PARE LORENTZ: FDR’S MOVIEMAKER
By Dr. Robert J. Snyder, Associate Professor
of Broadcasting
Department of Communication Technologies
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Ecce Home
Due, in part, to the
international success of “The River,” the
United States Film Service was established by President
Roosevelt in August, 1938. Lorentz was named its director.
He work now had a permanent home. For his first project
for the U.S.F.S., Lorentz wanted to tackle the problem
of unemployment.
Around the same time, Bill Lewis, the
program director for CBS, offered Lorentz a job with the
network to produce a one-hour weekly radio magazine. Lorentz
wasn’t interested in radio so he turned Lewis down.
Then Lewis, whom Lorentz described as a fine gentleman,
said that if Lorentz had any ideas for radio, he could
produce them for the “CBS Workshop,” a regularly
scheduled program run by William Robson on the Columbia
network for just such experimental purposes. Lorentz thought
that doing a 30-minute radio show might help him in preparing
his next big movie as “Ecce Homo” had a proposed
budget of $165,000.
Lorentz worked on the sound effects and
music with Bernard Herrman, the conductor of the CBS house
orchestra. The concept for “Ecce Homo” as
a radio program would be the meeting of four unemployed
men at a filling station in Kansas. Each man would represent
a region of the United States; north, south, east and
west. This would allow Lorentz to use a similar approach
to his script as he taken with “The River,”
making the narration lyrical, plus, for “Ecce Homo”
Lorentz would also have to write dialogue. Because it
was an election year, Robson and Lorentz thought it best
not to circulate the script around CBS.
What made the script controversial was
Lorentz’s feeling that with a plethora of gigantic
industrial equipment and natural resources, it was stupid
to have millions of Americans unemployed. “Ecce
Homo’s“ protagonist was Worker 7790, an able-bodied
any man, with a lack of interest in labor politics.
Because of the complexity of the script,
music and sound effects, Lorentz and his cast and crew
were allowed considerable rehearsal time. The broadcast
was scheduled for May 21, 1938. As with most radio of
its day, “Ecce Homo” was broadcast live, even
the sound effects had to be live as prerecorded libraries
of effects didn’t exist in this pre-tape era. Lorentz
devised many of the sound effects for the program, using,
for example hammers and other tools to create the sound
of factory assembly lines.
Except, perhaps, for the four black men
dressed in double-breasted suede vests singing an old
chain gang song while they jangled leg shackles for added
effect, Lorentz recalled that on the night of the broadcast,
there was no tension in the studio. Robson handled the
crew during the actual broadcast and transmitted Lorentz’s
whispered ideas. The broadcast went smoothly. Afterwards,
Lorentz and crew went to the club 21 for what Lorentz
described as “a real good bash.”
The program received generally favorable
reviews. Lorentz even heard from a few audience members.
“Ecce Homo” was broadcast three more times,
twice by the BBC and once by the CBC. Lorentz heard the
Canadian broadcast while shooting footage for “Ecce
Homo” at the Grand Coulee Dam. Hearing his words
coming out of the air in the state of Washington was pretty
frightening at first. But others listening to the program
must have been favorably impressed as Lorentz went around
feeling pretty puffed up that evening. Henry Ford however,
apparently wasn’t impressed. The Ford Motor Company
cancelled its advertising with CBS the next day. Lorentz
recalled sending a recording of “Ecce Homo”
to author John Steinbeck. In his memoirs, Lorentz speculates
that “Ecce Homo” may have provided the inspiration
for the title of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.
Work on the film commenced. Lorentz felt
it could be expanded into a two-hour picture. With two
films under his belt, Lorentz planned ahead and obtained
the necessary permissions to shot on location. Crews were
assigned and Lorentz traveled to Cleveland to begin filming
at White Motors. Manufacturing footage was also shot at
the Plymouth plant, Eaton Axle Works, U.S, Rubber and
other plants. Lorentz would complete a rough cut of what
he referred to as the industrial symphony sequence. However,
the new U.S Film Service continued to have problems securing
funding for this project. Lorentz showed his footage to
many people but could not get any one to invest in the
film. Hitler had invaded Poland and the attention of government
was turning to national defense. Lorentz eventually postponed
production on “Ecce Homo” as he was recalled
to Washington to produce a film for the Public Health
Service. “Ecce Homo” was never completed.
Much of the footage would be used, however, by the Office
of War Information during World War II.
