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Pare Lorentz papers, 1914-1994, bulk 1932-1960

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Series I: Ecce Homo, 1938-1942, undated
Series II: The Fight For Life, 1921-1942, undated
Series III: The Plow That Broke The Plains, 1935-1942, undated
Series IV: The River, 1935-1943, undated
Series V: Other Films, 1938-1969, undated
Series VI: Office Files, 1935-1979, undated
Series VII: U.S. Army Air Forces, 1941-1947
Series VIII: Atomic Power and Nuclear War, 1945-1982
Series IX: McCall's, 1935-1941
Series X: General, 1914-1994, undated
Series XI: Digitized Negatives, 1930s, undated

Series I: Ecce Homo, 1938-1942, undated

Ecce Homo was Lorentz's first attempt at a feature-length fiction film. It began as a radio play, first broadcast on the CBS channel in 1938. The narrative centers around four unemployed workers from the four corners of the United States who met at a filling station in Kansas. One by one, each of the men delivers a monologue about conditions in his home state, while regional music plays in the background. The radio play was supposed to be the forerunner of a feature-length film. Lorentz and his staff conducted extensive research for the production. They studied production practices at Ford's River Rouge factory, gathered information on jobless Americans and relief organizations. Filming began in 1939, but was hampered by a lack of funds. By 1941, with much of the industrial images captured, and the name changed to Name, Age and Occupation, production began again. The picture was never completed, but much of the footage proved useful to government propaganda efforts during World War II.

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Subseries 1. Correspondence, Scripts, and Research, 1938-1942, undated

The correspondence concerns the process of fundraising and shooting, as well as the details of Lorentz's long struggle to complete the film. The scripts include both drafts for the original radio play, as well as the full-length treatment for the feature film.


Box 1 Folder 1 "History of a Motion Picture,", 1942

Box 1 Folder 2 Activities Reports, 1938-1942

Box 1 Folder 3 Origin of Contract, 1941

Box 1 Folder 4 Correspondence, 1938-1940

Box 1 Folder 5 Correspondence--Floyd Crosby, 1937-1938

Box 1 Folder 6 Correspondence--Re: Film Footage, 1938-1942

Box 1 Folder 7 Costumes--1939-1942

Box 1 Folder 8 Name, Age and Occupation--Budget, 1942

Box 1 Folder 9 Budget Detail, 1941

Name, Age and Occupation

Box 1 Folder 10 Casting, 1942

Box 1 Folder 11 to 12 Correspondence, 1941-1942, (2 Folders)

Box 1 Folder 13 Film Delivery, 1948

Box 1 Folder 14 to 16 Film Controversy, 1938-1942, (3 Folders)


Box 2 Folder 1 Music Research, 1941-1942

Box 2 Folder 2 to 3 Screenplay Drafts, 1942, (2 Folders)

Box 2 Folder 4 Newspaper Clippings, 1942

Box 2 Folder 5 Ecce Homo Outline, 1938

Box 2 Folder 6 Name, Age and Occupation--Press Releases, 1942

Box 2 Folder 7 Name, Age and Occupation--Production Reports,, 1942

Box 2 Folder 8 Publicity--RKO Press Releases, 1942

Ecce Homo

Box 2 Folder 9 Radio Broadcast--Transcripts, 1939

Box 2 Folder 10 Radio Broadcast--Correspondence, 1938-1941

Box 2 Folder 11 Scripts, 1938


Box 3 Folder 1 Seattle, 1938-1939

Box 3 Folder 2 Seattle Notes, undated

Box 3 Folder 3 Ecce Homo--Scripts and Scenario, 1938

Box 3 Folder 4 Kalemis Script, undated

Box 3 Folder 5 Ecce Homo--Shooting Notes, 1938

Box 3 Folder 6 Ecce Homo--Script Reports, 1938-1939

Box 3 Folder 7 Stackpole Sons, 1939

Research

Box 3 Folder 8 to 9 1938-1940, (2 Folders)

