Introduction (“The Remains of the Day”) – By Emily Cowell, Jeremy Dahm, Sam Craham, Addison Duffy and Andrew Schmidt
For the James Ivory film assignment, our group researched the 1993 film, The Remains of the Day, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Through the generosity of James Ivory, we were able to have the opportunity to look through boxes of primary source documents regarding this Merchant Ivory film. From letters to blueprints, reviewing each of these documents allowed us to have more insight into the production, promotion, and exhibition of the film than we could ever think of.
Though The Remains of the Day was one of the largest productions that Merchant Ivory worked on, there was no cost spared for the attention to detail. Filmed using five different historical locations over three months, Ivory made sure to do justice to Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel. Relishing in its lavish setting in 1930s England, the character driven plot explores relationships and internal battles in an engaging and ultimately devastating manner. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards and running against films such as Schindler’s List, The Remains of the Day was one of Merchant-Ivory’s most acclaimed films.
Many of the items in the special collections regarding The Remains of the Day we found had to do with its production. Among the boxes there were many of Ivory’s notes on the setting of the film, different versions of scripts, detailed call sheets, letters, and almost anything else regarding the film imaginable. This showed our group exactly how much work went into a production of this scale and in what manner Merchant Ivory Production decided to explore its themes. Overall, we came to realize that above all else, Merchant Ivory has a marvelous penchant for detail, and that each item in the special collections reinforced this fact.
Synopsis – The Remains of the Day (1993 James Ivory)
Our story begins post-WWII England following our main character Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins). Mr. Stevens is head butler of Darlington hall where he works now for an American Senator by the name of Lewis (Christopher Reeve). Stevens requests of Lewis that he allow Mr. Stevens to take a trip to the sea for the purpose of meeting Ms. Kenton (Emma Thompson) the previous housekeeper of Darlington hall whom Mr. Stevens was close with. During her letter narration to Mr. Stevens, the film flashes back to the late 1930s, when Ms. Kenton just arrived at the hall. Mr. Stevens is head butler to Lord Darlington, a well-meaning but naive British Lord. Supporting Germany out of their depression post-WWI, Darlington unknowingly was duped into funding the Nazi regime that began WWII. Mr. Stevens, loyal and concerned with the utmost dignity of being a professional butler, he does anything Lord Darlington asks of him with no question. Void of emotion and opinion, Mr. Stevens is but a hollow shell of a man, only concerned with eliminating distractions and working out staff issues. Ms. Kenton was fascinated with Mr. Stevens because of this fact and showed signs of attraction to him yet their relationship would never manifest. Lord Darlington years later dies an embittered man and only then does Mr. Stevens come to the realization of how misplaces his loyalty might have been all of those years. Flash back to the beginning of our story in which Mr. Stevens is trying to amend the relationship between him and Ms. Kenton, only to find it is too late and that his own dignity of being a butler would be the only thing he has left. His over concern with discipline and dignity left him without happiness and love.
Emily Cowell
When looking through the James Ivory papers regarding the 1993 film, The Remains of the Day, I became fascinated with the details regarding production. The first item that drew my eye was a collection of call sheets for each day of filming. It was at first extremely interesting how every minute detail of the day was planned to the minute, but after looking over each of the sheets I made many small discoveries that explored the relationship that the crew members had with one another. One such piece was toward the end of the call sheets on sheet No. 54 in the unit notes. It read, “Gengis would like to thank all of the crew (except Stuart) for the wonderful experience he has had”. It is the little things like this that show the camaraderie and personality of the people working on the film.
Another item that I found had to do with the narration scripts. This document was interesting because not only does it act like a call sheet, outlining times and scenes to do, but it has the script for recording on it as well. On it, there are also edits from the original printed lines, changing some words here and there. It was created in order for the actors to read which narration lines need to be recorded, but its context becomes more clear when relating it to what lies around it in the folder. This is because the previous sets of documents were many drafts of the same narration lines, some typed out, some written, and some typed with heavy edits. This goes to show that the screen writing isn’t really ever done until the scenes are actually recorded.
The third item was a letter from Richard Robbins, who worked on 10 Merchant/Ivory films, to James Ivory about a duet, which although did not make it into the film, was extremely fun to look at. Though it was in an envelope labeled ‘Urgent’ the actual letter was actually quite informal, handwritten on Norfolk Hotel notepaper, and talked about singing drunkenly 3:00am. This is important to note, as it really shows the relationship between the different members working on films.
