The films were for the most part produced by Merchant and directed by Ivory, and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013) in some capacity.
The films were often based upon novels or short stories, particularly the work of Henry James, E. M. Forster, and Jhabvala herself.
[citation needed] Some actors and producers associated with Merchant Ivory include Maggie Smith, Leela Naidu, Madhur Jaffrey, Aparna Sen, Shashi Kapoor, Jennifer Kendal, Hugh Grant, James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Simon Callow, Anthony Hopkins, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Richard Hawley and Helena Bonham Carter.
While 1965's Shakespeare Wallah put this genre on the international map,[2] its heyday was the 1980s and 1990s with such films as A Room with a View (1985) and Howards End (1992).
A typical "Merchant–Ivory film" would be a period piece, based on a classic novel, set in the early 20th century, usually in Edwardian England, featuring lavish sets and top British actors portraying genteel characters who suffer from disillusionment and tragic entanglements.
[6] After early, modest successes with films such as The Householder, Shakespeare Wallah, and Bombay Talkie, Merchant and Ivory suffered a lean period during the 1970s.
[8] In 1987, after 25 years as an independent producer, Merchant Ivory Productions declined offers by Hollywood power brokers and deep-pocketed investors, mesmerized by the success of the triple-Oscar winning A Room with a View, to take the company public.
[6] Major film studios sought them out; Disney signed Merchant Ivory Productions to a three-year distribution deal in 1991.