June 7, 1928

James Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director. From 1961, his partnership in life and art, with Ismail Merchant, until 2005, resulted in much award wining cinema. Room With a View, and Howard's End are just famous examples. Fewer of us know about Ivory's degree completing production at USC.  This film, Venice: Theme and Variations was listed by The New York Times as one of the 10 best non dramatic films of the year, 1957.
This short documentary viewed the history of Venice through her artistic representations. One of those artists was Saul Steinberg. Most think of him as a New Yorker cartoonist, but Ivory then and now feels Steinberg is one of the best artists of his generation and that he is underrated. He and Steinberg hit it off personally when they met before the film was finished. Ivory remembers a dinner party Steinberg invited him to, a famous New York dinner party with guests like Janet Flanner and John Betjeman. Ivory of course was an unknown then and seated away from the intellectual action at the table. He nevertheless insisted on participating from a distance as much as he could. The effect, he is quoted as saying, in James Ivory in Conversation: How Merchant Ivory Makes Its Movies, was "as if the cat had spoken". This helpful book was written by Robert Emmet Long  (2006.)