Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1970 December 9 : typescript signed.

Saying that putting on Shakespeare Wallah and The Householders with Bombay Talkie was not a good idea in terms of box-office returns; saying attendance dropped by half when the older films were added; saying that the cold weather and a recent taxi strike are making the situation worse; saying the film will run another week then come off; saying they are trying to get it on a double bill with some other nice films and play it in the Village and over on upper Broadway; saying they are all in a state of exhaustion and despair; saying he has a persistent migraine, Joe's typhoid fever is recurring, and Ismail looks drawn and haggard; saying Joe has lost about fifty thousand dollars on this ill-fated opening; saying Judith Crist gave a rave review of the film on national television which should bring in more viewers, but they haven't appeared yet; saying a student from NYU came to interview him for the student newspaper; saying he's worried that their films will just disappear and be lost and never seen "except in some friendly museum"; saying Fox has given a print of The Guru to the Museum of Modern Art; saying he went to watch when they projected the print to check its condition; saying Michael [York] and Rita [Tushingham] are "simply dreadful" and just stand there; saying he found the beginning slow and poorly directed; saying the film gets going with the appearance of Mastani; saying he likes the film from there on; saying Michael and Rita might seem better in years to come; complaining about his own directing and Mitra's cinematography; asking her to write and buoy up Ismail.