Collection of four romantic period dramas directed by james ivory – quartet, howards end, the bostonians and the europeans. Cast includes maggie smith, alan bates, anthony hopkins, emma thompson and more… quartet 1981 based on the novel by jean rhys, is set in bohemian 1920s paris where marya zelli isabelle adjani, a beautiful young novelist, finds herself destitute when her art dealer husband, stephan anthony higgins is sent to prison for theft. A rich patron, h.j. Heidler alan bates, and his artist wife, lois maggie smith, offer to take marya in for the duration of stephan's incarceration. Heidler, a shameless philanderer with a history of taking advantage of helpless young women, soon seduces marya – while lois painfully accepts his infidelity.   howards end 1992 set in 1910, sisters helen helena bonham carter and margaret schlegel emma thompson live in london with their brother, but the lease on their flat is about to expire. Margaret has recently befriended the ailing mrs wilcox vanessa redgrave who decides to bequeath her house, howards end, to her. However, upon mrs wilcox's death her family close ranks, refusing to inform margaret of her inheritance. When the widowed henry wilcox anthony hopkins begins to take a romantic interest in margaret, however, the ensuing relationship leads to tragedy.   the bostonians 1984 set in 19th century boston, verena tarrant madeleine potter is torn between her feelings for southern lawyer basil ransom christopher reeve, who wants to marry her, and her passionate attachment to suffragette olive chancellor redgrave and the fledgling women's movement.   the europeans 1979 set in the 1850s, baroness eugenia munster lee remick travels from europe with her brother felix tim woodward to live with her puritanical relatives in new england, the wentworths, who regard eugenia and felix as a pair of dangerous european bohemians. Felix falls in love with gertrude wentworth lisa eichhorn and eugenia embarks on a romance with robert acton robin ellis, the district's most eligible bachelor.