Jim Clark shares his experiences as a highly successful film editor at a time when films were a true collaboration of talented individuals.<br><br>The legendary "Doctor" Clark was the man who could make sick films healthy again. The role of editor in the collective, collaborative process that is the making of any film is massively important but not one that is generally recognized outside the small pond that is the filmmaking community. In this wonderfully enjoyable memoir, this point becomes steadily obvious, but it is made with subtlety, discretion, and modesty. The book is also a history of the post-war film industry in England and America as well as an autobiography. As William Boyd wrote in his Introduction, "The trouble with writing an autobiography is that you can't really say what a great guy you are, what fun you are to work with and hang out with, what insight and instinct you have about the art form of cinema, and how much and how many film directors are indebted to you."
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Jim BSL Clark. Dream Repairman
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE: EARLY DAYS IN BOSTON, LINCSAND LONDON
CHAPTER TWO: YUL BRYNNER OPENS A DOOR
CHAPTER THREE: CARY GRANT, HOLLYWOOD,AND BROADWAY
CHAPTER FOUR: THE INNOCENTS AND CHARADE
CHAPTER FIVE: ENTER SCHLESINGER
CHAPTER SIX: COWBOY, MADHOUSE, AND LOCUST
CHAPTER 7: MARATHON MAN, AGATHA, AND YANKS
CHAPTER EIGHT: HONKY TONKCAR CRASH
CHAPTER NINE: THE KILLINGFIELDS AND THE MISSION
CHAPTER TEN: PUTTNAM’S COLUMBIA
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DAYS WITH FRANCO
CHAPTER TWELVE: THIS BOY’S LIFE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: AWAY FROM HOME: THE EDITING AND THE AGONY
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MARVIN’S ROOM, THE JACKAL, AND ONEGIN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: WILLIAM BOYD, JAMES BOND, AND WINSTON CHURCHILL
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MIKE LEIGH AND SLOW FADETO BLACK
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I’VE BEEN A FILM EDITOR for more years than I care to remember. I’ve also tried my hand at directing and writing but it’s in the cutting room that I’ve made my most substantial contributions to the films I’ve worked on. This book won’t teach you much about film editing. I’m not certain you can learn such skills from a book. Editing film is really a combination of instinct and experience with a lot of experimentation thrown in.
On a movie, once all the actors and crew have left the payroll, everything is left in the hands of the director and the editor. Together they prune and trim and try things out and are, ultimately, the last people to work on a picture. If the relationship between them has been fruitful, the director will usually continue to work with the same editor on subsequent films as a kind of mental shorthand develops between them. There is also something of the confessional about an editing suite. Editors always hear the gossip about everyone. Indeed, if I were a less discreet person, this book could be a huge tabloid sensation but, sadly, should that be your inclination, it is not.
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Some editors, while working alone at night, would be totally undisciplined and allow the trims to fall into the bin. The poor assistant might come in the next morning to find a chaos of trims, all of which had to be sorted out and filed, but Jack Harris was a very disciplined man and made life easy for his assistant by being scrupulous. I don’t ever recall losing anything on a Harris picture.
The great value of Jack to a production, in spite of the time he spent contemplating the rushes, was that the rough cut was so expertly done that most directors wouldn’t tamper with it. What I learned from Jack was patience—a trait that has served me well. Today a film editor has to be really patient. Not with the material, but with the producers and financiers, who, once the director presents his version are in the cutting room, arguing, stating their opinions, and making calls on their mobiles. It becomes a bedlam. Back in Jack Harris’ day, nobody came near him.
