Stephen Soucy’s wildly entertaining and frank documentary that charts the company’s rise and fall, and the gay love story at its core. Read More
Queerguru reviews ‘MERCHANT IVORY’ a celebration of the work and lives of the queer pioneer filmmakers
Stephen Soucy’s new documentary MERCHANT IVORY is one of those rare films that actually surpasses all the hype and the anticipation that preceded it. This affectionate profile on the legendary queer film pioneers makes for such joyous viewing. Read More
RiverRun 2024: Bigger than ever and raring to go!
This year’s centerpiece film is writer/producer/director Stephen Soucy’s feature debut Merchant Ivory, (8 p.m., April 24, Hanesbrands Theatre), a documentary that profiles the partnership of producer Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, whose esteemed collaborations include A Room With a View (1986), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Read More
SIFF 2024: Recommendations for Closing Weekend
Merchant Ivory (2023 | USA | 110 minutes | Stephen Soucy) For a couple of decades, the team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory became synonymous with sumptuous arthouse cinema, but time and trends have dimmed the spotlight on their contributions to the arthouse, and to queer cinema in particular. Here’s hoping Stephen Soucy’s documentary brings those It Factors to light once more.). Read More
Stephen Soucy talks about MERCHANT IVORY his superb doc about the queer cinema pioneers
Stephen Soucy’s new documentary MERCHANT IVORY is one of those rare films that actually surpasses all the hype and the anticipation that preceded it. This affectionate profile on the legendary queer film pioneers makes for such joyous viewing. . Read More
BIFF 2024 Tribute Night
Berkshire International Film Festival 2024 Tribute Night honoring James Ivory and a screening of Stephen Soucy’s MERCHANT IVORY documentary film on June 1st, 2024. Photos by Julia Kaplan. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Doc Scores Theatrical Release (Variety EXCLUSIVE)
Cohen Media Group will give “Merchant Ivory,” a documentary about the professional and personal partnership of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant and their production company — Merchant Ivory Productions — a theatrical release on Aug. 30 in select markets, including New York and Los Angeles, before expanding to theaters nationwide in September. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Trailer: A Tribute to the Quietly Revolutionary Producers Behind Beloved Period Classics (IndieWire EXCLUSIVE)
Exclusive: Documentarian Stephen Soucy pays tribute to an indie duo so successful their production company's name became synonymous with an entire style of filmmaking. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Trailer Explores One of the Great Filmmaking Partnerships
One of the greatest filmmaking partnerships to grace the industry is getting its deserved due in a new documentary. Directed by Stephen Soucy and featuring Dame Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Redgrave, Rupert Graves, and James Wilby, Merchant Ivory explores the collaboration of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant, and their primary associates, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Read More
15 Films to See in August / Jordan Raup of The Film Stage / August 1, 2024
As the summer movie season comes to a close, August brings a shockingly stacked slate of offerings, topped by a film that is sure to age like a fine classic in years to come. Elsewhere we have accomplished debuts, action spectacles, and a thriller from the man who has recently returned to perfecting the formula. Read More
Exclusive Trailer for Quad Cinema’s Merchant Ivory: An Extraordinary Partnership Celebrates the Work of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory
As the One of cinema’s greatest partnerships is getting its due with Stephen Soucy’s forthcoming documentary Merchant Ivory, set for a release on August 30. Ahead of the release from Cohen Media Group, it’s prime time to revisit the work of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, and now those in NYC will get a chance. “Merchant Ivory: An Extraordinary Partnership,” taking place August 23-29 at Quad Cinema, features restorations of seven masterpieces from the Cohen Film Collection and we’re pleased to debut the exclusive series trailer. Read More
NPR FilmWeek: '1992,' 'Reagan,' 'The Deliverance,' ‘Merchant Ivory’ and More.
Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Wade Major and Claudia Puig review this weekend's new movie releases on streaming and on demand platforms. Reagan Wide Release 1992 Wide Release Merchant Ivory Laemmle Royal | Laemmle Town Center 5 | Landmark Pasadena September 6th. Listen Here
INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE: Merchant & Ivory Films: Behind the Scenes Stories & Impact on Hollywood
Stephen Soucy discusses his upcoming documentary on James Ivory & Ismail Merchant: the legendary production behind The Remains of the Day, Howards' End, A Room with a View & much much more. Join Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge as they hear about what it was like on set and reflect on the impact made by these legendary filmmakers. Watch Here.
