John Jympson
Encyclopedia
John Jympson was a British film editor. He edited films such as Zulu
(1964), A Hard Day's Night
(1964), Frenzy
(1972) and A Fish Called Wanda
(1988).
and left aged 17 in 1947 intending to become a veterinary surgeon. However his father, the Evening News film critic Jympson Harman, secured him as a runner at Ealing Studios
. He worked in the cutting-room, aiding Peter Tanner on the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets
, before participating in two years of National Service
. He returned to Ealing and worked on the films The Cruel Sea
(1953) and The Ladykillers
(1955). Jympson became an assembly cutter on I Was Monty's Double
in 1958.
His break came in 1959 while working under William Hornbeck
on Suddenly, Last Summer
where his work earned him the credit of assembly editor. The film's success and a recommendation from Max Benedict
meant Jympson was hired to edit films himself for the first time, namely A French Mistress
and Suspect
in 1960, each for the Boulting brothers. Jympson met actor and producer Stanley Baker
when editing the 1962 film A Prize of Arms
; the two worked together on The Man Who Finally Died
and 1964's Zulu
, which Tony Sloman called Jympson's "career-high" saying the film was "magnificently edited". He followed this up with a further success, A Hard Day's Night
, a film starring the Beatles
, was released to critical acclaim. The film's editing style has been strongly praised and is considered highly influential.
James B. Harris
picked Jympson to edit his directorial debut The Bedford Incident
in 1965, the year he also edited Sands of the Kalahari
. He edited Where Eagles Dare
(1968) and aided the film's director Brian G. Hutton
on set. Jympson edited Kelly's Heroes
(1970), and the Peter Sellers
' films The Bobo
(1967) and The Optimists of Nine Elms
(1973). Alfred Hitchcock
selected Jympson to edit Frenzy
in 1972; off-set the two became good friends.
Jympson was hired to edit Star Wars
(1977). Director George Lucas
had wanted to use Richard Chew, but Jympson was a cheaper, local option who would not require a work permit for the film's England shoot. Lucas liked Jympson's work on A Hard Day's Night and thought he would do a good job on Star Wars. Jympson began cutting the film together while Lucas was still filming in Tunisia; as Lucas noted, the editor was in an "impossible position" because Lucas has not explained any of the film's material to him. When Lucas watched Jympson's rough cut for the first time, he disliked what he saw. J. W. Rinzler wrote that "Jympson's selection of takes was questionable, and he seemed to be having trouble doing match-cuts." Lucas was prepared to give Jympson more time; Jympson disliked Lucas' working style. As production went on, Lucas still disapproved of Jympson's cut and fired him halfway through the film's production. He commented: "Unfortunately it didn't work out. It's very hard when you are hiring people to know if they are going to mesh with you and if you are going to get what you want. In the end, I don't think he fully understood the movie and what I was trying to do. I shoot in a very peculiar way, in a documentary style, and it takes a lot of hard editing to make it work." Lucas replaced him with Paul Hirsch
, Richard Chew and his wife Marcia Lucas
. Jympson's edit, the "Lost Cut", contained about 30-40% different footage from the film's final version.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986), A Fish Called Wanda
(1988), HouseSitter
(1992), Splitting Heirs
(1993), Circle of Friends
(1995), Haunted (1995) and In and Out (1997) were some of Jympson's later editing projects. Sloman says A Fish Called Wanda was "probably the biggest success of his career." Jympson received a BAFTA nomination for his editing of the film. His final film was 1999's Mad Cows.
Zulu (film)
Zulu is a 1964 historical war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War....
(1964), A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
(1964), Frenzy
Frenzy
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
(1972) and A Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 crime-comedy film written by John Cleese and Charles Crichton. It was directed by Crichton and an uncredited Cleese, and stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The film is about a jewel heist and its aftermath...
(1988).
Career
Jympson was born on 16 September 1930 in London. He attended Dulwich CollegeDulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
and left aged 17 in 1947 intending to become a veterinary surgeon. However his father, the Evening News film critic Jympson Harman, secured him as a runner at Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
. He worked in the cutting-room, aiding Peter Tanner on the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 British black comedy feature film. The plot is loosely based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman, with the screenplay written by Robert Hamer and John Dighton and the film directed by Hamer...
, before participating in two years of National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. He returned to Ealing and worked on the films The Cruel Sea
The Cruel Sea (film)
The Cruel Sea is a 1953 British film from Ealing Studios starring Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden, with Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister...
(1953) and The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
(1955). Jympson became an assembly cutter on I Was Monty's Double
I Was Monty's Double (film)
I Was Monty's Double is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation . It was directed by John Guillermin, from a screenplay adapted by Bryan Forbes.- Plot :...
in 1958.
