Maurice (1987) on Netflix
At Cambridge in 1909, Clive Durham confesses his love to fellow student Maurice Hall. Maurice recoils, then admits he feels the same, and their affair stays chaste to protect Clive's prospects.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.6/1027,640 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Maurice Hall grows up fatherless in Edwardian England. On a school trip to the beach, his teacher Mr. Ducie explains the facts of puberty and marriage, and the picture of life with a woman leaves the boy untouched. In 1909 he attends the University of Cambridge, where he befriends Viscount Risley, an aristocratic eccentric, and the rich Clive Durham. Clive confesses his love, Maurice recoils, then admits he feels the same. The two begin an affair that Clive insists remain non-sexual, since he has a career in politics ahead of him and will not risk his social position. Maurice leaves Cambridge for a post as a stockbroker in London, and the friendship continues in secret.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Maurice (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Julian Sands, who had played the male lead in Merchant Ivory's A Room with a View, was originally cast in the title role but backed out at the last minute; John Malkovich, due to play Lasker-Jones and a friend of Sands since The Killing Fields, then lost interest and was replaced by Ben Kingsley.
- In his will E. M. Forster left the rights to his books to King's College, Cambridge, whose fellows were initially reluctant to give permission to film Maurice, not because of the subject matter but because the novel was considered an inferior work that would not enhance Forster's literary reputation; producer Ismail Merchant conferred with them and was very persuasive.
- E. M. Forster based his characters on real people and resisted publication during his lifetime because of public and legal attitudes to homosexuality; a note found on the manuscript read, "Publishable, but worth it?" The novel was only published in 1971, after Forster's death.
- Maurice proved more complicated to make than James Ivory had anticipated: the fifty-four-day shooting schedule involved six-day weeks and proved long and gruelling, and there was no rehearsal period, only a read-through before shooting began.
SPOILER
One scene deleted from the finished film, and first released in Cohen Media's 2002 DVD edition, had the character Risley commit suicide.