Yin and Yang: Stephen Soucy’s Merchant Ivory
“Chronicling both the hits and lesser known entries in the Merchant/Ivory catalogue, Soucy’s film thrives due to its expansive presence of recurring cast and crew collaborators.” Read More
New York Times Review: ‘Merchant Ivory’ Remembers the Duo Who Resuscitated Costume Dramas
“Merchant Ivory” (in theaters; directed by Stephen Soucy), is fairly conventional, as documentaries about filmmakers go. There are contemporary and archival comments from actors and crew members who worked with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, the celebrated director and producer who formed the production banner that lends the documentary its name. Among other accomplishments, the pair revitalized the costume drama with their lush, complex literary adaptations. In the documentary, clips from their films illustrate and illuminate the stories told by a vibrant array of interviewees.” Read More
James Ivory and Stephen Soucy on Merchant Ivory’s Legacy,
Life-Long Collaboration, and Their Best Film
James Ivory has made so many films. And of the forty-plus he’s made––nearly everything under the Merchant Ivory Productions banner––many are masterpieces. Truly, you could count on one hand the number of living filmmakers as accomplished as James Ivory. So what an honor, then, to speak with him and filmmaker Stephen Soucy about the new documentary Merchant Ivory (directed by Soucy) and the many films of Merchant Ivory. Read More
Merchant Ivory: Partnership
Merchant and Ivory films may make you think of lavish settings and complex emotions. James Ivory and Ismail Merchant collaborated on 43 films. Merchant Ivory, from director Stephen Soucy, is a look at their decades-long partnership, which was not only professional, but personal as well. Read More
Merchant Ivory Is So Much More Than Costume Dramas: Some of the most British movies in history were made by a team of outsiders to that culture.
If it weren’t for an overlap of appointments at a San Francisco art dealership, we might never have the cache of extraordinary films—43 in all—made by Merchant Ivory Productions from 1961 to 2007. Read More
MERCHANT IVORY
As we learn in Stephen Soucy’s documentary-feature debut, Merchant Ivory, the titular duo founded the company that bore their names in 1961, shortly after they met in New York City at a screening of director James Ivory’s short documentary The Sword and the Flute. Though the one was an American Christian and the other—Ismail Merchant, the producer—an Indian Muslim, they took to each other pretty quickly, and by the time their professional association began they had also become lovers. The two men would remain life and creative partners until Merchant’s death in 2005. Ivory, an Executive Producer on this film, is very much still alive. Read More
Merchant Ivory (2024) Movie Review: A Caring, Almost Intimate Doc on an Iconic Film Production Company
“I hate to be one of those people that gets kicked upstairs,” director James Ivory mentions (in archival footage) near the end of the meticulously presented, lovingly assembled – and somewhat more daring than others, even if still unsure in its overall strategy – documentary of US filmmaker Stephen Soucy’s “Merchant Ivory,” which is now hitting the US theaters. Read More
MERCHANT IVORY – A Story Unlike Any Other
MERCHANT IVORY opened in Chicago on Friday, August 30 and will expand to the Landmark Century Centre (Chicago) along with many cities across the country on September 6. This documentary film is as rich and deep as the films produced by this group. Hearing or reading the name “Merchant Ivory” sets off for me beautiful scenic views, fantastic acting, a compelling story with the perfect actors, exquisite costumes and a feeling of satisfaction and gratitude to be able to see whichever film it was. I always felt they would go on forever but I never gave a thought or read much about how these films came to be. I love the way this film brings into focus the MERCHANT IVORY magic while telling a complex and important story. This is a terrific film. Read More
PEOPLE: Vanessa Redgrave Scolds Interviewer for Asking About On-Set Drama: 'Don't Let's Go Down That Road' (Exclusive)
If there's one honor that Oscar-winning screenwriter and longtime director James Ivory and documentary filmmaker Stephen Soucy share, it's being scolded by screen legend Vanessa Redgrave. In Merchant Ivory — the new documentary chronicling the success and impact of Ivory, 96, and his late producing and life partner Ismail Merchant as they made films such as Howards End and The Remains of the Day through Merchant Ivory Productions — there is a brief moment when Redgrave, 87, chides Soucy, 55, during her interview about working with the duo. Read More
PEOPLE: Howards End Director James Ivory, 96, on Being a Gay Icon and Why He Didn't Come Out in the '90s (Exclusive)
Oscar-winning screenwriter and veteran director James Ivory, who is considered to be a gay icon, says that being out in Hollywood or a "gay filmmaker" is a modern concept. "It's kind of a new idea," he tells PEOPLE. It's especially true for him and his late romantic and producing partner, Ismail Merchant, who didn't discuss their sexuality during the height of Merchant Ivory Productions' success in the early 1990s, which is chronicled in director Stephen Soucy's new documentary Merchant Ivory. king with the duo. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Takes a Deep Dive Into One of Cinema’s Most Significant and Enduring Partnerships
