Ralph Rosenblum | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1925-10-13)October 13, 1925 |
| Died | September 6, 1995(1995-09-06) (aged 69) |
| Occupation | film editor |
| Spouse | Davida Rosenblum (m. 1948–1995)[1] |
| Awards | Best Editing 1977Annie Hall |
Ralph Rosenblum (October 13, 1925 – September 6, 1995) was an American film editor who worked extensively with the directorsSidney Lumet andWoody Allen. He won the 1977BAFTA Award for Best Editing for his work onAnnie Hall, and published an influential memoirWhen the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story.[2]
Towards the end of theWorld War II in 1945, Rosenblum worked as a filmmaking apprentice in theU.S. Office of War Information; among his mentors there wereSidney Meyers andHelen van Dongen.[3] Following the war he became van Dongen's assistant while she was editingRobert Flaherty's filmLouisiana Story (1948), and was credited as an editor onOf Human Rights (1950), which van Dongen produced and directed.[4] Much of Rosenblum's work in the 1950s and early 1960s was in television; he worked on shows such asThe Search,Omnibus,TheGuy Lombardo Show, andThe Patty Duke Show. WithSid Katz andGene Milford, he formed a company, MKR Films, that provided editorial services for television shows, spots, and corporate films.[5]
In the 1960s, Rosenblum edited four films directed bySidney Lumet, starting withLong Day's Journey into Night (1962). These films, which were all serious dramas, were very important to Rosenblum's career; as John Gallagher has noted,[5]
Fail-Safe andThe Pawnbroker demonstrated Rosenblum's editorial finesse. The montage ending ofFail Safe, depicting the last few moments of life on earth, and the use of concentration camp flashbacks inThe Pawnbroker, brought Rosenblum his first industry recognition.
Paul Monaco has summarized Rosenblum's editing innovations onThe Pawnbroker, as well as their influence, as follows, "In his work onThe Pawnbroker, Rosenblum imitated devices from several French films of the previous decade, but he also extended them. LikeDede Allen, Rosenblum broke editing conventions and rules. More importantly, and like her also, his innovations shifted editing away from its traditional reliance on telling a story to the creation of a new and penetrating subjectivity in the feature film."[6]
In 1966, Rosenblum was nominated for anAmerican Cinema Editors "Eddie" award (Best Editing of a Feature Film) forA Thousand Clowns (1965), which was directed byFred Coe.
In 1968, Rosenblum was hired as an "editorial consultant" to help a youngWoody Allen hone a large amount of footage into what became Allen's first film, themockumentaryTake the Money and Run. Rosenblum went on to edit the next five of Allen's films, includingAnnie Hall, for which he won the 1977BAFTA Award for Best Editing with Wendy Greene Bricmont.[7]Interiors (1978) was Rosenblum's last film with Allen. Rosenblum and Allen came to a mutual decision that Rosenblum would not editManhattan.Susan E. Morse, who had been Rosenblum's assistant editor on several of Allen's films, became his successor and edited Allen's films for the ensuing twenty years.
For the last film,Interiors, Allen was actively involved in the editing and was fearful concerning the reception of the film. Allen's biographerEric Lax quoted Rosenblum about the film:
He [Allen] managed to rescueInteriors, much to his credit. He was against the wall. I think he was afraid. He was testy, he was slightly short-tempered. He was fearful. He thought he had a real bomb. But he managed to pull it out with his own work. The day the reviews came out, he said to me, 'Well, we pulled this one out by the short hairs, didn't we?'[8]
In 1979, Rosenblum published a book written with Robert Karen,When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story.[2] Gallagher described the importance of this book as follows:[5]
Ralph Rosenblum did a service to editors everywhere with the 1979 publication of his memoirWhen the Shooting Stops . . . the Cutting Begins, a popular volume which gave the first insider's explanation of what really goes into film editing. ... In the book Rosenblum revealed that he had saved several films by creatively reshaping the footage, such asWilliam Friedkin'sThe Night They Raided Minsky's and Woody Allen's first major film as a director,Take the Money and Run. Rosenblum's revelations helped bring credit to the film editing profession, and forced scholars to reconsider editorial contributions.
According to his widow, Davida Rosenblum, "He was an autodidact, especially when it came to his prodigious knowledge of music, and used both jazz and classical music as temporary or permanent scores in many of the films he edited. Many of the composers exposed to his temporary tracks used them as a guide."[citation needed]
Rosenblum worked as a director for about five years, commencing with the documentary filmActing Out (1980). His films includedSummer Solstice (1981), which was made for television and which was actorHenry Fonda's last film.
For the last eight years of his life, Rosenblum taught film and film editing atColumbia University as a Full Professor of Film Directing despite having not attended college himself.[9] In his final decade, Rosenblum taught editing at theInternational Film and Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine.[3] For the final four years, he was also an Artist in Residence.
Rosenblum had been selected as a member of theAmerican Cinema Editors.[10]
The director of each film is indicated in parentheses.
Notes
Further reading
