The Merchant Ivory Collection - 23-DVD Box Set ( The Householder / Shakespeare-Wallah / Bombay Talkie / Savages / Roseland / Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures / The Europeans / Jane Austen in Manhattan / Quartet / Heat and Dust / The Courtesans of Bombay / The Bostonians / Maurice ) ( The Deceivers / The Perfect Murder / The Ballad of the Sad Café / Howards End / In Custody / The Proprietor / The Mystic Masseur )

The Merchant Ivory Collection - 23-DVD Box Set (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: The Householder / Shakespeare-Wallah / Bombay Talkie / Savages / Roseland / Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures / The Europeans / Jane Austen in Manhattan / Quartet / Heat and Dust / The Courtesans of Bombay / The Bostonians / Maurice
Alternate Title: The Deceivers / The Perfect Murder / The Ballad of the Sad Café / Howards End / In Custody / The Proprietor / The Mystic Masseur
Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Berlin International Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
Ceasar Awards
David Donatello Awards
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Venice Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/NTSC/Region 0 )

Running Time:
2180 min + 1226 min extras

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Box Set
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Collectors Edition
Commentary
Documentary
Interactive Menu
Multi-DVD Set
Scene Access
Short Film
Trailer(s)
Black & White
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1963 - 2001 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
India ( India, Eastern Asia )
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
James Ivory
Ismail Merchant
Nicholas Meyer
Zafar Hai
Simon Callow

Written By:
James Ivory
Michael O'Donoghue
Jane Austen
Jean Rhys
E.M. Forster
John Masters
H.R.F. Keating
Edward Albee
Jean-Marie Besset
Caryl Phillips

Actors:
Felicity Kendal ..... Lizzie Buckingham
Geoffrey Kendal ..... Mr. Tony Buckingham
Peggy Ashcroft ..... Lady Gee
Larry Pine ..... Clark Haven
Lee Remick ..... Eugenia Young
Robin Ellis ..... Robert Acton
Wesley Addy ..... Mr. Wentworth
Kristin Griffith ..... Lizzie Acton
Norman Snow ..... Mr. Brand
Helen Stenborg ..... Mrs. Acton
Tim Woodward ..... Felix Young
Anne Baxter ..... Lilliana Zorska
Michael Wager ..... George Midash
Kurt Johnson ..... Victor Charlton
Sean Young ..... Ariadne Charlton
Bernard Barrow ..... Mr. Polson
Lee H. Doyle ..... Mr. Jarvis
Bella Jarrett ..... Miss Klein
Naomi Riordan ..... Mrs. Polson
Alan Bates ..... H.J. Heidler
Maggie Smith ..... Lois Heidler
Isabelle Adjani ..... Marya 'Mado' Zelli
Jennifer Kendal ..... Mrs. Saunders (The Nineteen Twenties in the Civil Lines at Satipur)
Christopher Reeve ..... Basil Ransome
Vanessa Redgrave ..... Olive Chancellor
Jessica Tandy ..... Miss Birdseye
Madeleine Potter ..... Verena Tarrant
Nancy Marchand ..... Mrs. Burrage
Wesley Addy ..... Dr. Tarrant
Barbara Bryne ..... Mrs. Tarrant
Linda Hunt ..... Dr. Prance
Jon Van Ness ..... Henry Burrage
Wallace Shawn ..... Mr. Pardon
Dusty Maxwell ..... Newton Tarrant
James Wilby ..... Maurice Hall
Hugh Grant ..... Clive Durham
Rupert Graves ..... Alec Scudder
Denholm Elliott ..... Doctor Barry
Simon Callow ..... Mr. Ducie
Billie Whitelaw ..... Mrs. Hall
Barry Foster ..... Dean Cornwallis
Judy Parfitt ..... Mrs. Durham
Phoebe Nicholls ..... Anne Durham
Ben Kingsley ..... Lasker-Jones
Kitty Aldridge ..... Kitty Hall
Helena Michell ..... Ada Hall
Catherine Rabett ..... Pippa Durham
Pierce Brosnan ..... William Savage
Shashi Kapoor ..... Raja Chandra Singh
Gary Cady ..... Lt. Maunsell
Nayeem Hafizka ..... Sepoy
Vanessa Redgrave ..... Miss Amelia
Keith Carradine ..... Marvin Macy
Cork Hubbert ..... Cousin Lymon
Beth Dixon ..... Mary Hale
Lanny Flaherty ..... Merlie Ryan
Joe Stevens ..... Henry Ford Crimp
Vanessa Redgrave ..... Ruth Wilcox
Helena Bonham Carter ..... Helen Schlegel
Joseph Bennett ..... Paul Wilcox
Emma Thompson ..... Margaret Schlegel
Prunella Scales ..... Aunt Juley
Adrian Ross Magenty ..... Tibby Schlegel
Anthony Hopkins ..... Henry J. Wilcox
James Wilby ..... Charles Wilcox
Jemma Redgrave ..... Evie Wilcox
Samuel West ..... Leonard Bast
Susie Lindeman ..... Dolly Wilcox
Jeanne Moreau ..... Adrienne Mark
Sam Waterston ..... Harry Bancroft
Christopher Cazenove ..... Elliott Spencer
Nell Carter ..... Millie Jackson
Jean-Pierre Aumont ..... Franz Legendre
Austin Pendleton ..... Willy Kunst
Pierre Vaneck ..... Raymond T.K
Josh Hamilton ..... William O'Hara
James Fox ..... Mr. Stewart

