‘The Remains of the Day’: If Only He Could See

A James Ivory classic that laments a butler’s blindness to the beauty of truth.

Lord Darlington (James Fox) and Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), in "The Remains of the Day." Columbia Pictures

PG | 2 h 14 min | Drama | 1993

At the British country house Darlington Hall, fastidious butler Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) serves his 1930s master, Lord Darlington (James Fox). Equally efficient but unfussy housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), fancies Stevens, but he’s cold to her. In “The Remains of the Day,” his identity as a butler overpowers his identity as a man, a son, and a free-thinking citizen. Devastated, she leaves for better pay, and another potential partner, elsewhere.