Maurice (film)

''Maurice'' is a 1987 British romantic drama film directed by James Ivory, based on the 1971 novel ''Maurice'' by E. M. Forster. The film stars James Wilby as Maurice, Hugh Grant as Clive and Rupert Graves as Alec. The supporting cast includes Denholm Elliott as Dr Barry, Simon Callow as Mr Ducie, Billie Whitelaw as Mrs Hall, and Ben Kingsley as Lasker-Jones.

The film was produced by Ismail Merchant via Merchant Ivory Productions and Film Four International, and written by Ivory and Kit Hesketh-Harvey, with cinematography by Pierre Lhomme. It is a tale of gay love 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.

Plot

During a trip to a windswept beach, Maurice Hall, an 11-year-old schoolboy, receives instructions about the "sacred mysteries" of sex from his teacher, who wants to explain to the fatherless boy the changes he would experience in puberty.

Years later, in 1909, Maurice is attending Cambridge, where he strikes up a friendship with two fellow students: the aristocratic Viscount Risley and the rich and handsome Clive Durham. Clive falls in love with his friend and surprises Maurice by confessing his feelings. At first, Maurice reacts with horror, but he soon realizes that he reciprocates Clive's feelings. The two friends embark on a passionate love affair but, at Clive's insistence, their relationship remains non-sexual. To go further, in Clive's opinion, would diminish them both. Clive, a member of the upper class, has a promising future ahead of him and does not want to risk losing his social position. Their close relationship continues after Maurice is expelled from Cambridge and begins a new career as a stockbroker in London.

The two friends keep their feelings secret but are frightened when Lord Risley is arrested and sentenced to six months' hard labour after soliciting sex from a soldier. Clive, afraid of being exposed as a homosexual, breaks with Maurice. After his return from a trip to Greece, Clive, under pressure from his widowed mother, marries a naive rich girl named Anne and settles into a life of rural domesticity.

Heartbroken, Maurice seeks the help of his family physician, Dr. Barry, who dismisses Maurice's doubts as "rubbish". Maurice then turns to Dr. Lasker-Jones, who tries to cure his homosexual longings with hypnosis. During his visits to Clive's estate of Pendersleigh, Maurice attracts the attention of Alec Scudder, the under-gamekeeper who is due to emigrate with his brother to Argentina. Maurice not only fails to notice Scudder's interest in him, but initially treats him with contempt. This does not discourage Scudder, who spies on Maurice at night. Simcox, the butler at Pendersleigh, suspecting the true nature of Maurice and Clive's past relationship, has hinted to Scudder about Maurice's nature. On a rainy night, Scudder boldly climbs a ladder and enters Maurice's bedroom through an open window. Scudder kisses Maurice, who is completely taken by surprise but does not resist his sexual advances.

After their first night together, Maurice receives a letter from Scudder proposing they meet at the Pendersleigh boathouse. Maurice wrongly believes that Scudder is blackmailing him. Maurice returns to Lasker-Jones, who warns Maurice that England is a country which "has always been disinclined to accept human nature" and advises he emigrate to a country where homosexuality is no longer criminalised, like France or Italy. When Maurice fails to appear at the boathouse, Scudder travels to London and visits him at his offices.

Maurice and Scudder meet at the British Museum and the blackmail misunderstanding is resolved. Maurice begins to call Scudder by his first name, Alec. They spend the night together in a hotel room, and as Alec departs in the morning he explains that his departure for Argentina is imminent and they will not see each other again. Maurice goes to the port to give Alec a parting gift only to discover that Alec has missed the sailing. Maurice goes to Pendersleigh and confesses to Clive his love for Alec. Clive, who was hoping that Maurice would marry, is bewildered at Maurice's account of his encounters with Alec. The two friends separate and Maurice goes to the boathouse looking for Alec, who is there waiting for him. Scudder tells him that he sent a telegram to Maurice stating that he was to come to the boathouse. Alec has left his family and abandoned his plans to emigrate in order to stay with Maurice, telling him, "Now we shan't never be parted." Meanwhile, Clive is getting ready for bed and briefly reminisces about his time with Maurice.

Cast

* James Wilby as Maurice Hall
* Hugh Grant as Clive Durham
* Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder
* Denholm Elliott as Doctor Barry
* Simon Callow as Mr. Ducie
* Billie Whitelaw as Mrs. Hall
* Barry Foster as Dean Cornwallis
* Judy Parfitt as Mrs. Durham
* Phoebe Nicholls as Anne Durham
* Ben Kingsley as Lasker-Jones
* Patrick Godfrey as Simcox, Durham's butler

* Mark Tandy as Lord Risley
* Kitty Aldridge as Kitty Hall
* Helena Michell as Ada Hall
* Catherine Rabett as Pippa Durham
* Peter Eyre as Reverend Borenius
* Orlando Wells as Maurice as a boy
* Julian Wadham as Hull
* Richard Warner as Judge
* Helena Bonham Carter as woman at cricket match (uncredited)
* Mark Payton as Chapman
* Matthew Sim as Featherstonhaugh

Production

Background

E. M. Forster wrote ''Maurice'' in 1913–14, and revised it in 1932 and again in 1959–1960. Written as a traditional ''Bildungsroman'', or novel of character formation, the plot follows the title character as he deals with the problem of coming of age as a homosexual in the restrictive society of the Edwardian era. Forster, who had based his characters on real people, was keen that his novel should have a happy ending.Tomalin, ''Maurice Film Review'', Sight & Sound. Autumn 1987, p. 290 The author did not intend to publish the novel while his mother was alive, but he showed the manuscript to selected friends, such as Christopher Isherwood. Forster resisted publication during his lifetime because of public and legal attitudes to homosexuality. He was also ambivalent about the literary merits of his novel. A note found on the manuscript read: "Publishable, but worth it?" The novel was only published in 1971 after Forster's death. It is considered one of his minor works, in comparison with his novels ''Howards End'' (1910) and ''A Passage to India'' (1924).

James Ivory was interested in making a screen adaptation after the critical and box office success he achieved with another of Forster's novels, ''A Room with a View''. While involved in this earlier project Ivory had read all of Forster's books, and eventually came to ''Maurice''. "I thought," Ivory said, "that it was interesting material and would be enjoyable to make – and also something we could make in that it wouldn't require too much organization and wouldn't cost all that much." The situation it explores seemed to him to be still relevant: "People's turmoil and having to decide for themselves how they want to live and what their true feelings are and whether they're going to live honestly with them or deny them. That's no different. Nothing's any easier, for young people. I felt it was quite relevant."Long, '' The Films of Merchant Ivory'', p. 147

In his will, Forster left the rights to his books to King's College, Cambridge, which has a self-governing board of fellows of the college.Long, ''James Ivory in Conversation'', p. 211 They were initially reluctant to give permission to film ''Maurice'', not because of the subject matter of the novel, but because it was considered an inferior work, and a film that called attention to it would not enhance Forster's literary reputation.Long, ''The Films of Merchant Ivory'', p. 150 Ismail Merchant, the producer of the film, conferred with them and was very persuasive. They were favourably impressed with the adaptation by Merchant Ivory Productions of ''A Room with a View'' and relented.Long, ''The Films of Merchant Ivory'', p. 151

Writing

Ivory's usual writing partner, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, was unavailable because she was busy writing her novel ''Three Continents''. Ivory wrote the screenplay with Kit Hesketh-Harvey, who had become connected with Merchant Ivory Productions through his sister, journalist and author Sarah Sands (born Sarah Harvey), who was then the wife of Julian Sands, the leading man in ''A Room with a View''. Hesketh-Harvey had previously written documentaries for the BBC
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