Synopsis:

***WARNING***Film The Proprietor is PAL format only***
Merchant Ivory's films have been praised for their visual beauty, their mature and intelligent themes, their lavish sets and fine acting. FEATURE FILMS:
1. THE HOUSEHOLDER, 1963
2. SHAKESPEARE WALLAH, 1965
3. BOMBAY TALKIE, 1970
4. SAVAGES, 1972
5. ROSELAND, 1977
6. HULLABALOO OVER GEORGIE & BONNIES PICTURES, 1978
7. THE EUROPEANS, 1979
8. JANE AUSTIN IN MANHATTAN, 1980
9. QUARTET, 1981
10. HEAT AND DUST, 1983
11. THE COURTESANS OF BOMBAY, 1983
12. THE BOSTONIANS, 1984
13. THE DECEiVERS, 1988
14. THE PERFECT MURDER, 1988
15. THE BALLAD OF SAD CAF, 1991
16. HOWARDS END, 1992
17. IN CUSTODY, 1994
18. MAURICE, 1996
19. THE PROPRIETOR, 1996
20. THE MYSTIC MASSEUR, 2001
DOCUMENTARIES:
1. VENICE THEMES AND VARIATIONS, 1957
2. THE SWORD AND THE FLUTE, 1959
3. THE DELHI WAY, 1964
4. ADVENTURES OF A BROWN MAN IN SEARCH OF CIVILIZATION, 1972
5. HELEN QUEEN OF THE NAUTCH GIRLS, 1973
6. SWEET SOUNDS, 1976
7. STREET MUSICIANS OF BOMBAY, 1995
SHORT FILMS:
1. THE CREATION OF WOMAN, 1960
2. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PRINCESS, 1975
3. MAHATAMA AND THE MAD BOY, 1974

The Householder (1963)
The Householder was the very first collaboration between producer Ismael Merchant and James Ivory. A pleasant, low-key domestic comedy, the film details the travails of a young married couple. The husband (Shashi Kapoor) had wanted no part of the arranged marriage in the first place: now he must not only deal with a virtual stranger for a wife, but also a passle of financial headaches.

Shakespeare-Wallah (1965)
Elegiac and atmospheric, Shakespeare Wallah was the feature film that really put Merchant Ivory Productions on the international movie map. Starring Shashi Kapoor, Madhur Jaffrey, and a young Felicity Kendal, the film is inspired by the real-life adventures of Ms. Kendal's family as a traveling theater group in India during the final days of English colonial rule. The Buckingham Players try to uphold British tradition by staging Shakespeare plays for the general public, boarding schools, and local royalty, but are unable to compete with the wildly popular Bollywood film industry.

