James Ivory has been nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Call Me By Your Name. At 89, he is one of the oldest nominees ever in the history of Academy Awards. Ivory is best known for his partnership with Ismail Merchant (Merchant Ivory Productions), with whom he made most of his movies. All of these films are of an avant garde quality, but not all of them were written by James Ivory (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter he often collaborated with). That said, he’s written more than his fair share of screenplays, and you will definitely do yourself a favour by checking these films out.
Shakespeare Wallah
A 1965 film, Shakespeare Wallah stars Shashi Kapoor and is a film about a travelling troupe of actors who perform Shakespeare plays in India. Satyajit Ray gave the music for the film, and Madhur Jaffrey won the Best Actress award (Silver Bear) for 15th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Guru
James Ivory co-wrote the script for this film along with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and the story is about an English pop star coming to India to learn sitar from Ustad Zafar Khan (character’s name) who is renowned for his skills.
Bombay Talkie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAe6oCje7bc
Again starring Shashi Kapoor, and co-written by James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Bombay Talkie sees Kapoor play a famous Bollywood actor. He is the love interest of a British author who has come to India to research about the industry.
Maurice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xes0_e-9dH4&has_verified=1
A film based on the gay relationship between James Wilby (Maurice Hall) and Hugh Grant (Clive Durham), the screenplay (written by James Ivory and Kit-Hesketh-Harvey) has been adapted from an E.M. Forster novel by the same name.
Le Divorce
A 2003 film, which saw james Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala combine again to write a romantic comedy based on a novel (same name) by Diane Johnson. “If you are familiar with France and have a love-hate affair with that most cryptic of nations, you are likely to enjoy the movie from moment to moment, whether or not it adds up for you,” Roger Ebert wrote in a review for the film.
