Letter from James Ivory, London, England, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1971 July 21: autograph manuscript signed.

Reconsidering his enthusiasm, voiced in his previous letter [see MA 23840.870], for "my idea for a television film to be made in India about art treasures and those after them," after receiving "your letter about what is happening in India now" [see MA 23840.950]; pointing out that his misgivings are "not about the value or interest of such a film, or the fun of making it, but about the timing [underlined] of it"; feeling concerned that such a film could be the most "deeply disrespectful" thing they've done, and comparing it to a scene in "A Lovely World"-- "a despoliation"; deferring to her opinion, as "[y]ou can see what it is not to have any great scruples about these things when viewed from a distance. But you're there and can feel it and are in touch, and can know for sure about the fitness of things we plan. But it would be a pity not to do it"; reporting on the screening of the Chaudhuri documentary for the BBC, who pronounced the film "pure gold" but want "a bit more commentary," which Ivory is reluctant to do; adding, moreover, that Barry [the actor who recorded the narration] is in Spain right now, so the additions cannot be made immediately; insisting he will go to Tangier no matter what; reporting on dinner with Catherine, who seemed "[b]owed down by grief ... but unbroken, and able (in fact, anxious) to talk about John"; commenting on Catherine's "big, sorrowing eyes" and "grieving Mediterranean face"; relating how Catherine also discovered an affair John had had with Edna O'Brien "a few years ago" which O'Brien later wrote about; commenting on this: "What a world."