"Maurice" (pronounced Morris) is a semi-autobiographical story based on gay E. M. Forster's book, which he stipulated could be published only after his death. It was released in 1971. Set in pre-World War I England, the film concerns the coming of age of two young men who meet at Cambridge University. It's about Maurice Hall (James Wilby) an upper-class aristocrat who falls in love with fellow classmate Clive Durham (Hugh Grant). Clive eventually attempts a traditional life after the social banishment and imprisonment of another gay friend, Viscount Risley (Mark Tandy). After trying a "cure" for his homosexuality, Maurice falls in love with Clive's gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves).
Most of the film was shot at King's College, Cambridge. It differs from the novel with Maurice being age 11 at the beginning of the film, rather than 14. The film omits almost all of the novel's philosophical dialogue, and also many sub-plots such as Maurice's lust for schoolboy Dickie (the scenes dealing with this subplot were deleted from the final cut). It expands the character of Lord Risley and his 6-month imprisonment with hard labour for homosexual conduct (he is not imprisoned in the novel). In one deleted scene released in the 2002 edition, Risley ends up committing suicide, but this is not shown in the film. While undergoing treatment by Dr. Lasker-Jones (Ben Kingsley) to "cure" himself, Lasker-Jones warns him that at one time homosexuals were executed in Britain. He suggests that Maurice consider relocating to a country where homosexuality is not illegal and more tolerated, like France or Italy. Maurice asks him if England will ever change its attitudes towards homosexuality, to which Lasker-Jones replies, "England has always been disinclined to accept human nature." Richard Robbins composed the music, and Kit Hesketh-Harvey and James Ivory wrote the screenplay from Forster's novel. James Ivory directed.