The vast amount of information and personal items for The Remains of the Day provided for us in special collections made choosing a topic very difficult. However, after watching the film I became quite interested in the location that it was filmed. The lavish and extravagant setting was rich, but tasteful and it really was very stunning. This made me dive into the folders about locations. These folders were full of postcards and publications on various locations that were to be scouted for the film. All in all, 5 different houses (more like mansions) made up Darlington Hall. A really interesting blueprint of Darlington Hall was included in one of the folders. It showed the different rooms used from each house all put together to form Darlington Hall. This is a very important aspect to the setting because it is important to have your bearings as you are walking around a house that does not really exist. In the film, the character could be going from the kitchen, which is located in “House A”, to the billiards room, which is located in “House C”. The ability to visualize the layout of this “sandwiched” house is imperative, and yet not something that I ever thought about.
Another interesting item that I found in the folder was a document listing the vastly numerous changes that had to happen to each room in order for it to successfully portray the time period in which the movie takes place. A lot of money and hard work goes into those minute details, and is again something that I never really considered. These changes ranged from covering light fixtures to replacing radiator grates to reconditioning a fireplace to make it useable. There are also detailed maps of where all the original furniture, art, etc. was placed in the room so that they could return it to the exact position as when they first walked into the estate.
There was so much information packed into these folders, and I am truly amazed by how much stuff James Ivory saves. However, I am thankful because it allowed us to all get some really incredible insight to how the production/promotion/distribution of a film works.
Sam Graham
While going through the boxes I came across an article. The article was called “A Merchant Ivory Treatment.” In the article I came across a quote by Ismail Merchant where he stated, “James was very precise. He was looking for a classical house whose personality inhabited every scene. We treated its selection as we would that of a major star.” This quote made it evident that the setting in this movie was a character itself. While watching the film it is clear how much effort was put into perfecting each location. The movie opens with two cars going down a twisting road that then opens up to a magnificent stately home. Instantly the location is the first thing noticed. Finding the perfect location was more difficult than it seemed in the film. Merchant and Ivory toured western England’s stately homes. They couldn’t find the right singular home, but they found perfection in certain aspects of every home. So they did a technique called sandwiching, which means stringing together rooms from several locations to make one location in the film. This stringing together allowed Ivory to create a perfect character in the setting. He picked Dyrham Park for exterior shots, Corsham Court for its art galleries, Badminton House for the kitchen, butlers pantry, and servants bedrooms, and finally Powderham Castle for their plush staterooms. They were between houses so much that Ivory was quoted saying, “Sometimes you wake up in the morning and can’t remember where you are.” Ivory was very passionate about making sure the location and setting were perfect emulations of an English estate of the 1930’s. “If we’re working in a period, I owe it to the audience to make them feel they’re being transported to that place and time without any distractions. That means when I look through the camera, I want to see the 1930’s,” Ivory stated. In The Remains of the Day, the location of Darlington Hall becomes a character in itself. It helps establish the film’s tone, historical and cultural context, and serves as a backdrop to the character’s psychological state of mind.
One thing I found in the James Ivory Papers was a small book titled “Reminder List of Eligible Releases” and in it, there was a list of all the films released that year that qualified under award rules that year for an Oscar and with it, was a letter stating that there was a ballot attached, along with a description of all the different rules when voting. The voting process requires you to choose a top choice and alternate choices. I was drawn to this document for a few reasons. One, because it was fascinating to see the other films that had come out that same year, ones that a lot of us know today such as Shindlers List and Jurassic Park. I also found this document remarkable because it shows that there is a very tight community inside the film industry. James Ivory had his film listed in the booklet and yet he was given a ballot for the directing award and was asked to vote.
An additional document I found was a packet of casting sheets. The casting notes were what I was expecting but also not what I expected in the way that the notes were mostly about looks, not acting style.
Lastly, I found a document with edits from James Ivory and it was very telling of how the film was made. James Ivory was filming Mr. And Mrs. Bridge and an actor on set, Remak Ramsay gave the book Remains of the Day to James after he read it because he thought that James would be interested. After the first page James said he was hooked and knew he wanted to make it into a film. He wanted to make it into a film but he learned that it had already been optioned to Harold Pinter who was adapting it into a screenplay for Mike Nichols. Nichols was already slated to film a different movie at the time and realized he didn’t have the time. James Ivory got wind of this and went through his agent to get in touch with Nichols. They decided they could trust Ivory. James believes that Nichols felt this way because Howards End had just come out, which was a successful Merchant Ivory film. When Nichols was on the project he was already in talks with Hopkins and Thompson who had also read the book and used they agents to get in touch with Nichols about auditioning for parts. James said the script that Harold had written was a bit too dark and “Pinteresque” (meaning too much of a Pinter sounding script) so he ended up taking Harold out of the equation because it did not feel like a Merchant Ivory Film.