Bombay Talkie (1970)
Lucia Lane, an English writer by way of the US, arrives in Bombay to watch the filming of one of her novels. She's nearing middle age, she's had several husbands, she's lonely and self-absorbed. Hari, a screenwriter, offers to show her around. She's interested only in the film's leading man, Vikram, younger than she, married, and building a career as a matinee idol. Lucia takes every opportunity to be near 'V,' making scenes in front of his wife, demanding his attentions. Hari is long-suffering, carrying Lucia's messages to V, helping her out when the affair gets out of hand. Meanwhile, V's career suffers, with unpleasant repercussions. Who will bring things to a halt?

Savages (1972)
A tribe of primitive 'mudpeople' encounter a croquet ball, rolling through their forest. Following it, they find themselves on a vast, deserted Long Island estate. Entering, they begin to become civilized and assume the stereotypical roles and dress of people at a weekend party. There follows an allegory of upper-class behavior. At last, they begin to devolve toward their original status, and after a battle at croquet, they disappear into the woods.

Roseland (1977)
Three separate stories of the hopes of the lonely are told, with the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan as the setting. In 'The Waltz', recently widowed May, a graceful woman who was married to her husband Eddie for thirty-five years, mourns the loss of dancing with her long time partner. Although she initially thinks him crass, May chooses as her new dance partner Stan if solely for what link Stan seems to be able to provide to her past. Stan tries to steer her away from that past and look to her future. In 'The Hustle', a young man named Russel 'works' as a full time gigolo for the wealthy Pauline, who is on the far side of middle age. Russel meets the shy Marilyn, Pauline's friend who was recently jilted by her husband, with whom there is a mutual attraction. Cleo, Russel's former dance teacher, wants Russel as her professional dance partner despite him treating dance now merely as a past-time. Both Marilyn and Cleo try to get Russel away from the life he leads with Pauline, which may be difficult to do seeing as to the comfort that lifestyle affords. And in 'The Peabody', the elderly Rosa, who sees herself as a dance superstar, dreams of winning the regularly held Peabody dance contest at the ballroom. Her regular partner, Arthur, is not the best dancer, but he sees his relationship with Rosa in a slightly different light. They both hope they achieve their dream before the inevitability of life and death.

Hullabaloo Over Georgie & Bonnie's Pictures (1978)
Story of a Maharaja's legendary collection of miniature paintings and of the collectors who come to his palace to try and prise it away from him.

The Europeans (1979)
It's the fall of 1850, a few miles outside Boston. The household of the dour Mr. Wentworth receives two unannounced visitors from Europe, Eugenia and Felix, the daughter and son of his half sister. Gertrude, one of Wentworth's two daughters, is instantly infatuated with her cousins, thinking them sophisticated and worldly. She turns her back on the local Unitarian minister, Mr. Brand, who has been calling on her, to delight in the pleasure and amusement Felix offers. Another wealthy neighbor, Mr. Acton, is attracted to Eugenia, who is going through a divorce with a European aristocrat. Are the Americans being used by the penniless Europeans? Or is there real affection?

Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980)
Rival theater companies compete to produce their own unique versions of Jane Austen's childhood play ''Sir Charles Grandison'' in this delightful film from Merchant Ivory Productions. George Midash (Michael Wager) buys the play's manuscript at Sotheby's for Pierre (Robert Powell), the head of an avant-garde theater group. Another troupe, headed by the very traditional Lilianna Zorska (Anne Baxter), strives to produce its own version of the play. In her first film role, Sean Young costars as a young actress being manipulated by Pierre to leave her husband and to dedicate herself to join his financially strapped company. But when Lilianna decides to match wits with Pierre and steal the young woman herself, events begin to mirror those occurring within the play. A brilliant ensemble cast, a witty screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and an inventive score by Richard Robbins all contribute to make Jane Austen in Manhattan elegant entertainment.