Director Stephen Soucy and subject James Ivory discuss Soucy's documentary on Ivory and Ismail Merchant, his partner in life and filmmaking with whom he made dozens of now classic films. Read More
Stephen Soucy Interviewed Post-Screening Opening Weekend at Santa Barbara IFF on Sunday, September 1, 2024
Director Stephen Soucy interviewed about his documentary film, Merchant Ivory. Watch Here
‘Merchant Ivory’
There’s a celebratory quality to this affectionate documentary about the titular artistic (and romantic) partnership, and why not? The prolific tandem of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory was responsible for dozens of prestige films over more than four decades, including such influential costume dramas as Howards End and The Remains of the Day during their heyday. Read More
Screen Grabs: Behind the frock with dishy Merchant Ivory doc
At the opposite end of the cultural scale—not so much in terms of quality but rather in audiences loathe to overlap with each other—lies the ouevre of Merchant Ivory. Stephen Soucy’s documentary of that name examines the life and legacy of a very long-running creative partnership that also encompassed writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Among its surprises are the revelation of some very complicated private relationships within and beyond that quartet—the titular semi-closeted gay couple were not, well, exclusive. Read More
Talking Screens, August 30-September 5, 2024: Documentary “Merchant Ivory”
Genteel guerrilla filmmakers, the late Ismail Merchant and ninety-six-year-old James Ivory, get a fine accounting of their rich body of work made with prolific zeal against awful odds in Stephen Soucy’s two-hour documentary, as much fiduciary as philosophical. Read More
POWELL PRESSBURGER and MERCHANT IVORY: two documentaries
STEPHEN SOUCY: MERCHANT IVORY (2024): This documentary is as essential as Martin Scorsese's new one about Powell-Pressberger, and more fun. Marty's knowledgeable run-through of the earlier filmmaking team's most important pictures (The Red Shoes, Tales of Hoffman) is informative and enlightening, as he always is when he talks about movies but, in spire of a fascinating portrait of his own artistic development, a little dry; sometimes quite a bit like a film class lecture. There is nothing dry about this gossipy account of the team formed by this openly gay couple, the volatile and impetuous Indian Ismail Merchant and the calm and collected American-born James Ivory, who eventually wound up making a lot of good movies together, some, but not all, with a British setting. Read More
Slingshot and Merchant Ivory
Matthew Socey reviews the sci-fi film Slingshot and the documentary Merchant Ivory. Listen Here
'Merchant Ivory' - James Ivory on the documentary about his decades-long film career
Theirs was one of the longest partnerships in cinema history (1961-2007), almost defining independent filmmaking, that is now being profiled definitively in the new conventional documentary "Merchant Ivory" opening in theaters here on September 6. The film, detailing the career of producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, was featured in this year's SFFilm and Frameline film festivals. Read More
Review: ‘Merchant Ivory’ Offers an Inside Look at Outside Filmmakers
The Guinness Book of World Records seems an unlikely place to find Merchant and Ivory (the filmmakers of posh costume dramas from the 1980s and ’90s) but the two are cited as having the longest collaboration (1961-2005) between a producer and director per their company Merchant Ivory Productions. The documentary Merchant Ivory elaborates on the cinematic union between Ismail Merchant and James Ivory which immediately expanded with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The late Merchant and Jhabvala speak to the camera via archival footage while the trio’s lone survivor Ivory offers contemporary comments. Read More
From Hugh Grant to Emma Thompson, "It was on everyone’s checklist to make a Merchant Ivory film" Stephen Soucy discusses his documentary that explores the filmmaking duo behind "Howards End," "Maurice" and more
Director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant made 43 films together between 1961 and 2007. They worked with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins on more than half of them. Director Stephen Soucy’s valentine of a documentary “Merchant Ivory” recounts their remarkable partnership as well as individual moments in their lives and careers. Read More
Review: ‘Merchant Ivory’
Enough time has passed in cinema history for the name Merchant-Ivory to have become an adjective. It’s made from the names of Director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, who worked together from the 1960s through Merchant’s death in 2005. Critics use the hyphenate to refer to “costume dramas” generally, and to any historical drama they want to subtly denigrate for being handsomely produced but safe. Sometimes, when the phrase is used that way, you can’t be sure if the writers really know where the term comes from, much less that it was the name of a production company that, for a couple of decades, was as close to a foolproof, get-them-in-the-door “brand” as you could find in the arthouse world. Read More
Review: Merchant Ivory Chronicles the Professional and Personal Lives of Legendary Filmmaking Duo