After watching the film, The Remains of the Day, I was fascinated with the last scene of the film involving Mr. Stevens and Senator Lewis catch a bird that has accidentally found its way in through the chimney. They let the bird go and Mr. Stevens watches it fly away into the distance. I felt this scene was important in the sense that it brought about closure to Mr. Stevens’ choices of figuratively sacrificing his life to be a butler, losing the one he loved to the wind. Going into the Ivory Special Collections I knew I wanted to focus specifically on the adaptation from the book to the screenplay. Reading Ivory’s copy of The Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro, I found that there was no such scene in the end of the book, in fact much of the ending in the film was very different from how the book itself ends. This fact was indeed interesting and I wanted to dive deeper into understanding where the inspiration for this scene came from and why their screenplay writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala as well as James Ivory had such intensions to change it. I stumbeled upon a folder titled “dispute between Hopkins and Ivory concerning the last scene” and I was immediately intrigued. First, I found a letter written from Anthony Hopkins to Ismail Merchant and James Ivory explaining that he deeply regrets and strongly disagrees with Ruth’s ending, and the fact that it almost has no continuity with the ending of the book. He would rather that they use the origional screenplay writer’s (Harold Pinter) ending because it is so in line with the conclusion of the novel. Hopkins states, “to change the end so drastically will only diminish the story and take away from the energy of the film.” Ivory however disagrees with Hopkins in which he writes back with a reply that he does not believe it is a good idea to end a film with two characters speaking in rather abstract terms where one of the characters is not even introduced or has had any relevance to the story. Ivory makes the comparison of how Darlington dies at the end of his life and asks Hopkins (almost rhetorically) if they should leave Stevens to the same fate of “simply to totter off and die?” Ivory believed there should be a chance of redemption for Stevens in that at least he could keep his dignity in being butler for the remainder of his days. Hopkins eventually agreed with his logic and believed it was an acceptable adaptation and thus the film’s final scene was born rather than the books melancholic ending.
Conclusion:
The James Ivory papers that were provided to us so generously by Ivory through the university are an invaluable way to get an inside scoop on the film industry. The vast library of documents and personal mementos gave both a business view, and a look into the relationships that form while filming. Whether we were flipping through auditions or scouring over production notes, there was never a moment where the information was lacking.
Through our scouring and attention to detail, we were able to truly discover Mr. Ivory’s penchant for detail. Even though The Remains of the Day was a large scale production, the biggest that Ivory had ever attempted, it is easy to see that Ivory did not sacrifice his attention to detail. Whether it was the cast, the score, the location, or the set, all choices made fit into the film perfectly. You are able to see this through his detailed blueprints and layouts, his extensive list for mise-en-scene and set construction, and through his personal notes and letters on the score.
All in all, James Ivory did not let the challenge of creating a Hollywood blockbuster get in between him and his attention for minute details. In fact, The Remains of the Day just may have been his most beautifully executed story of his career. The lavish, extravagant, and quite stunning locations used paired up with great characters and the perfect execution of creating this world in a different time period all contributed to the success of the film. Through this film James Ivory showed that no tiny detail would be sacrificed due to the scope of making a blockbuster film.
Works Cited:
Hopkins, Anthony. “Merchant Ivory MIP NY.” Letter to Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. 14 Aug. 1992. MS. 14 Alexander Place, London. Box 4, Folder 7, James Ivory papers in special collections research center, University of Oregon libraries, 1501 Kincaid street, Eugene OR 97403. 12 May 2014
Ivory, James. The Remains of the Day location notes. Box 42, Folder 3. Coll. 283 James Ivory Papers. Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. 13 May 2014.
Ivory, James. The Remains of the Day budget notes. Box 42, Folder 9B. Coll. 283 James Ivory Papers. Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. 13 May 2014.
Ivory, James. A Merchant Ivory Treatment. June 1993. Box 45, Folder 8. University of Oregon Special Collections & Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR. 7 May 2014.
Ivory, James. “MIP Merchant Ivory Productions.” Letter to Anthony Hopkins. 15 Aug. 1992. MS. 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1913A, New York City, New York. Box 4, Folder 7. James Ivory papers in special collections research center, University of Oregon libraries, 1501 Kincaid street, Eugene OR 97403. 17 April 2014
Production-Casting Pages. Box 42, Folder 12. James Ivory papers. Coll 283, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. May 7th, 2014
Promotion-Academy Awards. Box 45, Folder 1. James Ivory papers. Coll 283, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. May 7th, 2014
Promotion-Video-Casting Pages. Box 42, Folder 5. James Ivory papers. Coll 283, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. May 7th, 2014
The Remains of the Day call sheet No. 54. November 1993. Box 43, Folder 7. University of Oregon Special Collections & Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR. 7 May 2014.
Further Readings:
Ishiguro, Kazuo. The remains of the day. New York: Knopf :, 1989. Print.
“Ismail Merchant: In Memory.” Roger Ebert. Web. 16 May 2014.
“The Remains of the Day.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 17 May 2014.
“Special Features.” The Remains of the Day. Dir. James Ivory. Columbia , 1993. DVD
“The Workdwide Guide to Movie Locations.”Webmaster, nd. Web. 16 May 2014.