Quartet (1981)
It's 1927 Paris. Following the conviction of her art dealer husband, Stephan Zelli, for theft for which he was handed a one-year prison sentence, Marya Zelli, originally from West India, moves in with her acquaintances, expatriate Brits H.J. and Lois Heidler. Marya knows that H.J. in particular has more in mind than just providing her lodging out of the goodness of his heart. From behind bars, Stephan encourages Marya to move in with them not knowing H.J.'s intentions. Marya agrees in part because she, being a foreigner, cannot get work and would thus become destitute otherwise. She learns she is the latest in a long line of lodgers. She also learns that H.J. and Lois' marriage is not all that it appears on the surface. The Heidler's hold on Marya becomes stronger when they convince her that Stephan not only has no money but has no future in France after his release. Their collective lives become more complicated when Stephan is released from jail and tries to figure out what he's going to do with his life to regain the high standard of living to which he became accustomed.

Heat and Dust (1983)
Anne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. The search leads back to the early 1920s, when Olivia, recently married to Douglas, a civil servant in the colonial administration, comes to live with him in India. Slowly, Olivia becomes fascinated by India and by the local ruler, a nawab who combines British distinction with Indian pomp and ruthlessness. This fascination is not without risks: the region is being ransacked by a group of sanguinary bandits, and intrigues are opposing the prejudiced British community led by Major Minnies and Dr. Saunders against the nawab. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.

The Courtesans of Bombay (1983)
Kareem Samar, Saeed Jaffrey, and Zohra Segal are professional actors who interact with actual inhabitants of the area. Samar portrays a rent collector representing a landlord who was a friend of Merchant and approved the project. Jaffrey's role is that of an actor whose infatuation with one of the dancers becomes an obsession, and Segal is a retired courtesan who recalls her earlier life when her aunt arranged for her care by a wealthy benefactor.

The Bostonians (1984)
Set in 19th century Boston. Concerns the relationship between a wealthy feminist spinster and her charismatic young disciple, who is the object of romantic attentions from the former's chauvinistic male cousin.

Maurice (1987)
Two male English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up his forbidden love, Maurice (pronounced 'Morris') and marries. While staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne, Maurice finally discovers romance in the arms of Alec, the gamekeeper. Written from personal pain, it's E.M. Forster's story of coming to terms with sexuality in the Edwardian age.

The Deceivers (1988)
Shortly after killing a tiger in 1825 British India, William Savage gets married to Sarah, the daughter of his commanding officer, Colonel Wilson. While preventing Gopal's widow from killing herself in accordance with the Hindu rite of 'Sati', he inadvertently comes across some wealthy people getting killed by thugs. With the help of Raja Chandra Singh, he discovers recently buried corpses and asks Wilson to get this investigated further, but is turned down, consistent with the British legacy of 'Do Nothing, Have Nothing Done, and Let No One Do Anything', and is pressurized to raise taxes. He then arrests a number of people, including Hussein, he believes to be thugs and holds them in a cell. He is compelled to release them after Wilson's instructions, as well as his transfer is arranged to another location. Before that could happen, he enlists the help of Hussein, changes his appearance, calls himself Gopal and joins the gang - consisting of both Hindus and Muslim - who are devotees of Devi Maa Kaali. He meticulously notes down details of their victims as the gang carries out gruesome tasks with impunity. Slowly he starts to realize that he may well be under Maa Kaali's influence after eating Gurd - consecrated sugar -; strangling the real Gopal, as well as being intimate with a courtesan. More shocks are in store for him when he finds out that the British turn a Nelson's eye to the gangs' crimes for a bribe, as well as he may well be accused of being an 'approver'.

