“Was I again a noise?” – “You were indeed”

MAURICE (1914–1971, 1987 and forever) — Maurice/Alec — Rupert — James — all things fannish and Forster — since 2012. You almost certainly saw it here first. Film, queer history, academia, architecture, design, high art, low humour. Sharer of genuine rarities (with the true sources credited), opinions, analysis and fun. Fitful fic author (see top menu). I make my own gifs/caps/edits. New friends always welcome! Reposters, theft and any self-serving exploitation of my content are not. PSAs: I am an adult. I block fake-looking follows. If your avatar was nicked from my blog I will probably tell you.

[expo63]

It's my 13 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[lesbianboyfriend]

He had failed, and that wasn’t the saddest: he had seen Alec fail. In a way they were one person. Love had failed. Love was an emotion through which you occasionally enjoyed yourself. It could not do things.

Maurice, E. M. Forster

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‘It could not do things’ – but by the end of Maurice, of course (spoiler alert) IT CAN:

Bells were ringing, a whistle blew. Maurice ran up on deck; his faculties had returned, and he could see with extraordinary distinctness the masses of men sorting themselves, those to stop in England, those to go, and he knew that Alec was stopping. The afternoon had broken into glory. White clouds sailed over the golden waters and woods. ... Maurice went ashore, drunk with excitement and happiness. He watched the steamer move, and suddenly she reminded him of the Viking's funeral that had thrilled him as a boy. The parallel was false, yet she was heroic, she was carrying away death. She warped out from the quay, Fred yapping, she swung into the channel to the sound of cheers, she was off at last, a sacrifice, a splendour, leaving smoke that thinned into the sunset, and ripples that died against the wooded shores. For a long time he gazed after her, then turned to England. His journey was nearly over. He was bound for his new home. He had brought out the man in Alec, and now it was Alec’s turn to bring out the hero in him. He knew what the call was, and what his answer must be. They must live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death. But England belonged to them. That, besides companionship, was their reward. Her air and sky were theirs, not the timorous millions' who own stuffy little boxes, but never their own souls.

– E.M. Forster, Maurice (1971), Chapter 45

[expo63]

Hello Tumblr Mauricians – you are being very quiet about Faber & Faber’s newish YA editions of A Room With a View and Maurice.

Thoughts?

POI (because I flicked through the YA Maurice in an actual bookshop):

Both are fat hardbacks (RRP £16.99 each)

The illustrations are not numerous: don’t buy this expecting a graphic novel

Yes, the illustrations are as cute/twee (delete according to taste) as they look

Because of the above I was unsure whether one illustration (cricket) is meant to be of Alec or Maurice, or who Maurice is snogging on the cover

Alec makes a definite, if distant, appearance in one further image: the film-canonic rear two-shot of M&A under the umbrella as they approach the museum

And yes, someone decided the covers should be (hot) Pink for Girls for ARWAV and Blue for Boys for Maurice

[endtitlemaurice]

Recurring Musical Motif

One thing I absolutely adore with the Maurice 1987 soundtrack is the recurring melody that plays at different points of the movie. In the song, "Prologue: The Lesson", there is that original introduction of what I consider Maurice's musical motif/theme. The way I see it, the motif plays when Maurice is feeling fulfilled and loved, or when he feels like himself. He was given presents by his classmates and teachers, henceforth feeling fulfilled and loved. This motif does not play again fully until later in the movie because even though Maurice loved and was loved by Clive, he was not feeling fulfilled, at least not in the scenes we see.

Sometimes small amounts of Maurice's motif will show up in the music. For examples, that similar motif plays during his nightmare, "A Moonlit Night."

However, the full portion of his motif doesn't play until "The Boathouse." This is when he is reunited with Alec after he thought he would never see him again. That familiar motif then slowly creeps it's way in, connecting the music back to the idea of Maurice feeling fulfilled. When the end credits start to roll the fully fleshed out version of Maurice's motif/theme starts to play.

To me, the music is the way it is because Maurice is finally feeling fulfilled and happy. He's feeling like himself. Maurice found someone who will love him without fear and would sacrifice so much just for him. It is a wonderful ending to the bittersweet story in which the music gives us a big finish at the end.

Even if it was not intentional, the musical storytelling that occurs is one of my favorites. The music helps paint a picture and it was perfect in Maurice 1987.