Few filmmakers merged the personal and professional as gracefully as producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their partnership ushered in the Golden Age of art-house cinema in the mid-1980s, and while they did more than costume dramas, it's those works that they are most most closely identified with, such as A Room with a View, Howards End, Maurice, and their crowning achievement, Remains of the Day. Their pairing was accentuated by the invaluable contributions of both screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (who won two Oscars for her adaptations) and minimalist composer Richard Robbins. Their films were frequently celebrated by critics, audiences and givers of awards, and during my time discovering their works, I was introduced to actors like Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Julian Sands, Helena Bonham Carter, Rupert Graves, and Simon Callow, among many others. Read More
MERCHANT IVORY: A UNIQUE LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES by Leonard Maltin
I screened this documentary out of a misplaced sense of duty. After all, the filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory made a number of exceptional films over many years’ time, and Ivory is still going strong at age 95. Attention must be paid, and good work celebrated. Stephen Soucy has done just that, but he’s given us a good deal more. Only an insider would be able to penetrate the curtain of discretion that has surrounded the filmmaking team for decades. It was known that of the two, Ivory was the hands-on director and Merchant the outgoing producer who raised the money to get movies like Shakespeare Wallah and The Bostonians made. Most of their films were scripted by the prize-winning author Ruth Prawer Jhabvala—not an Indian, it turns out, but a German Jew who married an Indian man (!). Those who cared also took note of their longtime composer, the talented Richard Robbins. Read More
Merchant Ivory Rewrites Cultural History
The gentlemanly films of the Merchant-Ivory production team — The Europeans, The Bostonians, A Room with a View, Howards End, Maurice, The Remains of the Day, etc. — represent a now-vanished, literary multiculturalism. That means the new documentary Merchant Ivory inquires into a lost world; its title drops the hyphen because in today’s diversity-crazed culture, the Anglo-American amalgam has gone from a once-familiar label (sometimes a demeaning sobriquet) to obscure legend. Director Stephen Soucy revives Merchant-Ivory’s reputation in defiance of the contemporary cultural fashion that rejects literature and the Western empire — Henry James and E. M. Forster being the source of Merchant and Ivory’s modus vivendi. Read More
Oregon-raised James Ivory on ‘Merchant Ivory’ documentary, and directing classic films
For those who only know James Ivory as the director of such critically acclaimed films as “A Room With a View,” “Howards End,” “The Remains of the Day,” and other adaptations of literary classics, it might be surprising to learn that the filmmaker grew up in Klamath Falls, and attended the University of Oregon, where his papers are held in the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives. Read More
MERCHANT IVORY: Review
Stephen Soucy’s new documentary, Merchant Ivory, offers a detailed look at the legendary production company, as told by one of its founders (Oscar-winner James Ivory) and an enviable cast of globally revered actors, technicians, and other behind-the-scenes individuals who contributed to its success. Revisiting and celebrating the literary-based work that began with its founding in 1961, Soucy takes viewers through the Indian palaces that first brought Ismail Merchant and director Ivory together and the English manors that gave them their biggest successes. Like the films that inspired it, the documentary is sophisticated and visually pleasing but occasionally encounters a few problematic characters. Read More
The World of MERCHANT IVORY
The documentary Merchant Ivory may not be the place to look for definitive critical analysis of the work of Ismail Merchant (producer) and James Ivory (director, the duo that made a staggering 43 films between 1961 and 2007. Instead, director Stephen Soucy gives us an intimate look at a team composed of the meticulous, Oregon-bred Ivory and the audacious Merchant, born in India and raised as a Muslim. Soucy takes us on an informative, often revealing journey into Merchant/Ivory world. Read More
SPECTRUM CULTURE Film Review: MERCHANT IVORY
Ismail Merchant and James Ivory did not invent the tasteful costume drama, but they did perfect it. Over the course of half a century and 44 feature films, the producer and director specialized in literary adaptations that nearly invited parody – “Merchant/Ivory” became early shorthand for “Oscar Bait” – and yet their films could contain more turmoil and drama than their contemporaries in any genre. The new documentary Merchant Ivory is not the definitive account of this partnership, and it is not entirely for newbies, either. Instead, director Stephen Soucy has made a great film about making movies, a detailed account of the film production process that also finds room for biography and dishy gossip. Read More
Moving Portraits: An Interview with Stephen Soucy
