Welles to Heston - What is Universal up to?

Dearest Chuck:

I got a wire last night from Muhl stating that (Ernest) Nims (Universal's head of post-production), is working on the 'majority' of the changes requested in my memo, and asking me to turn up on Wednesday for dubbing. What interpretation are we to put on this?

A. They are afraid I won't come for dubbing unless they promise to make the changes.

B. A certain throbbing of war drums has reached their ears at last, and they intend to make a convincing show of cooperating with my suggestions in the hope of spiking my guns, in the event of any future battle.

C. Utter demoralization. Hundreds are being fired from the studio, and the rumors of Muhl's joining them continue to spread. In such an atmosphere of decay and despair, maybe the sheer force of energy—which they now see I am prepared to put into this fight—has awed them into momentary compliance.

D. Another possibility is that the very evident constructive spirit of my memo amounts to a strong weapon which they do not wish to have used against them…

E. The last possibility (and, I think, the least likely!) is that they have all been genuinely converted to the suggestions in the memo and are hastening to put the 'majority' into effect.

Obviously, at this point, our cue is to play it straight. They deserve no thanks for their expressed willingness to follow the main lines of the memo. If, in fact, they do so, it will not constitute a personal favor to me; nothing but the good of the picture has ever been at issue. I shall make my loops and wait and see. It’s up to them. The big question, of course, is just what the 'majority' will really turn out to be. In fact, there were no bargaining points in that memo of mine. It represented my notion of the minimum number of improvements necessary. It's my fear that their execution of these changes will leave something to be desired, since they may be acting without much enthusiasm, but most importantly, because they will be working in great haste.

Much love,
Orson