Oscar Profile #157: Henry James

Born April 15, 1843 in New York City to wealthy parents, Henry James was one of the best known intellectuals in mid-19th Century America. He spent his first twenty years traveling back and forth between the U.S. and Europe. At 19 he briefly studied law at Harvard but preferred reading literature and soon dropped out. He published his first short story in 1864 at the age of 21 and his first novel in 1871. Having lived for a time in Paris, he moved to London in 1876, later to Rye in Sussex. He made a brief return to America in 1905. In the interim most of his works were about Americans living abroad.

Among James’ most famous novels are The American (1877); The Europeans (1878); Washington Square (1880); The Portrait of a Lady (1881); The Bostonians (1886); What Maisie Knew (1897); The Wings of the Dove (1892); The Ambassadors (1903); The Golden Bowl (1904); The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past both published posthumously (1917).

Among his most famous short stories and novellas are Poor Richard (1867); Traveling Companions (1867); Daisy Miller (1878); A Bundle of Letters (1879); The Aspern Papers and The Liar (1888); The Pupil (1891); The Turn of the Screw (1898); The Real Thing (1899); Mrs. Medwin (1901) and The Jolly Corner (1908).

Although he wrote fifteen plays, only one was performed on Broadway during his lifetime. The most famous plays made from his works were adapted by others.
James became a British citizen in 1915 out of loyalty to his adopted country and in protest over American’s refusal to enter into World War I. He suffered two strokes at the end of that year and died on February 28, 1916 at the age of 72.

119 films to date have been made from James’ works. They include 1933’s Berkeley Square (from The Sense of the Past); 1947’s The Lost Moment (from The Aspern Papers; 1949’s The Heiress (from Washington Square; 1961’s The Innocents (from The Turn of the Screws); 1974’s Daisy Miller; 1979’s The Europeans; 1984’s The Bostonians; 1996’s The Portrait of a Lady; 1997’s The Wings of the Dove; 2000’s The Golden Bowl and 2013’s What Maisie Knew. Many of these have had multiple versions produced. There have been 28 versions of The Turn of the Screw alone, most of them produced for TV. The Heiress (based on Washington Square) remains the most popular of his works turned into plays. It has been revived four times since its original 1947 Broadway production. The last time in 2012 with Jessica Chastain.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

BERKELEY SQUARE (1933), directed by Frank Lloyd

Based on James’ last, unfinished novel, The Sense of the Past, this was the first and best of the time travel love stories that pop up from time to time. Leslie Howard received his first Oscar nomination as the modern man who goes back in time to find his true love, nicely played by Heather Angel.

It was successfully remade eighteen years later as I’ll Never Forget You with Tyrone Power and Ann Blyth.

THE HEIRESS (1949), directed by William Wyler

James’ Washington Square was the basis for the play which was adapted for the screen by its authors Ruth and Augustus Goetz.

Wyler’s meticulous direction and the performances of Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland as the plain Jane title character and Oscar nominee Ralph Richardson as her cruel father are the film’s greatest assets, but there are other compensations as well, including Aaron Copeland’s score; the art direction and costume design, all of which won Oscars in addition to de Havilland’s triumphant victory. Montgomery Clift and Miriam Hopkins co-starred.

THE INNOCENTS (1961), directed by Jack Clayton

James’ most famous story, The Turn of the Screw was the source material for Clayton’s atmospheric psychological horror film about a susceptible governess, beautifully played by Deborah Kerr, who comes to believe that the children in her charge are possessed by their former governess and valet.

The Innocents has long been considered one of the great ghost stories as well as one of the best literary adaptations of all time.

THE WINGS OF THE DOVE (1997), directed by Iain Softley

This exquisitely filmed version of James’ passionate novel was nominated for four Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography; Costume Design as well as Best Actress for Helena Bonham Carter in one of her most affecting performances as the schemer who puts her impoverished lover (Linus Roache) together with a dying rich American friend (Alison Elliot) in Venice.

The performances of Roache and Eliot are also excellent, as is that of Charlotte Rampling in a pivotal supporting role.

WHAT MAISIE KNEW (2013), directed by Scott McGehee, David Siegel

McGehee and Siegel, who successfully remade The Reckless Moment into The Deep End more than a decade ago, have done an admirable job with their updating of another classic – James’ oft-filmed novel about a young girl with horrible parents.

Seen through the eyes of six year-old Maisie (Onata Aprile), her mother (Julianne Moore) is a self-absorbed rock singer and her father (Steve Coogan) is an equally self-absorbed businessman. The two divorce and Maisie is shunted between the two, with Coogan marrying Maisie’s nanny (Joanna Vanderham) and Moore marrying a young bartender (Alexander Skarsgard). Both parents defer Maisie’s upbringing to their new spouses who ultimately fall in love with each other and form what appears to be a happily-ever-after relationship with the girl. The film wisely omits James’ more sobering ending in which Maisie chooses to live a more stable nanny, fearing that her parents’ spouses will eventually tire of her just as her real parents did.