October 30, 2011
It was my good fortune to locate a Ned Scott photograph of the renowned and acclaimed american artists who worked on the set of director John Ford’s classic “The Long Voyage Home” at the request of producer Walter Wanger. By 1940, Walter Wanger had already produced 28 films. A number of these were quite successful, and Wanger became known as a courageous and progressive producer. He truly set himself apart, however, in the production of “Long Voyage Home”. He commissioned 9 renowned american artists to document and interpret scenes during the film’s production because he felt the film offered the fullness of emotional experience, scenic flavor and human interest. Working through Reeves Lowenthal, director of Associated American Artists, Wanger paid more than $50,000 for these professionals to participate. This was a first in the history of American film, and likely the last, on this scale at least. Calculating this commission in 2011 dollars, the staggering sum of $750,000 was paid. The artists insisted on three things during production: freedom of cloice of subject matter, their own studios and access to projection rooms to view each day’s rushes, and access to stage sets at any time with the availability of cast members, in costume for sketching. Ned Scott captured formal portraits of five of these artists. The newly acquired informal photograph, picturing all of them with the exception of Grant Wood, was likely taken off set or even in one of the projection rooms. Ned Scott’s image documents an important moment in the history of American film, not likely to be repeated ever again.
Ernest Fiene, Luis Quintanilla, Thomas Benton, George Biddle, Raphael Sawyer, Georges Schreiber, Robert Phillipp, James Chapin, Grant Wood (not pictured) by Ned Scott