10 Things to Know About 'The Bostonians'

The Bostonians was released in August 1984 to rave reviews and an eventual Oscar nominatoon for star Vanessa Redgrave. The film, based on a novel by Henry James c0-stars Christopher Reeve and Madeleine Potter and tells the story of a young feminist, Potter, torn between a man she's falling in love with and the mentor, Redgrave, who has given her life purpose and passion.

The film was adapted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismael Merchant.

Here are 10 Things to Know About The Bostonians

10 Legendary Movie Star Lillian Gish Was NOT a Fan of the Script

In a December 1983 profile, legendary movie star Lillian Gish wasn’t asked about The Bostonians but decided to drag the film’s script regardless. The 87 year old Gish was responding to a question about why she turned down so many scripts and decided to cite The Bostonians as something she’d recently turned down.

“I want a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Some people are planning a film of The Bostonians by Henry James, but I turned it down. The script they sent me I couldn’t understand, and my character was one I couldn’t play.”

It’s not confirmed that Gish turned down the role that eventually went to Jessica Tandy but that’s what most people believe based on their respective ages at the time.

9 Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Received A Prestigious Honor While Making The Bostonians

The partnership at the front of most movie posters is Merchant-Ivory, but both Ismael Merchant and James Ivory would tell you that their partnership would not receive above the title billing without the impeccable screenwriting talent of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

As The Bostonians was wrapping production in 1983, Prawer-Jhabvala was the recipient of the most prestigious honor in English academics when she was named a Fellow of Queen Mary’s College by the University of London. The honour was bestowed by Princess Anne, the Great-Granddaughter of Queen Mary herself. The fellowship included a Doctor of Literature Degree.

Prawer-Jhabvala was just coming off of a London Critics Circle Award for her screenplay for the Merchant-Ivory film Heat and Dust.

8 Glen Close Was “Fired” from The Bostonians

Okay, that’s just a bit of hyperbole, allegedly. When Merchant-Ivory began casting the film they’d wanted Vanessa Redgrave for the role of Olive but she declined the role. Star Christopher Reeve then recommended Glen Close who was quickly hired as production was just beginning. However, Close was then offered a much bigger Hollywood movie, The Natural.

Close initially attempted to work out a schedule that could allow her to make both movies but the schedule didn’t work. By that time, Vanessa Redgrave had changed her mind and was available for the role. Far Out Magazine in England reported that director James Ivory had fired Close over the last minute scheduling issue. But that has since been walked back to being just a schedule dispute.

It worked out well for Close who went on to Win Best Supporting Actress for The Natural. But it also worked out for Vanessa Redgrave who earned a Best Actress nomination for The Bostonians.

7 An Interesting Quote

This is more about director James Ivory and our fascination with directors, but nevertheless, The Bostonians was in post-production when Ivory was interviewed to promote Heat and Dust and he gave a fascinating insight in the film watching experience:

“Sometimes people persist in seeing the movie they think they’re watching, rather than the one the director made.”

6 Christopher Reeve Worked on a Discount

After starring in Superman 1 and 2, Christopher Reeve became one of the biggest and higuhest paid actors in the world. But deep inside, Reeve wanted to be an actor again. The idea of a Henry James novel adapted by Merchant-Ivory, was just what Reeve was looking for. But, Merchant-Ivory didn’t exactly have the budget to hire one of the biggest strs in the world.

So, Reeve accepted a massive pay cut. Boston Globe Film Critic Michael Blowen profiled Reeve as he worked in Boston on The Bostonians and reported that Reeve accepted a salary that amounted to 10% of his usual salary, around $50,000 dollars.

5 Legendary New York Times Film Critic Vincent Canby Had High Praise for The Bostonians

In his 1984 year end movie column in the New York Times, venerated film critic Vincent Canby reserved high praise for The Bostonians, writing:

“The Bostonians. Of all of the films that have been based on novels by Henry James, this one, by the long running team of director James Ivory, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and producer Ismael Merchant is, by far, the best."

4 Christopher Reeve’s No Good, Very Bad Take

The great majority of Movies of the 80s fans would likely consider themselves fans of Christopher, best known as Clark Kent and Superman, and we have no interest in changing that. That said, an October 1984 profile on Reeve in the L.A Times raised some problematic questions about his opinion of the gay community.

Describing things he loved about Henry James’ work, Reeve is quoted as saying:

“The moral ambiguities of the characters are really interesting. All of his characters have noble aspirations and lead feet. He’s a master of contradictions. Olive is a woman who is talking feminism, having to battle her homosexual impulses…”

It gets worse from there. Read more about this and The Bostonians in our Substack deep dive.

3 Shakespeare in the Park

Madeleine Potter made her film debut in The Bostonians and delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance. While she’d appeared on Broadway, it was actually a performance of Shakespeare in the Park, a role in Richard III, that brought her to the attention of the Merchant-Ivory team leading to her role in The Bostonians.

2 Few Authors Rival Henry James as an Inspiration for Movies

The novels and short stories of Henry James are among the most adapted in film history. More than 150 films have inspiration from James’s work, full on adaptations or inspired by credits date back to at least 1933. The Bostonians is one of the least adapted works overall while Turn of the Screw is bar far the most often adapted of James’ works with at least 28 films claiming a basis on James’ novel.

1 Low Budgets and the Ability to Disagree Respectively

The Merchant-Ivory team has become legendary, staying together for decades and making iconic films around the world. In 1984, when promoting The Bostonians, James Ivory and Ismael Merchant talked about their creative and business partnership and laid out the keys to their long time partnership. According to Merchant, the success has to do with keeping budgets low, leaving plenty of room for profits to make the next movie.

Asked if the pair ever argued, Merchant said, of course, most often over casting. Merchant likes casting movie stars while Ivory wants the right actor. A great example of this was the casting of James Mason in the Merchant-Ivory movie, Autobiography of a Princess. Ivory felt Mason was too glamorous for the role and the duo butted heads until Merchant finally won out. Lucky for him, Mason was incredible in the film.