Box 3 Folder 10 Government Machinery, 1938 (Includes Photos), 1938

Box 3 Folder 11 Hold The Man, 1938


Box 4 Folder 1 "Men, Methods and Machines,", 1939

Box 4 Folder 2 Relief Material, 1938

Box 4 Folder 3 Unemployed Compensation Form, 1939

Box 4 Folder 4 Unemployment, 1939

Name, Age and Occupation

Box 4 Folder 5 Script, 1942

Box 4 Folder 6 Early Treatment, 1941

Box 4 Folder 7 to 8 Notes, 1942, (2 Folders)

Box 4 Folder 9 Press Clippings, 1941-1942

Subseries 2. Shooting Notes and Selected Takes, 1939-1942, undated

The shooting notes in this subseries document the shot-by-shot progress of production.

Name, Age and Occupation,

Box 4 Folder 10 to 11 Shooting Notes, 1942 (2 of 3 Folders), 1942


Box 5 Folder 1 Shooting Notes, 1942 (1 of 3 Folders), 1942

Box 5 Folder 2 Record of Negative and Positive, 1948

Box 5 Folder 3 to 4 Estimating Script, 1942, (2 Folders)

Ecce Homo

Box 5 Folder 5 to 6 Selected Takes, undated, (2 Folders)

Box 5 Folder 7 Shooting Notes, 1939


Box 6 Folder 1 to 3 Shooting Notes--Prod 3, 1938-1939, (3 Folders)

Subseries 3. Still Photographs, circa 1938-1942, undated

Some of the still photographs depict the actors and filmmakers at work. But the majority consists of 8x10-inch shots, mounted on cardboard, depicting scenes from across the Midwest during the Great Depression. The images, most of which were taken by Edwin Locke, focus on industrial production, cityscapes, streetscapes, and landscapes. They were used as research for the film.

Box 6 Folder 4 Name, Age and Occupation--Photos of Leads, undated

Box 6 Folder 5 Decatur, Indiana, undated

Ecce Homo

Box 6 Folder 6 to 10 Ed Locke Photos, undated, (5 Folders)

Box 6 Folder 1 to 12 Location Shots, undated, (2 Folders)

Box 6 Folder 13 Stills, undated (1 of 5 Folders), undated


Box 7 Folder 1 to 4 Stills, undated (4 of 5 Folders), undated

Box 7 Folder 5 Still Pictures--Cast, undated

Box 7 Folder 6 Carded Stills--North, undated

Box 7 Folder 7 Carded Stills--IV, undated

Box 7 Folder 8 to 9 Carded Stills, undated, (2 Folders)


Box 8 Folder 1 to 2, 4, 6 Carded Stills, undated, (4 Folders)

Box 8 Folder 3 Carded Stills--Alternates, undated

Box 8 Folder 5 Carded Stills--Alternates V, undated


Box 9 Folder 1 Carded Stills--P. 84, undated

Box 9 Folder 2 Carded Stills--P. 85-86, undated

Box 9 Folder 3 Carded Stills--P. 86, undated

Box 9 Folder 4 Carded Stills, undated


Box 10 Folder 1 to 6 Carded Stills, undated, (6 Folders)


Box 11 Folder 1 to 5 Carded Stills, undated, (5 Folders)


Box 12 Folder 1 Carded Stills--Industrial America, undated

Box 12 Folder 2 to 4 Carded Stills, undated, (3 Folders)

Box 12 Folder 5 Carded Stills, undated (includes Pare on location), undated


Box 13 Folder 1 to 5 Carded Stills, undated, (5 Folders)


Box 14 Folder 1 to 2, 4 to 6 Carded Stills, undated, (5 Folders)

Box 14 Folder 3 Carded Stills--The Proffet and the Picket, undated


Box 15 Folder 1 to 4 Carded Stills--Selected by Robert L. Snyder, undated (4 of 6 Folders), undated


Box 16 Folder 1 to 2 Carded Stills--Selected by Robert L. Snyder, undated (2 of 6 Folders), undated

Box 16 Folder 3 Name, Age and Occupation--Negatives, undated


Box 17 Folder 3 Ecce Homo--Oversize Album, undated