To its considerable credit, Stephen Soucy’s recent documentary, Merchant Ivory (2024), resists the tendency toward hagiography. It’s an understandably tempting opportunity, composed as the film is largely of conversations with James Ivory, now in his 96th year and still working, talking, and thinking carefully about the world we live in and the ones that got us here. In less than two hours, the spritely film depicts the long, fruitful partnership between James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, who made more than 40 films together from 1963 to 2009. Soucy’s film features extensive video footage of the veritable troupe that made up Merchant Ivory as a production unit, from the dearly departed — Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Richard Robbins, Maurice (1986) scribe Kit Hesketh-Harvey (who died in 2023 after filming his segments) — to those still working today. It’s faces like Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Hugh Grant who chart Soucy’s focus on a quartet of Merchant Ivory’s best-known films, a remarkable run that includes A Room With a View (1985), Maurice, Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Read More
Boston Herald: ‘Merchant Ivory’ doc celebrates icons of cinema
The spectacular, enduring career of the creative team known as Merchant Ivory gets a worthy summation in the documentary of the same name, now playing at the Kendall Square. The decades-long partnership of the trio — producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala — revitalized the historical costume picture with adaptations by literary lions E.M. Forster (“A Room with a View,” “Howard’s End,” “Maurice”), Henry James (“The Bostonians”) and Kazuo Ishiguro (“The Remains of the Day”). At 96, Ivory is the sole surviving member. In a phone conversation Friday he discussed his late-career Oscar win for adapting the hit queer romance “Call Me By Your Name,” who was the sole “crazy” among the many actors he directed and why he now marvels at what he was able to put on film forever. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ Captures Couple that Changed Cinema
The name Merchant Ivory is so synonymous with lustrous period films, particular the literary adaptations of the works of E. M. Forster and Henry James, that even some astute filmgoers assumed it was a studio or a brand. It was both those things, but it was foremost the names of two men, US-born director James Ivory and India-born producer Ismail Merchant, who together formed a partnership that changed modern moviemaking. That’s the major takeaway from director Stephen Soucy’s documentary, “Merchant Ivory,” which screens Sept. 21-24 at the Jane Pickens Theater, where Ivory has appeared several times in person to screen his films and engage in conversation. Read More
NEW YORK POST: Screen union for movie duo by Cindy Adams
Comes now the Ismail Merchant-James Ivory doc. Their hits may have wafted away but were — like that pair — huge: “The Remains of the Day,” “Howards End,” Oscar-winning “A Room With a View,” with big stars Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham Carter. Ismail, my close friend — now gone — received India’s highest honors. Hugging me on his “Le Divorce” set in Paris he left a huge inkblot from his palm on my chin. His Viking book, “My Passage From India: A Filmmaker’s Journey From Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond,” we celebrated over tandoori chicken. He cooked it in an East 60th Indian restaurant. Read More
The absolute joy of attending a Merchant Ivory movie weekend at my local theater
It was like a beautiful time warp taking in the Merchant Ivory movies again, including ‘Howard’s End’ and the new Merchant Ivory documentary, at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport, R.I. Read More
Saturday Morning with Jack Tame: Francesca Rudkin on Merchant Ivory
Archival footage and interviews provide insight into the partnership, both professional and personal, between director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. Read More
Stephen Soucy Presented MERCHANT IVORY at the 22nd FICM
The presentation of the film Merchant Ivory was held as part of the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), with the presence of its director Stephen Soucy and Daniela Michel, founder and general director of the festival. Soucy said he was thrilled to present this “documentary about a very dear friend of the festival.” Merchant Ivory is comprised of interviews with James Ivory and forty-one close collaborators of Merchant Ivory who detail and celebrate their experiences of being part of the “wandering company” led by legendary producer Ismail Merchant. Read More
Hamptons Doc Fest To Honor Michael Moore, ‘Zurawski V Texas’ And ‘Daughters,’ Showcase ‘Merchant Ivory,’ ‘The Bones’ & More
Hamptons Doc Fest, set to unspool at the Sag Harbor Cinema and Bay Street Theater from December 5-11, will kick off with Merchant Ivory, Stephen Soucy’s documentary about the cinematic and romantic partnership of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. Ivory, now 96, participates in the film, which premiered at DOC NYC. Read More
‘Merchant Ivory’ with Stephen Soucy and ‘Audrey’ with Natalie Bailey
We go to great lengths to highlight the diversity and representation on offer in LGBTIQA+ cinema and for this program we looked at two very different films that showcase this perfectly. We were joined by special guest Stephen Soucy to talk about his educational and entertaining documentary ‘Merchant Ivory’ which is featured in this years British Film Festival. This film explores the legendary creative team behind Merchant Ivory Productions who in the 80’s and 90’s became synonymous with prestige arthouse cinema, known for its stunning cinematography, lush settings, elegant costumes, enchanting music, complex characters, and literary adaptations. We hear from Stephen about his introduction and connection to Merchant Ivory, including his relationship with the man and legend himself, James Ivory, who is also an executive producer on this wonderful film. Listen Here.