The Perfect Murder (1988)
Police Inspector Ghote lives a middle-class life in Bombay along with his wife, Pratima. He has been employed with the Bombay Police for many years. His wife is generally disgruntled and wants a better life. He is assigned to investigate the deadly assault on a Parsi man named Perfect, who is the Secretary of Lala Heera Lal, a wealthy man with underworld links. Inspector Ghote commences his investigation and is displeased when his superiors ask him to work with a Swedish Forensic Expert by the name of Axel Svennson. Axel is thrilled to get a closer look at the working of the Bombay Police, but also realizes that Ghote may not be one of their best police officers. When their friendship develops, he gets invited to Ghote's house, and gets to meet Pratima. Their investigation, though Prima Facie simple enough, takes them through turns and twists that both had not expected - including corridors of power and corruption - and finally to the conclusion and the unmasking of the culprit(s) behind this incident.

The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991)
Marvin Macy doesn't return from prison to marry Amelia, he married Amelia before he went to prison, was rejected by her on their wedding night and was permanently relegated to sleep in a shed. She ruthlessly drives him away. Marvin returns after being released from prison to spoil the brief period of happiness Amelia has enjoyed with her newfound relation, which leads to the bare-knuckle fight.

Howards End (1992)
In Edwardian England, three families - representing three classes - have an impact on one another. The central characters are middle class sisters Margaret and Helen Schlegel. Margaret befriends the seriously ill Ruth Wilcox, matriarch of the Wilcox family who have a country estate known as Howard's End. The younger Helen takes an interest in Leonard Bast, a working class clerk. As Margaret gravitates towards the Wilcoxes, eventually marrying Henry Wilcox after Ruth's death, Helen identifies more and more with Leonard and his wife, particularly after advice they've given him - originally from Henry Wilcox - turns out to be incorrect and for which Leonard pays a heavy price. The clash among them leads to tragedy.

In Custody (1994)
An editor asks Deven, a teacher who loves Urdu poetry, to interview poet Nur Shahjehanabadi, an aging whale of a man. Deven goes to Bhopal from Mirpur to meet Nur, of whom he is in awe. He finds him living with feuding wives, visited by sycophants who drink his whisky and eat his food. Deven wants to record Nur for posterity and seeks funds to buy an aged tape recorder, to bribe Safiya, the elder wife, to get Nur into a room at a brothel for a week for the recording, and to feed Nur's pals who show up. Nur's beautiful second wife, Imtiaz, wants to be taken seriously as a poetess. Dever dismisses her and ignores his own wife and child much as Nur does. In the end, what is preserved?

The Proprietor (1996)
An expatriated French novelist (Jeanne Moreau) returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block. What she doesn't count on is that she has to confront many old issues dating back to her childhood and bringing herself full circle to her present day life.

The Mystic Masseur (2001)
An enthusiastic young man in Trinidad in the 1940s rises to local fame after leaving a teaching post in the capital to live in his father's village where he writes books and takes up his father's trade as a masseur. Showmanship informs his innocent exuberance to make him 'mystic.' He's Ganesh, a Trinidadian of Indian descent, called The Pundit by his followers, who with Leela, his childless wife, ascends to success in a flashback that begins in Oxford in 1954 when a student volunteers to give a day's guided tour to a visiting West Indian. The visitor is Ganesh, whom the student recognizes from childhood: the memory, as well as the student's rite of passage, begins.

The Householder (1963)
The Householder is a film by Merchant Ivory Productions, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory, and direction of James Ivory. It is based upon the 1960 novel of the same name by Jhabvala.

Shakespeare-Wallah (1965)
The story of a family troupe of English actors in India. They travel around the towns and villages giving performances of Shakespearean plays. Through their travels we see the changing face of India as the old is replaced by the new, Maharajas become hotel owners, sports become more important than culture and the theater is replaced by Bolliwood movies.

Bombay Talkie (1970)
Story of Lucia Lane, an American writer visiting India in search of new ideas and sensations, who becomes involved with a Bombay film company, and with Vikram, a film idol, and Hari, a film writer.

Savages (1972)
A band of savages move from an unspecified forest into a large house where, in the space of a day, they become civilized and then decline back into savagery, returning to the forest and their original state.