[expo63]

The musical storytelling by Richard Robbins certainly is intentional. Listen until the VERY end of the end credits – there’s something extra there for all who love Maurice! The Maurice DVD/Blu-ray extras include an interview with Robbins in which he says that the Maurice soundtrack almost ‘wrote itself’ (because he knew the novel so intimately).

If you don’t know about Dick Robbins you will have a lovely time reading about him. He was a pianist from the age of 5 and is regarded as one of the film soundtrack greats. He became friends with Merchant, Ivory and Jhabvala because he was the music teacher to one of Ruth Jhabvala’s daughters at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan. He composed/arranged every Merchant Ivory film score from The Europeans (1979) onwards until his death. As Stephen Soucy’s recent Merchant Ivory documentary makes public, he was also (producer) Ismail Merchant’s lover between the late 1970s and meeting his later long-term partner Michael Schell. (Merchant and Ivory’s relationship had become an open one.) There’s more on this in the documentary, but I won’t spoil it for you!

In the mid-1970s, with backing from Merchant Ivory, Robbins also directed a lovely documentary, Sweet Sounds, about the Mannes College and the musically gifted kids there.

[saimusage]

Helen, Gilbert and Arthur in "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" 1968 version (left) and 1996 version (right).

Both of these versions were produced and aired on BBC. These are the only TV adaptations of said title.

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OP, is the 1968 version viewable anywhere, do you know?

Classic Adaptations Trivia! Corin Redgrave, the 1968 Arthur Huntingdon, would later play the father of Rupert Graves, the 1996 Arthur Huntingdon, in the 2002 re-adaptation of The Forsyte Saga. Their scenes together as Old Jolyon and Young Jolyon are the best thing in the series, IMHO. Exceptional actors both (and Rupert was at his uncompromising peak in the 1996 Tenant).

[filmjunky-99]

m a u r i c e, 1987 🎬 dir. james ivory rupert graves

[expo63]

‘Alec on his rounds’ aka lovelorn Alec delightedly spying on bonus Maurice hanging out of the window getting his vest wet

(Raise a hand if, the first time you watched this scene, you didn’t quite clock what was going on)

#Proposition 8 Defines Marriage as Between ‘One Man and One Wolfman’ [x]

[sarztomo]

This was posted tonight at the Curzon Mayfair in London last night at the launch of the Merchant Ivory doc film. James looking gorgeous in his scarf!! ❤️

This video clip is from @stephensoucy Instagram page.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stephen Soucy (@stephensoucy)

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Last Monday’s Curzon Mayfair gala (above) wasn’t actually the UK launch of Stephen Soucy’s Merchant Ivory documentary. (The doc received its UK premiere at BFI Flare 2024 on 16 March, and the Merchant Ivory family were out in force – a lovely event, and deeply moving.) However, the all-important difference is that James Ivory was/is present last week at the Curzon (and also at the Chiswick Film Festival in west London on 16 November a couple of days earlier!)

There are further images and footage on director Stephen Soucy’s Instagram – including (as glimpsed in the video) a bit more Rupert. <33

Alongside the UK general release of Merchant Ivory, Curzon is also running a Christmas micro-season of Ivory’s films. But I wanted to give a big shoutout to Chiswick Cinema – they’re running a much wider-ranging Ivory retrospective (spread out between now and June 2025), with newly recorded intros to all the films from Ivory! And, unlike the Curzon*, they’re actually screening Maurice (in January).

[spocks-got-a-glock]

Had to share this Pinterest interaction with Mauriceblr because I'm losing it over this

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1) Hmm ... when it’s on the record that whole generations of people discovered their sexuality centrally because of Alec, played by ‘the most attractive man in the world’ (Steven Moffat, 2015). NOT because ‘HG is cuter’. Literally NO ONE thought that until HG’s fans rocked up to Maurice 30 years late (and the fact that it took them 30 years is another mystery).

2) ‘lydia’ is plainly ignorant of BBC Sherlock, its fans and its creators, and should be made to watch this bit of the Sherlock 2015 SDCC panel on repeat until they repent: https://youtu.be/TtWPTMZRgzY?si=f7HOSV6PcOZFwGqW&t=2335

To be fair, this person is called ‘lydia’. But increasingly I wonder if some of these posts are the online equivalent of fake news/trying to leverage opinion to neutralise Maurice as a gay film or something.

