Howards End (1992)

A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

E.M. Forster (novel), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Stars:

Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson

Won 3 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Jo Kendall	...	Annie
Anthony Hopkins	...	Henry J. Wilcox
James Wilby	...	Charles Wilcox
Jemma Redgrave	...	Evie Wilcox
Ian Latimer	...	Stationmaster
Samuel West	...	Leonard Bast
Mary Nash	...	Pianist
Siegbert Prawer	...	Man Asking a Question
Susie Lindeman	...	Dolly Wilcox

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

england | friendship | working class | middle class | prejudice | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language, violence and sensuality

Details

Country:

UK Japan

Language:

English German

Release Date:

13 March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Casa Howard

Filming Locations:

Admiralty Arch, The Mall, St. James's, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$25,967,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Merchant Ivory Productions, Sumitomo Corporation, Imagica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics.

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Goofs

When Charlie and Dolly Wilcox are hiding from Margaret Schlegel in the castle, the scene closes with low angle wide shot of the castle with a view of the sky behind it, revealing several aircraft contrails. There were no aircraft capable of leaving high-altitude contrails in the time period this movie is set in.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Margaret Schlegel: [reading letter] Dearest Meg, I'm having a glorious time. I like them all. They are the very happiest, jolliest family that you can imagine. The fun of it is that they think me a noodle, and say so - at least, Mr. Wilcox does. Oh Meg, should we ever learn to talk less.
[laughing]

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Connections

Referenced in Everybody Loves Raymond: Your Place or Mine? (1996)

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Soundtracks

"La Danse"
(1906)
Music by André Derain
© 1992 Artists Rights Society, New York/ADAGP
Courtesy of the Fridard Foundation

User Reviews

A Journey Everyone Should Take

The literary period piece is a difficult genre to master, requiring a difficult balancing between restraint and flowing emotion. Few films effectively achieve this as beautifully as Merchant-Ivory's astounding HOWARDS END, making it probably the best period film of the 1990's. The film juxtapositions the intellectual, emotionally unhindered Schlegel sisters against the restrained, imperious Wilcox family, and, for good measure, mixes in the differing attitudes toward class emerging early in the century. What could quite easily have been a dry study in the cultural dynamics of pre-WWI England becomes an enveloping tale, thanks in no small part to the performances by Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and Vanessa Redgrave, whose Ruth Wilcox remains enigmatic after every viewing. The emotions ringing through by film's end - not to mention its astoundingly pointed social criticism - give the film its power, a power missing even from Forster's rambling, distant novel. And this story is nestled amongst some of the most beautiful art direction, music, and cinematography to ever grace the screen. The haunting journey to HOWARDS END is one few other recent films can rival.