The Remains of the Day (1993)

A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

Kazuo Ishiguro (novel), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, John Haycraft

Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Haycraft	...	Auctioneer
Christopher Reeve	...	Lewis
Anthony Hopkins	...	Stevens
Emma Thompson	...	Miss Kenton
Caroline Hunt	...	Landlady
James Fox	...	Lord Darlington
Peter Vaughan	...	Father
Paula Jacobs	...	Mrs. Mortimer, the Cook
Ben Chaplin	...	Charlie, Head Footman
Steve Dibben	...	George, Second Footman
Abigail Hopkins	...	Housemaid (as Abigail Harrison)
Patrick Godfrey	...	Spencer
Peter Cellier	...	Sir Leonard Bax
Peter Halliday	...	Canon Tufnell
Hugh Grant	...	Cardinal

Storyline

A rule bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in pre-WWII Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.

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Plot Keywords:

butler | housekeeper | manor | estate | class differences | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for themes

Details

Official Sites:

Merchant Ivory Productions [United States] Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

19 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lo que queda del día

Filming Locations:

Post Office, Limpley Stoke, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$22,954,968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Merchant Ivory Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Anthony Hopkins, as a guest on Inside the Actors Studio (1994), said that he got tips on how to play a butler from real-life butler Cyril Dickman, who served for fifty years at Buckingham Palace. The butler said there was nothing to being a butler, really, when you're in the room, it should be even more empty.

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Goofs

When Mr. Stevens is serving at the banquet, he stands behind Lord Darlington's chair empty-handed. Then he suddenly leaves the room to receive news of his father's death, but at the end of this scene he now has a decanter in his hand, which isn't used until the next scene when the guests have left the banquet, and have been in another room for quite some time.

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Quotes

[after telling Stevens she intends to accept Benn's marriage proposal]
Miss Kenton: Mister Stevens! Am I to take it that after all the years I have been in this house you have nothing else to say to me?
Stevens: You have my warmest congratulations.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Bebe's Kids (2010)

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Soundtracks

Roll Along Prairie Moon
Composed by Ted Fio Rito, Albert von Tilzer and Harry MacPherson
Performed by Gracie Fields

User Reviews

What do you most look forward to, Mr. Stevens?

The crowning achievement of the Ismail Merchant/James Ivory partnership and their entire production team who give their absolute best in original music, cinematography, editing, art and set direction, costumes, and, of course, screenplay by Merchant/Ivory regular Ruth Prawler Jhabvala. Add flawless performances from the all-star cast and the result is almost too perfect. But there is just enough humility to this sad tale of unrequited love to make it completely believable.

Anthony Hopkins excels as the impenetrable Mr. Stevens, Butler of a lordly country house in the final days of the British Empire, and Emma Thompson is superb as his foil, Housekeeper Miss Kenton. Both give wonderfully deep, sensitive portrayals of two complex lonely people who don't realize, until it's too late, that they belong together. Swirling around them is fascinating drama of life upstairs and downstairs and there are as many surprises and sub-plots to the story (based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro) as there are secret passages, nooks, and crannies in "Darlington House."

An all-round first-rate cinematic experience, "Remains of the Day" is one of those pictures that lingers in the mind long after the credits pass. A must see. One poignant note: this was the return to the big screen of actor Christopher Reeve, as American millionaire Congressman Lewis, whose life nicely frames the storyline. Two years later Reeve became paralyzed after being thrown from a horse.