Looking for Mabel Normand

HOMER SCOTT

A MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER OF NATURE’S GLORY

by

Marilyn Slater

 “The majesty and grandeur of nature, the masterpiece of God's creation, stands forth in all its beauty as if done by the hand of a master painter in "Davy Crockett." ⁽¹⁾  Seldom have we seen more perfect photography and it is a positive joy to witness the rapid succession of ever changing scenes radiant with nature's glory.  The pine forest with its shimmering mantle of snow, the ruddy dawn on the mountaintop and the vale with the majestic mountains in the background form a series of pictures, which seem to be paintings taken from the walls of an art gallery rather than the art of a motion picture photographer.  The credit for the success of this production will not rest upon the author or the players but upon the photographer, Homer Scott, and the director, William Taylor, whose apparent appreciation of the beautiful will gain him the respect of all the motion picture critics.  It is such a rare things to see the work of a director who has an eye to nature's charm…” ⁽²⁾

…“A romantic "Davy Crockett," … the picture might  have been built around almost any other costume-period hero.  But the atmosphere and the qualities of light romance have been brought out in a pleasing and effective way so far as details of production are concerned.  The film is beautiful scenically.  Its picturesque backgrounds, its mountains, fields and streams are rendered through excellent photography, with the aid of fine tinting.  The most spectacular scene is a raging snowstorm up in the mountains, and this is an unusual bit of realism, which, for its kind, has probably never been surpassed.  For these and other evidences of painstaking direction, credit goes at once to Director William Taylor, who had a valuable ally in his cameraman, Homer Scott…” ⁽³⁾

Sadly, like so many of the important founders of the movie industry, his name is almost forgotten, his contribution unrecognized and even the basic

facts of his life are little known.  His career after he served as president of the ASC is hard to find.  According to the California death records and IMDb he was born Homer Almerian Scott in New York, October 1, 1880, his mother’s name was Weaver. He was a man in his 40s while working with Mabel. His death was just before Christmas December 23, 1956 at a respectable 76 years old in Sacramento, California. ⁽⁴⁾

Homer was a respected photojournalist during the Mexican Revolution (1910). His still photos are as beautiful and arresting as his work with the movie camera.

A year before Homer created “the majesty and grandeur of nature” on film with WDT he was part of the spectacular at the February 13, 1915 Photoplayers’ Club grand ball at the Shrine Auditorium. Did he dance with Mabel Normand? Mabel was there and Homer was there, almost all the prominent stars were shining that night at the Shrine. Mabel’s co-worker Dell Henderson was president of the club. Yes, William D. Taylor was first vice-president and Wallace Reid, the secretary and treasurer, 1915 was a very important year ⁽⁵⁾.

 It appears that Homer’s first credit as a cinematographer was for Carlyle Blackwell’s Favorite Players Film Company in 1914, which later merged with Jesse Lasky where Homer worked at the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, Pallas Pictures and the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company. His work with William Desmond Taylor had been recognized.  He was ready for Mabel when she needed his skill. Homer while with Sennett, filmed most of Sennett’s features, including The Shriek of Araby (1923). Something seems to have happened around this period to Homer’s career while working at Warner Brothers, he had started filming for director Ernst Lubitsch but he was replaced.  He has a later credit as second cameraman for Harold Lloyd and it was reported that he did some specialized cinematography. Was there more then a change of technology? Styles were changing; sound was on the horizon. Did Homer return to the still camera?

Back in 1915, Homer with WDT created the critical acclaimed “The Diamond from the Sky" (1915). Homer worked over 18 WDT films⁽⁶⁾ during the Paramount era and went on to film Mabel in “Molly O” (Sennett 1921)⁽⁷⁾, “Suzanna” (Sennett 1922)⁽⁸⁾, and “The Extra Girl” (Sennett 1923) ⁽⁹⁾. Mabel and Homer were working with Dick Jones on “Suzanna”, when WDT was murdered.

When Mabel returned from Europe over a year after WDT death, she was given the lead in “The Extra Girl” (Sennett 1923) and the trade magazine,

Camera!, April 21, 1923, ran an article reporting that, F. Richard Jones, supervising director of Mack Sennett productions selected William A. Seiter⁽¹⁰⁾ to direct this latest classic. Homer Scott, well known as one of the best photographers in the profession, and an expert on lighting effects, is in charge of the cameras, cranking first camera himself, as he did with previous Mack Sennett productions starring Mabel Normand⁽¹¹⁾.

Homer Scott with a group of fellow cameramen formed the American Society of Cinematographers on January 8, 1919, they became known as the ‘Founding 15’. There were two professional organizations before the ASC; the New York Cinema Camera Club and on the West Coast, the Cinema Camera Club of California when the organizations came together and drew up its bylaws, Homer was elected second vice-president. He served as president 1925-1926.

A number of letters and photos from his estate have been on the market and have made their way to private collections including a WDT letter to Homer written on Mount Lowe stationery⁽¹²⁾. The Getty Center⁽¹³⁾ had a small photograph show with a few examples of his work in 2004. 

Bruce Long, film historian and author of the groundbreaking Taylorology ⁽¹⁴⁾ wrote, “It is stated that Mabel Normand's adult film career owed much to Taylor.  Not really.  Aside from recommending her cameraman, Homer Scott, it does not appear that Taylor made any real contribution to Mabel's film career” but Homer did.

[3] July 29, 1916 MOTION PICTURE NEWS