Roseland (1977)
Roseland is New York's most famous ballroom. The dreams of its aging dancers are presented in three separate stories. A widow who has been living in the past, finds happiness with a widower; a gigolo simultaneously breaks the hearts of three women; and the final story concerns an elderly couple whose remaining ambition is to win a contest.

Hullabaloo Over Georgie & Bonnie's Pictures (1978)
Two art collectors vie against each other to acquire a collection of priceless miniature paintings from a young Maharaja.

The Europeans (1979)
Boston, 1850. Accompanied by her brother Felix, the Baroness Munster - Eugenia - arrives from Europe to seek out the wealthy American cousins they have never met: Mr. Wentworth and his son and daughters. No longer young, Eugenia is fortune-hunting since her morganatic marriage to a German prince is threatened with dissolution.

Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980)
Drama, set in New York, which tells of the rivalry between a young avant-garde theatre producer and his former drama teacher, both of whom want to stage productions of 'Sir Charles Grandison' - a fragment of a play, written by the young Jane Austen.

Quartet (1981)
Marya finds herself penniless after her art dealer husband, Stephan, is convicted of theft. Marya accepts the hospitality of a strange couple, H.J. and Lois Heidler, who lets her live in their house.

Heat and Dust (1983)
About the experiences of two young English women in India, two generations apart, in the 1920s and 1980s. Anne, a young historical researcher, inherits letters written by her great aunt Olivia, and becomes obsessed with their revelation of an exotic and sensual past.

The Courtesans of Bombay (1983)
Part-documentary film about the courtesans and dancing girls of present day India.

The Bostonians (1984)
19th-century Boston woman dedicated to the suffrage movement, meets a faith healer's daughter, a Mississippi lawyer also has eyes for the young woman.

Maurice (1987)
The homosexual affair of two students at Cambridge in 1911.

The Deceivers (1988)
In 1825, India lives under fear. A mysterious religion's followers murder everyone that stands against their plans. When William Savage, a tax-collector of a British-Indian company, discovers the sect and decides to solve the mystery...

The Perfect Murder (1988)
Based on the award-winning novel by H.R.F. Keating, Merchant Ivory Productions' The Perfect Murder is a highly entertaining, exotic detective thriller. Inspector Ghote (Naseeruddin Shah) of the Bombay police has just been assigned his most perplexing case: a savage attack on a rich industrialist's private secretary. Together with a visiting Swedish criminologist (Stellan Skarsgard), he begins his investigation, and the clues, and suspects, begin to pile up. As Ghote edges closer to the truth, he discovers he may not be dealing with murder at all, but something far more complex and profitable.

The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991)
Set in a small Southern U.S. town in the 1930's, the film centres around a strong-willed woman who threw her husband out on their wedding night and became a legendary figure.

Howards End (1992)
Encounter of three social classes of the England at the beginning of the century: the victorian capitalists (the Wilcoxes) considering themselves as aristocrats, whose only god is money; the enlightened bourgeois (the Schlegels), humanistic and philanthropist; and the workers (the Basts), fighting to survive. The Schlegel sisters' humanism will be torn apart as they try both to softly knock down the Wilcox's prejudices and to help the Basts.

In Custody (1994)
One of India's renowned poets, Nur, now leads a comfortable life, surrounded by well-wishers, fellow-poets, several wives, and relatives. This is what struggling writer, Deven, expected to write about Nur when he was assigned to write about him. What he found was a grossly overweight male, surrounded by greedy friends and relatives, and three wives - one a bitter older woman, Safiya; second a neglected but talented one named Imtiaz, and the third, Sarla, a shrewd and calculating woman, who was selling Nur's poems as her own. Will Deven's presence initiate some change in Nur's lifestyle, or will Deven himself become one of Nur's lazy followers.

The Proprietor (1996)
A successful French author is haunted by memories of her mother being taken away by the Nazis.

The Mystic Masseur (2001)
Ganesh, a struggling author, finds his fortune when he discovers he has an ability to cure people's minds.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 06 August, 2012.