Documentary Looks at the Art of Film Itself
All eyes will be on the British Film Festival’s opener, Steve McQueen’s Blitz, as well as its dramas, thrillers, comedy, retrospectives and a sidebar, Brit Rock to Brit Pop, but there’s more to this festival than meets the eye, as a newly released documentary looks at the art of film itself. American director Stephen Soucy’s 110-minute doc, Merchant Ivory, shown here in its Australian premiere, features a star-studded line-up of interviewees, not least Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Anthony Hopkins and Vanessa Redgrave. Read More
Merchant Ivory, a documentary at the British Film Festival, honours the long, storied career of Oscar-winner James Ivory
Despite winning his only Oscar at the age of 89 for his adapted screenplay of queer love story Call Me by Your Name (2018), many would know James Ivory best as a gifted director. Between 1961 and 2007, he helmed 30 of the most adored movies from esteemed production company Merchant Ivory, including sweeping literary adaptations of E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, Maurice and Howards End, plus Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. Read More
I lost a husband and a brother – but they live on in Merchant Ivory’s golden years
It is 40 years since ‘A Room with a View’ made James Ivory and Ismail Merchant into household names and their work a byword for cinematic elegance. Here, Sarah Sands reflects on the halcyon years when her then husband Julian Sands and her brother were both at the centre of a world of luscious longing and tenderness. On Wednesday 20 November, the Curzon Mayfair will host a gala screening of Merchant Ivory, a masterful feature documentary directed by Stephen Soucy. Both on screen and in the audience will be some of the most prominent names in British acting history, including Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson; actors who all rose to fame because of the relationship between the quiet, elegant director James Ivory and the flamboyant producer Ismail Merchant. Read More
MADE IN ENGLAND: Maurice (1987) with Stephen Soucy
After the Oscar success of A Room With A View, Merchant-Ivory followed up with another E.M. Forster adaptation, Maurice (1987). Maurice Hall (James Wilby) comes to terms with his sexuality in repressed Edwardian England, embarking on affairs with the aristocratic Clive Durham (Hugh Grant making his feature debut) and working class gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves). Directed and co-written by James Ivory, who would go on to win an Oscar for Call Me By Your Name, this is a landmark film in the history of gay cinema. Director-producer Stephen Soucy joins to discuss the film, as well as his new documentary, Merchant Ivory, which will be in UK cinemas in December. Visit merchantivoryfilm.com for information and bonus content. Listen Now
Curzon Cinema and Beronia Rioja Reserva Raise a Glass to an Ivory Christmas Film Season
Curzon Cinema has partnered with luxury Spanish wine brand Beronia to sponsor the independent cinema chain’s “Ivory Christmas” season of films, which celebrates the work of filmmaking duo Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, famed for highly decorated literary adaptations such as The Remains of The Day and Call Me By Your Name. The partnership, which was brokered between cinema advertising contractors Pearl & Dean and Beronia’s media agency, Media Bounty, kicked off on November 20th, with an exclusive Gala screening of Merchant Ivory, the upcoming documentary that explores the decades-long filmmaking partnership of Merchant Ivory Productions. Read More
‘Here is Where the Sky is Blue’ – Retrospective season of Merchant Ivory films
An exclusive retrospective season of films begins at Chiswick Cinema with a Members preview of the new documentary about Merchant Ivory. Merchant Ivory became a byword in the 1980s for lavish period costume dramas that were with both intelligent and literary and beautiful to look at, with characters whose gentility masked great passion and a certain disappointment in life. That was the Merchant Ivory brand. Read More
British Film Festival: Merchant Ivory
A nostalgic, but also thought-provoking, documentary. 4-STARS. The names James Ivory and Ismail Merchant immediately summon up images of brilliant, very British, cinema. And yet Ivory was born and raised in the United States, where he met the Indian-born US-educated Merchant at the Indian Consulate in New York. Along with writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala this team went on to give the world such cinematic masterpieces as Room With a View, Heat and Dust, Howard’s End, and The Remains of the Day. Director Stephen Soucy along with writer Jon Hart has crafted an intelligent, respectful, gently interrogatory documentary. Although Merchant sadly died in his early 60s, James Ivory is still very much alive, and his interviews to camera form the backbone of the film. Read More
What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – November 26th, 2024: Merchant Ivory: The Documentary and Roseland (Blu-ray)
There are two Merchant Ivory-related releases out this month. For those of you unfamiliar, Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in the early 1960s by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory that led to the production of 44 films, almost all of which (or at least a good number of which) were period dramas. If you’ve heard of movies such as Howard’s End, A Room With A View, and The Remains of the Day, you’ve heard of Merchant Ivory productions. The first release is the terrific Merchant Ivory: The Documentary, which is exactly what it sounds like. This nearly two-hour documentary looks at the company’s founding and early years, then spends a good amount of time discussing the hit films and the making of the movies as well as their legacy. Talent such as Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, and Vanessa Redgrave all contribute interviews and discuss their time in the Merchant Ivory World. It’s an excellently-produced documentary. Read More
FILMINK: Merchant Ivory
Merchant Ivory is like a portmanteau word, as the two individuals – Ismail Merchant and James Ivory – were close collaborators, a partnership both on and off the screen, and their work became an enduring part of British cinema over several decades at the end of the 20th Century.
