Margaret Booth | |
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| Born | (1898-01-16)January 16, 1898 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 28, 2002(2002-10-28) (aged 104) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | Los Angeles High School |
| Occupations | Film editor, producer |
| Years active | 1915–1985 |
| Relatives | Elmer Booth (brother) |
Margaret Booth (January 16, 1898 – October 28, 2002) was an Americanfilm editor. In a career lasting seven decades, Booth was most associated withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Born in Los Angeles, Margaret was the younger sister of actorElmer Booth, who starred in several films forD. W. Griffith. Elmer was killed in a car accident, and Griffith later employed Margaret as anegative cutter. Booth worked with Griffith's studio for several years. She later joinedLouis B. Mayer'snamesake studio, where she was mentored by film directorJohn M. Stahl. In 1924, Mayer merged his studio withMetro Pictures andGoldwyn Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Stahl and Booth joined MGM, where she edited several of his films. Stahl later left MGM, while Booth stayed. She was named the studio's first official film editor byIrving Thalberg, MGM's then-production head. In 1935, Booth received anAcademy Award nomination forBest Film Editing onMutiny on the Bounty.
After Thalberg's death, Mayer appointed Booth as the studio's supervising film editor, a position she held for nearly three decades. In 1968, Booth retired from MGM, and was hired byRay Stark as a supervising film editor for his studio Rastar Productions. In 1977, Booth was awarded anAcademy Honorary Award for her decades-long contributions as a film editor. She received her last credit as an executive producer forThe Slugger's Wife (1985). Booth became a centenarian in 1998, and died in 2002 at the age of 104.
Margaret Booth was born on January 16, 1898, in Los Angeles to Edward J. Booth Sr. and Margaret A. Boland.[1] Her older brother wasElmer Booth, who was an actor forD. W. Griffith and the breadwinner for the family. On June 16, 1915, Elmer was riding with actorGeorge Siegmann in a car driven byTod Browning. Due to the heavy fog that day, Browning did not see the rear lamp of an oncoming train. Browning's car was hit by a train of theSalt Lake Railroad, killing Elmer instantly. Browning and Siegmann however survived but suffered serious injuries.[2] At Elmer's funeral, Griffith delivered a eulogy and approached Margaret with a job offer as a film joiner (also known as anegative cutter) to provide income for the family.[3] Margaret never forgave Browning for her brother's death.[4]
By 1915, Booth had graduated fromLos Angeles High School. Griffith hired Booth on a salary for ten dollars a week as one of several female editors for his studio.[5] Booth remembered years later, "...in the old days we had to cut negative by eye. We matched the print to the negative without any edge numbers. We had to match the action. Sometimes there'd be a tiny pinpoint on the negative, and then you knew you were right, but it was very tedious work."[6][7] One of the films she worked on wasOrphans of the Storm (1921) starringLillian Gish. After a few months, Booth worked forParamount Pictures' editing department, assembling the tinted sections for release prints.[6]
In 1921, Booth began working forLouis B. Mayer at hisnamesake film production studio.[8] Mayer had hiredJohn M. Stahl whenEdward Small, who was Stahl's publicity agent, inquired why there were no hired Jewish directors.[9] Inside the editing room, Booth observed Stahl, and because he was a perfectionist, Stahl would shoot multiple takes of several scenes and leave outtake footage literally on the cutting room floor. At the end of the day, Booth assembled the outtakes and stayed overnight to practice her cutting techniques. One day, Stahl was frustrated when he couldn't make a scene work. After he left, Booth took her own approach; when Stahl screened her work, he was impressed and hired her immediately as his editorial assistant.[7] For Stahl, she editedThe Gay Deceiver (1926),Lovers? (1927), andIn Old Kentucky (1927).[10]
