November 5, 2011
I have just found a undiscovered movie Ned Scott photographed for Columbia Studios in 1946. The title of the movie is “The Gentleman Misbehaves”, starring Bob Haymes, Osa Massen and Hillary Brooke. The film is a combination comedy and musical directed by George Sherman. The plot is driven by an arranged marriage to prevent deportation which slowly develops into something more permanent. Life intrudes even into the best laid plans. This film is worth noting here because Ned Scott captured a stunning portrait of Hillary Brooke to support the publicity for the film. Brooke was not known for her eye-catching looks, especially in an era when Rita Hayworth and the rest of the Columbia Girls turned heads and made serious money for Harry Cohn when they got in front of the cameras. But once Ned Scott got her to sit still, magic happened. There were two things my father’s peers said about his photography: he understood light (he can thank the Camera Club of New York for that), and he understood women. Something a bit mysterious but at the same time something naggingly famiiar emerges from this photograph. Ladies will probably say “It was the hair”. But Ned Scott knew better.
Hillary Brooke as Nina Mallory in “The Gentleman Misbehaves” by Ned Scott in 1947