This recently discovered photograph of Rita Hayworth in a deleted dance scene from Down To Earth shows the purest adherence to form and structure by photographer Ned Scott. For Ned Scott, capturing this elite sense of form was the apex of his art. Here a series of triangles arrest the attention of the viewer, and despite the fact that…
Long after the film Redes was released in 1937 in the United States, Gunther von Fritsch, the editor of the film, wrote a letter to William Alexander in 1976 recounting the film production experience. This letter was compiled from eight letters which Gunther wrote to his wife while he was in Mexico working on the film in Alvarado and Mexico…
The essence of Ned Scott’s photographic art was discussed early in his career by New York Camera Club member Henwar Rodakiewicz in a letter he wrote to Ned Scott from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts after a Camera Club meeting in November, 1932. It was important to Henwar that Ned Scott’s images were fresh, honest and straightforward. Looking at them gave Henwar…
I constantly plow through web records to discover films which Ned Scott worked during his career from 1935-48. The effort has been rewarding since I began this research process in 2006. Most of these films have been revealed during eBay searches, auction searches, and film industry announcements in periodicals from the time period. What I appreciate the most is locating,…
Here is a recently discovered film director photograph which shows Columbia Studios director Douglas Sirk interacting with actors Don Ameche and Dorothy Lamour. The film is a 1949 release called “Slightly French“, and it also featured Janis Carter and Willard Parker. As with the previously discussed director images on this blog, one from January, 2012 (Cover Girl) and another from…
Long before John Wayne entered the public consciousness of the movie going public as a cultural institution, director John Ford dubbed him the “biggest star ever”. Wayne earned this high praise from the famous director due to his performance in the movie Stagecoach, shot in 1938 and released in 1939. The exactness of this quote comes from another cast member…
A collage of Ned Scott photographs in Ernie Pyle’s famous book “This is Your War” have been discovered in this book’s first “motion picture” edition. This edition commemorates Ernie’s participation during the filming of “The Story of G.I. Joe”, producer Lester Cowan’s cinematic adaptation of Ernie’s book, in the Fall of 1944. The book chronicles Ernie’s activity as a war…
Henwar Rodakiewicz left Los Angeles in mid-1938 to assist his friend Ralph Steiner in the production work on The City. He was not sure what he was getting himself into. He knew he was not going to be making much money, but he felt it would take only a few months to compete and that he would be back home…
Life Magazine published a pictorial essay on REDES film on May 10, 1937. The film had just been released in the United States, some two years after its Mexican release. Both Gunther von Fritsch and Ned Scott reacted to this essay in letters, making the point that little recognition was given by Strand to the REDES film collaborators. They were…
While stationed in Alvarado, Mexico in 1934 to shoot the Mexican film “REDES” in 1934, Ned Scott used his 5 x 7 Graflex camera to photograph architectural details of the town during his off-duty hours. James Krippner, a professor of history, wrote a book which discussed Paul Strand’s work in Mexico from 1932-34 titled Paul Strand in Mexico, 1932-34. His…