Howards End (1992) on Netflix
In Edwardian England, the liberal Schlegel sisters meet the wealthy Wilcox family and the poor clerk Leonard Bast. Margaret befriends the sickly Ruth Wilcox, whose country home is Howards End.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/1039,064 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Schlegels are an intellectual Anglo-German family in London, liberal and given to philanthropy and talk of the arts. The Wilcoxes are wealthy and conservative, in London for a time, away from Howards End, the country house that has belonged to Ruth Wilcox's family for generations and where she was born. Margaret Schlegel befriends the sickly Ruth, though the Wilcox children believe Margaret has ulterior motives toward their mother, and Helen, after a doomed romance with Paul Wilcox, does not much like the family. Henry Wilcox, the hard-headed businessman, grows attracted to Margaret. The sisters also befriend Leonard Bast, a poor clerk whose sense of duty shows in his marriage to Jacky, a woman he does not love but feels bound to protect. Helen feels the sisters should help the Basts.
Cast
- Joseph Bennettas Paul Wilcox
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Howards End (1992)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Vanessa Redgrave was James Ivory's preferred choice for Ruth Wilcox, but she was tied up with other projects and her salary took time to negotiate. When she agreed, she believed she was playing Margaret Schlegel, and only in Hair and Makeup did she learn she was the elder Mrs. Wilcox.
- The bank where Leonard encounters Helen is the lobby of the Baltic Exchange at 30 St. Mary Axe, London; soon after the film shot there, the building was bombed and destroyed by the IRA.
- Howards End was the first title acquired and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, the division created when the heads of Orion Classics departed for Sony Pictures.
- Sony Pictures Classics co-founder Michael Barker recalled in 2022 that Ismail Merchant turned down a highly lucrative offer for distribution rights from Harvey Weinstein's Miramax, content to take Sony's smaller $1 million instead.
- Before Emma Thompson was cast as Margaret Schlegel, Phoebe Nicholls, Joely Richardson, Miranda Richardson, Natasha Richardson and Tilda Swinton were all considered for the part.
- James Ivory had never heard of Emma Thompson until Simon Callow, who had a small cameo as the music lecturer in the concert scene, recommended her for the role.