Another British film icon, Ken Russell once said that he would like it if anyone who walked into the cinema could see a scene or two of a film and say “oh that must be a Ken Russell film”. The same could be true of Merchant Ivory, as the lush and intricately-assembled costume dramas defined their style for many film lovers. Read More
EYE FOR FILM: Merchant Ivory Review (4.5 Stars)
Speak of Merchant Ivory and most people’s thoughts go straight to English stately homes, elegant costumes and stilted drawing room conversations. This is, however, reflective of only a tiny part of the studio’s output, and even then, the storylines are far from what is popularly assumed. Frequently critical of the aristocracy, if not outright satirical, it also did groundbreaking work around gender and sexuality, and challenged establishment narratives around colonialism. Stephen Soucy’s documentary traces its history across four decades as well as looking back at how its two creative spirits came to meet and moving further on to reflect on Ivory’s work since his partner’s death. Read More
Hamptons Doc Fest 2024 Critic Picks: 5 Films to Watch
Getting down to picks, McCuddy says he’s locked in from night one. “I like docs that go behind the scenes and tell stories underneath stories. So I’m looking forward to the opening night film Merchant Ivory about that vital pairing of talent responsible for so many films — the kind that help define the Sag Harbor Cinema.” Directed by Stephen Soucy, Merchant Ivory is the definitive presentation and tribute to the Merchant Ivory partnership, anchored by interviews with James Ivory and 41 Merchant Ivory close collaborators, detailing and celebrating their experiences of being a part of the “wandering company” helmed by legendary producer Ismail Merchant. See it at Bay Street Theater on Thursday, December 5 at 8 p.m. Director Stephen Soucy and James Ivory will be in attendance for a Q&A with Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. A cocktail reception follows the film screening. Read More
Merchant Ivory: Stephen Soucy’s documentary lifts up the petticoats of the prestigious production house. A rollicking account of a long movie partnership that was flying by the seat of its pants
There’s a moment in the exquisite Merchant Ivory adaptation of A Room with a View when Lucy Honeychurch (beautifully played by an 18-year-old Helena Bonham Carter faints after witnessing a stabbing in the Italian countryside. It’s an incident that becomes an emotional cauldron for the young heroine, not unlike the swooning sensation of watching the film, one of several essential EM Forster adaptations created by a production company that became synonymous with prestigious literary adaptations. Merchant Ivory was founded in the early 1960s by the producer Ismail Merchant and the director James Ivory, who often collaborated with the screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Lift up the petticoats and there is, as the documentary director Stephen Soucy discovers, a very different and fraught narrative. Read More
The Guardian: Merchant Ivory review – handsome tribute to the masters of refined costume drama
Documentary-maker Stephen Soucy pays a handsome, thorough tribute to the remarkable independent production company Merchant Ivory, a period-movie powerhouse with an intensely literary kind of creativity, comprising producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Read More
The Times: Merchant Ivory review — screen titans and secret lovers
A chance to re-evaluate the work of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory is embraced in this expansive and enthusiastic documentary. Ivory, now 96, appears on camera throughout, delivering warm-hearted anecdotes and an unpretentious appreciation of his own career to the director Stephen Soucy. The star wattage of talking heads is very high (Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson etc) but there is also a creeping sense of brand management. Nonetheless, we get several eruptions of candour regarding the private lives of Merchant and Ivory, who were devoted lovers as well as creative partners but kept their relationship hidden out of respect, Ivory says, for Merchant’s conservative Muslim family. Read More
James Ivory on his career with Ismail Merchant: “There are a lot of films we made that people don’t really know about today”
Despite its name, Stephen Soucy’s new documentary Merchant Ivory focuses not just on the hugely successful partnership (personal, as well as professional) between producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, best known for their period dramas and literary adaptations, such as A Room with a View (1985), Howards End (1992) and The Remains of the Day (1993). Soucy also explores the creatives who were key to their success, including regular collaborators screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins, as well as dozens of actors, editors and costumer designers who talk about the unique magic of the prolific production company. It’s a lively, often gossipy documentary that offers new insights into the remarkable partnership, as well as doing full justice to the extensive Merchant Ivory filmography, which stretches far beyond the period dramas of the late 1980s and early 1990s for which they are best known. Read More
Daily Mail: Merchant Ivory review
The films produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James Ivory, by contrast, had more bite than bark. The likes of A Room With A View (1985) and Howards End (1992) were sometimes sneered at as pretty but anodyne period drama — ‘Laura Ashley film-making’ in the dismissive estimation of some — but a splendid new documentary reminds us that they were anything but. They were glorious adaptations of classic works of literature; occasionally even improvements on them. The unambiguously-titled Merchant Ivory is a long-overdue appreciation not just of the two men who gave their names to what more or less became a cinematic genre, but also to the other two people vital to their success: writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Read More
James Ivory on turning 96, Hugh Grant and what really happened on set
The visionary director changed cinema with films such as A Room with a View and made a galaxy of stars. He talks about the chaos and fun of his career — and his run-in with Harvey Weinstein. Read More
AIRMAIL: King of the Costume Drama
“It required an immense amount of stamina,” Emma Thompson says. “After each one, you said, ‘Never again.’” The actress is talking about her experience of being in Merchant Ivory films. She made her name in Howards End, winning the Oscar for best actress for her performance as the arch Margaret Schlegel, and went on to star in The Remains of the Day opposite Anthony Hopkins and a young Hugh Grant. Read More
FILM REVIEW DAILY: MERCHANT IVORY — Stephen Soucy’s rewarding survey of the work of a major filmmaking team is also a remarkable love story.