Stahl personally mentored Booth on the craft of film editing, explaining the exact purpose for his editing decisions. Booth reflected, "He taught the value of a scene. When a scene drops or doesn't drop, and when it sustains. You have to feel this, intrusively, in your work."[5] In 1924, Mayer merged withMetro Pictures andGoldwyn Pictures to form a new conglomerate film production studio known asMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Stahl stayed with MGM for several years,[11] but when he left the studio in 1927, he asked Booth to join him but she declined. Booth stated, "I went on to working at M-G-M, mostly with [Irving]Thalberg—the greatest man who was ever in pictures. M-G-M was like home to me."[12] Her editing skills were appreciated by Thalberg, MGM's head of production, that he asked her if she would consider directing. However, she was not interested.[5] Regardless, according to film historianCari Beauchamp, Thalberg was the first known person to call cutters "film editors," starting with Booth.[13] Her first official editing credit was for the 1929part-talkie filmThe Bridge of San Luis Rey.[14][15]
At MGM, Booth edited several films starringGreta Garbo, includingCamille (1936). She also editedWise Girls (1929),The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), andRomeo and Juliet (1936).[16] Booth received her only competitiveAcademy Award nomination forBest Film Editing onMutiny on the Bounty (1935).[16]
In 1936, Thalberg had unexpectedly died and Mayer assumed the position as production head. Three years later, in 1939, Mayer appointed Booth to be the studio's supervising film editor.[16] Booth stated, "They liked me because I was fast. I was always very fast cutting everything I did. And boy, was I tough."[5] As the supervising editor, she did no actual film editing herself but instead hired the personnel and reviewed thedailies for each film, overseeing such classics such asThe Wizard of Oz (1939) andBen-Hur (1959).[16][17]
In his 1995 bookMaking Movies, directorSidney Lumet called Booth "a remarkable person. She was bright and tireless, and she loved movies. I don't know if she had any other life."[18] He told one story while filmingThe Hill (1965) in England, in which she arrived on location and asked to see a rough-cut version, promptly at eight during the following morning. A screening was arranged for her, with Lumet andThelma Connell, the editor forThe Hill, present. When the screening was over, she asked for two minutes of the film to be cut so it would be under two hours. Lumet pushed back and after two more screenings, Booth relented. Following the third screening, Lumet consoled a despondent Booth, who personally felt none of the new studio executives knew or care about filmmaking.[19]
She remained in her position until she retired in 1968.[16][20] In an oral interview with film historianRudy Behlmer, Booth stated she was fired by then-MGM presidentJames Aubrey.[21]
On the night she left MGM, Booth was hired byRay Stark as the supervising editor for his company, Rastar Productions. Her first project with him wasThe Owl and the Pussycat (1970).[22]
Booth next supervised the editing for several films, includingThe Way We Were (1973),The Sunshine Boys (1975),The Goodbye Girl (1977),California Suite (1978), andAnnie (1982).[10] She was last credited as an executive producer forThe Slugger's Wife (1985) when she was 87.[16]
In 1977, Booth was awarded anAcademy Honorary Award denoting her for "62 years of exceptionally distinguished service to the motion picture industry as a film editor."[16] In 1983, she was awarded theWomen in FilmCrystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[23] On her centennial birthday, in 1998, Booth was honored with a gala commemorating her seven-decade contributions to the film industry at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, hosted by theMotion Picture Editors Guild.[24]
On October 28, 2002, Booth, at age 104, died from complications after suffering astroke. She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood California.[13]
In its 1982 article about Booth's long tenureship, theVillage Voice describes her as "the final authority of every picture the studio made for 30 years."[25] In their obituary for Booth, the British newspaperThe Guardian stated, "All the filmmakers had to go through her in order to have a final editing of sound and vision approved," while describing her approach:
She was a pioneer of the classic editing style, the so-called "invisible cutting", the aim of which was to make the transition from one image to another as seamless as possible, so the audience was almost unaware of the flow of shots within a sequence. Narrative was dominant, maintaining a continuity of time and space, and matching cuts to action.[10]
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