December 17, 2011
Ann Miller’s photos figure strongly in Ned Scott’s personal collection of photographs. He photographed her for “Jam Session”, “The Thrill of Brazil” and “Eadie Was a Lady”. He printed his favorite image from “Eadie” in 16 x 20 format, indicating high praise for her as a subject. But nothing comes close to matching this image of Ann with a chapeau so elaborately decorated.
Ann Miller gag shot for “The Thrill of Brazil” 1946 by Ned Scott
Despite the rigors of the workaday studio atmosphere which Ned Scott so elaborately discussed in his 1943 article for The Complete Photographer magazine, there were times for levity and invention. And captivating and energetic dancer Ann Miller was always eager and up for anything. Getting the bunny to cooperate must have given hearty laughs all round. And as Ned Scott knew fully well, “gag shots” like this one were sure to please the movie-going audience. But Ned Scott’s collaboration with Ann Miller was not confined to the studio sets. Research is ongoing for hints of this feature of his life as a stillman, and so far I have located several Ann Miller images shot at Cornelia Runyon’s Malibu oceanfront estate. To Ann’s left is one of Cornelia’s early natural stone sculptures. As a child and young boy in the early 1950’s, I always looked forward to the mini vacations we as a family took to visit Cornelia in Malibu. Always a high point of my young life. Looking back now on those uncomplicated days, I am sure that I trod the same ground that people like Ann Miller occupied as my father set up his equipment for photo sessions.
Ann Miller at sculptress Cornelia Runyon’s Malibu estate c. 1945