A big apology from me: there are some really thoughtful unanswered messages on this very subject in my Inbox which, for endless RL reasons, I haven’t replied to yet. I will eventually. :( One message suggests that their might be a racialised as well as class dimension to the Clive-shippers’ rejection of Alec, which is an interesting thought. Of course, Alec/Rupert isn’t BAME, but he’s certainly darker than HG. On this subject, I keep meaning to post about this wonderful film/installation project (2023) by British artist Ian Giles – which does indeed cast a black Alec!

[Reblogging my additions for reference as it took me ages to find the 2015 SDCC video]

[gilfaddict]

It's true I don't tolerate fools but then they don't tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that's why I'm quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.

- Maggie Smith [ 1934 - 2024 🕊 ]

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[fallout-lou-begas]

the thing about tumblr is that it is absolutely vital and optimal that you follow at least 2-3 gays obsessed with classic hollywood. you need to get at least a few posts per day about how actors named like Clyde Burton and Elizabeth Nape were LITERALLY FUCKING ON SCREEN despite the Hays Code in movies called The Boulderderry Bonanza or Ho, Giraldo! because it's good for you. it'll keep you cultured. it's like going to public music performances in the park except instead of music it's vociferous lamentations that the Technicolor process has gone extinct and male actors aren't all open-secretly bisexual anymore

[psikonauti]

Marc Chagall (Russian-French,1887-1985)

I and the Village, 1911

Oil on canvas

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Quotes from the movie Maurice (1987) 2/2

[oscarwetnwilde]

Quotes from the movie Maurice (1987) 1/2

[sarztomo]

James Wilby joins the Famous Five series 2 two currently filming!!!

Can't wait to see James in this.

----------------------------

Joining the core cast are Maria Pedraza, Amir Wilson, James Wilby, Rita Tushingham, Jonathan Aris, Jamie Andrew Cutler and Jemima Rooper

BBC, Moonage Pictures (The Gentlemen) and Nicolas Winding Refn today announce filming has begun on a brand-new series of The Famous Five for the BBC in the UK, in co-production with The Mediapro Studio which also holds the distribution rights for the series in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.

The 2 x 90min series is created for television and executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn (byNWR) & Matthew Read (Moonage Pictures) and follows on from the highly successful first series which aired on the BBC. The premiere, The Curse of Kirrin Island, was CBBC’s number one rated episode in 2023.

Diaana Babnicova returns as George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick and Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne. Making up the fifth member of The Famous Five and the gang’s faithful furry friend, is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog.

With Jack Gleeson, James Lance, Ann Akinjirin also reprising their roles, they are joined by new cast members, including Spanish actress Maria Pedraza (Money Heist, Elite), Amir Wilson (His Dark Materials), James Wilby (Poldark), Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey), Jemima Rooper (Geek Girl), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock) and Jamie Andrew Cutler (The Hurricane Heist). Rooper starred as George in the 1990s Famous Five TV series and now takes on the role of Angela Clutterbuck, a guest staying at a mysterious hotel.

The Famous Five is based on Enid Blyton’s iconic stories and follows the daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger and astounding secrets. Series two takes our heroes into strange and challenging waters as they face life during wartime – and the hazards of growing up.

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LMAO I hope the casting people reminded James that Rupert Graves was in ITV’s 1978–9 version of The Famous Five (as Yan in ‘Five Go Down to the Sea’), not this one ;D (Who is James playing, do we know?)

[reanimated-spud]

…… guys what is THIS ABOMINATION

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‘no romantic moments’; ‘no love felt between them’ – WHAT AN UTTER WALLY

[undinecissy]

James Wilby, as John Gordon Sinclair in Simon Gray's play, The Common Pursuit in 1989.

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Hi @undinecissy – John Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor, and one of the original cast of the 1988 London West End production of The Common Pursuit. (Far left in both your stills and, below, in the iconic low-budget Scottish comedy Gregory’s Girl)

The Common Pursuit was originally staged in 1984 at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. The 1988 ‘West End premiere’ production ran at the Phoenix Theatre from 29 March to 31 July 1988, but with casting changes during the run. From 4 July 1988, James joined The Common Pursuit as Stuart – as a much-publicised addition to the cast – replacing John Sessions. Alongside James, John Gordon Sinclair played Nick. (In the first 3 months of the run, JGS had played a different character, Peter.) [x]

[depsidase]

[coldcrashpictures]

Not to mention Jesus very much did just give people fish. Like, that was a significant thing that happened.