BIB_ID
448955
Accession number
MA 23840.240
Creator
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer, 1927-2013, sender.
Display Date
Delhi, India, [1965] August 5
Credit line
Gift of James Ivory, 2022.
Description
2 aerogrammes (4 pages) ; 26.7 x 20.3 cm
Notes
Year from contents.
Aerogrammes addressed to Mr. James Ivory + Ismail Merchant, Apt. 12G, 400 East 52nd St., New York, U.S.A., postmarked August 5, 1965.
Aerogrammes addressed to Mr. James Ivory + Ismail Merchant, Apt. 12G, 400 East 52nd St., New York, U.S.A., postmarked August 5, 1965.
Provenance
James Ivory.
Summary
First aerogramme: Opening "we were appalled to hear about Ismail's dreadful operation and about the far more dreadful things that might have happened to you if you hadn't had it" [see MA 23840.187]; feeling somewhat guilty for not having taken the "ear infection" more seriously, and consoling Merchant over the possibility of hearing loss in that ear; begging him to rest for a while; addressing the proposal to remove 15 minutes from "Shakespeare Wallah" and discussing the possibilities; discussing how "embittered" Jennifer is about her and Shashi and Foo's treatment in, during, and after "Shakespeare Wallah" and the Berlin Film Festival, and wondering what made her so.
Second aerogramme: Saying she never noticed anything that would seem to have justified Jennifer's bitterness, and that she would discount it except for the fact that "they're not the sort of people to be over-sensitive or touchy in that way"; saying that they should be very sure that the publicity for "Shakespeare Wallah" when it opens should give more attention to Foo (Felicity Kendal), since that was one of Jennifer's complaints; suggesting they not bring it up to Jennifer any more now that she "she seems to have calmed down"; saying that she has heard that Foo "auditioned for Stratford" [presumably the Royal Shakespeare Company] and has had rounds of introductions; hoping that she doesn't end up returning to her parents' company in India; asking about Madhur-- where she is, whether she's had any offers, whether she'll get back together with Saeed-- which Jennifer doesn't think she should; passing on Jennifer's observation that she and Ruth are very lucky to have Shashi and Jhab-- "for what could be more desperate than to have a weak or inadequate or simply no-good husband?"; passing on a report on "The Householder"'s one-week run in Calcutta, in competition with "My Fair Lady"; again admonishing Merchant to rest and get well.
Second aerogramme: Saying she never noticed anything that would seem to have justified Jennifer's bitterness, and that she would discount it except for the fact that "they're not the sort of people to be over-sensitive or touchy in that way"; saying that they should be very sure that the publicity for "Shakespeare Wallah" when it opens should give more attention to Foo (Felicity Kendal), since that was one of Jennifer's complaints; suggesting they not bring it up to Jennifer any more now that she "she seems to have calmed down"; saying that she has heard that Foo "auditioned for Stratford" [presumably the Royal Shakespeare Company] and has had rounds of introductions; hoping that she doesn't end up returning to her parents' company in India; asking about Madhur-- where she is, whether she's had any offers, whether she'll get back together with Saeed-- which Jennifer doesn't think she should; passing on Jennifer's observation that she and Ruth are very lucky to have Shashi and Jhab-- "for what could be more desperate than to have a weak or inadequate or simply no-good husband?"; passing on a report on "The Householder"'s one-week run in Calcutta, in competition with "My Fair Lady"; again admonishing Merchant to rest and get well.
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