Merchant Ivory Productions was a company that made a significant contribution to cinema and gave us over forty films following its foundation in 1961. In its heyday there was always much talk by those involved of how working for Merchant Ivory was like being in a family and Ismail Merchant himself was famous for cooking at gatherings of cast and crew. However, the strength of this new documentary by Stephen Soucy lies in its revelation of what it was really like to be part of a Merchant Ivory production. Read More
THE WEEK: Merchant Ivory 'Splendid' documentary explores adaptations of classic literature
Celebration of films produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James Ivory is 'brisk, gossipy and insightful. Read More
Documentary MERCHANT IVORY Q&A with Director Steve Soucy at the 2024 Hamptons Doc Fest
Director Steve Soucy, James Ivory, Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman in conversation after the screening of Merchant Ivory at the 2024 HDF. Watch Here
WILD FILMMAKER: Interview with Stephen Soucy, director of the documentary that tells the story of over 40 years of collaboration between director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant
I have the honor of interviewing Stephen Soucy, who directed an excellent documentary ‘Merchant Ivory,’ dedicated to the extraordinary collaboration between producer Ismail Merchant and director and screenwriter James Ivory. Read More
Doc on Merchant Ivory highlights their long personal and professional relationship
Merchant Ivory | Dir: Stephen Soucy | ★★★★½ | James Ivory became the oldest person to win an Academy Award when he won Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me By My Name in 2018 at the age of 89. He reflected that the film was an unabashed love story that everyone could identify with, as the emotion of the story meant more than the sexual orientation of the characters. Read More
A Cinematic Partnership for the Ages:
James Ivory and Director Stephen Soucy on Telling the Merchant Ivory Story
For decades, producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory cornered the market on period dramas and literary adaptations. Their movies transported viewers to bygone eras and locations filled with exquisite details, erudite dialogue, and top-notch talent both behind and in front of the camera. Theirs was a storied partnership (and a behind-the-scenes love story) that brought over 40 films to the big screen, took home Oscars, and gave some of the finest actors of their generation–including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Rupert Graves, and many others–some of their most memorable roles. Read More
KARE 11 TV: Three films to check out on your next movie night
Film critic Brian Eggert joined KARE 11 Saturday with recommendations for your next movie night. Watch Now
SALT LAKE CITY WEEKLY: Film Reviews: New Releases for Sept. 13, 2024
The closing credits of Stephen Soucy’s documentary identify most of the primary interview subjects as “members of the Merchant Ivory family”—and indeed, this feels more like a family portrait than it does an overview of a creative output. That’s not to say that Soucy doesn’t spend plenty of time on the key films in the oeuvre of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant—A Room With a View, Howards End, The Remains of the Day and more—addressing both the acclaim and audience popularity they achieved and the way “Merchant Ivory,” for better or worse, became a kind of dismissive shorthand for costume period pieces. But the film draws its strength from understanding how the 40-plus-year life partnership between Ivory and Merchant overlapped with their professional collaborations, and how they were able to turn shoestring budgets into great art with the help of collaborators like writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, composer Richard Robbins, costume designers Jenny Beavan and John Bright and actors Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter and Hugh Grant. Read More
“Merchant Ivory” Director Stephen Soucy on His Must-See Doc for Film Lovers
The name Merchant Ivory is so synonymous with lustrous period films, particularly literary adaptations of the works of E. M. Forster and Henry James, that even some astute filmgoers assumed it was a studio or a brand. It was both those things, but it was foremost the names of two men—US-born director James Ivory and India-born producer Ismail Merchant—who together formed a partnership that changed modern moviemaking. Read More
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE
The Underneath: An Interview with James Ivory
Watching and rewatching Ivory’s work in 2024 reveals that a certain frankness around love and life was always a part of that operation, even as obviousness was avoided at all costs. In Merchant Ivory (2024), a new documentary film by Stephen Soucy, Ivory supposes that a degree of that frankness is due to the films being composed from an outside view, whether it was as a Californian seeing India or England or as a gay man telling stories of the heroic women of E. M. Forster’s Howards End.). Read More
James Ivory: The Oscar Legends Interview
The cinematic creative collaboration of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (along with composer Richard Robbins on a vast number of titles) marks what is arguably the longest running and most successful associations in film history, spanning 6 decades and 44 films that received 35 Oscar nominations. Watch Here