Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Cyrus Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1967 May 15 : typescript signed.

Thanking Ruth and Jhab for "your telegram and letters," and telling them that now that he is back in New York, his father's funeral in California "seems as if it happened in a dream"; describing how his father died, how Merchant received the call and told him, and the experience of the funeral mass and burial; telling them he had to return to New York "to help Ismail deal with Paramount," who "loathe and despise" the script for "Vertical and Horizontal"-- they have not refused to fund it, but they want Ivory to "make it more human"; saying Paramount dislike and distrust Lillian; assuring them that, if Paramount refuse, they will take it to another producer; telling them that Al Strelsin is in Israel and Dorothy Strelsin has taken up embroidery; assuring Ruth that he will bring her up to date on "Village Fetes in England" in another letter [see MA 23840.362], and that he has misgivings about James Fox as the lead male character in the "Shakespeare Wallah" sequel; suggesting David Warner instead, and declaring Madhur wrong for an unnamed role as well; pointing out that Madhur "thinks Shashi ... is distinctly second rate"; entreating Ruth not to "badger" Merchant about the Ustad film [later "The Guru"]; asking if Ruth thinks Shashi could play the Ustad; describing an experience he had at Merchant's family home in Mumbai which he would like to use in the Ustad script; telling her he has much more to say but it will have to wait for another letter; stating that "gradually the fact that my father is no longer here is sinking into my consciousness."