Oregon Movies, A to Z

“It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.” Henry James, to H. G. Wells

James Ivory’s adaptation of Henry James novel The Bostonians stars Vanessa Redgrave as a Victorian proto-feminist, Madeleine Potter as the protege she wants to protect/possess, and Christopher Reeve as the handsome young man who stands in her way.

In his autobiography Still Me, Christopher Reeve writes: “Ismail could only afford to pay me $100,000, less than a tenth of my established price at the time. I insisted that the money was not an issue, that this was the kind of work I ought to be doing, but my agent told me, ‘If you do that picture with those wandering minstrels, it will be one foot in the grave of your career’. …I cheerfully ignored their advice….”

Good thinking, Christopher! Those wandering minstrels began their conquest of Hollywood one year later with Room With A View (1985), with eight Academy Award nominations, three wins.

I hereby claim The Bostonians as an Oregon film, as I will all films directed by Oregon’s most distinguished  wandering minstrel, James Ivory.