His break came in 1959 while working under William Hornbeck
William Hornbeck
William Hornbeck was an American film editor.He was nominated four times for the Academy Award for Film Editing, and won the award for A Place in the Sun . Other important credits include It's a Wonderful Life , Giant , and I Want to Live!...
on Suddenly, Last Summer
Suddenly, Last Summer (film)
Suddenly, Last Summer is a 1959 American Southern Gothic mystery film based on the play of the same title by Tennessee Williams. The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Sam Spiegel from a screenplay by Gore Vidal and Williams. The music score was by Buxton Orr using themes by...
where his work earned him the credit of assembly editor. The film's success and a recommendation from Max Benedict
Max Benedict
Max Benedict was an Austrian film editor. He is credited on such films as The Blue Max , Shaft in Africa , Whistle Down the Wind and Guns at Batasi ....
meant Jympson was hired to edit films himself for the first time, namely A French Mistress
A French Mistress
A French Mistress is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Cecil Parker, James Robertson Justice, Ian Bannen, Raymond Huntley, Irene Handl and Thorley Walters.-External links:* at Yahoo Canada movies...
and Suspect
Suspect (1960 film)
Suspect is a 1960 British thriller film directed by Roy Boulting and John Boulting. It starred Tony Britton, Virginia Maskell, Ian Bannen, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence...
in 1960, each for the Boulting brothers. Jympson met actor and producer Stanley Baker
Stanley Baker
Sir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
when editing the 1962 film A Prize of Arms
A Prize of Arms
A Prize of Arms is a 1962 British crime film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Stanley Baker, Helmut Schmid, Patrick Magee and Tom Bell with early appearances by several actors including Fulton Mackay, Tom Adams and Rodney Bewes...
; the two worked together on The Man Who Finally Died
The Man Who Finally Died
The Man Who Finally Died is a 1963 British thriller film directed by Quentin Lawrence and starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, Mai Zetterling and Eric Portman. A German immigrant to Britain receives a mysterious phone call telling him his father is not really dead...
and 1964's Zulu
Zulu (film)
Zulu is a 1964 historical war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War....
, which Tony Sloman called Jympson's "career-high" saying the film was "magnificently edited". He followed this up with a further success, A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
, a film starring the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, was released to critical acclaim. The film's editing style has been strongly praised and is considered highly influential.
James B. Harris
James B. Harris
James B. Harris is a film screenwriter, producer and director. He worked with film director Stanley Kubrick as a producer on The Killing, Paths of Glory and Lolita...
picked Jympson to edit his directorial debut The Bedford Incident
The Bedford Incident
The Bedford Incident is a 1965 British-American Cold War film starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier, and co-produced by Richard Widmark. The cast also features James MacArthur, Martin Balsam, Wally Cox and Eric Portman, as well as early appearances by Donald Sutherland and Ed Bishop...
in 1965, the year he also edited Sands of the Kalahari
Sands of the Kalahari
Sands of the Kalahari is a 1965 film British drama film starring Stuart Whitman, Stanley Baker, Susannah York, Harry Andrews and Theodore Bikel, based on the 1960 novel by William Mulvihill. The movie was written by Cy Endfield and William Mulvihill and directed by Cy Endfield...
. He edited Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
(1968) and aided the film's director Brian G. Hutton
Brian G. Hutton
Brian G. Hutton is a film director whose most notable credit is for the 1970 action classic Kelly's Heroes.-Filmography:*Wild Seed *The Pad and How to Use It *Sol Madrid...
on set. Jympson edited Kelly's Heroes
Kelly's Heroes
Kelly's Heroes is an offbeat 1970 comedy/war film about a group of World War II soldiers who go AWOL to rob a bank behind enemy lines. Directed by Brian G...
(1970), and the Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
' films The Bobo
The Bobo
The Bobo is a 1967 British comedy film starring Peter Sellers and co-starring his then-wife Britt Ekland. Based on the 1959 novel Olimpia by Burt Cole, also known as Thomas Dixon, Sellers is featured as the would-be singing matador, Juan Bautista...
(1967) and The Optimists of Nine Elms
The Optimists of Nine Elms
The Optimists, also known as The Optimists of Nine Elms, is a 1973 British drama film starring Peter Sellers and directed by Anthony Simmons, who also wrote the 1964 novel on which the book is based...
(1973). Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
selected Jympson to edit Frenzy
Frenzy
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
in 1972; off-set the two became good friends.
Jympson was hired to edit Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1977). Director George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
had wanted to use Richard Chew, but Jympson was a cheaper, local option who would not require a work permit for the film's England shoot. Lucas liked Jympson's work on A Hard Day's Night and thought he would do a good job on Star Wars. Jympson began cutting the film together while Lucas was still filming in Tunisia; as Lucas noted, the editor was in an "impossible position" because Lucas has not explained any of the film's material to him. When Lucas watched Jympson's rough cut for the first time, he disliked what he saw. J. W. Rinzler wrote that "Jympson's selection of takes was questionable, and he seemed to be having trouble doing match-cuts." Lucas was prepared to give Jympson more time; Jympson disliked Lucas' working style. As production went on, Lucas still disapproved of Jympson's cut and fired him halfway through the film's production. He commented: "Unfortunately it didn't work out. It's very hard when you are hiring people to know if they are going to mesh with you and if you are going to get what you want. In the end, I don't think he fully understood the movie and what I was trying to do. I shoot in a very peculiar way, in a documentary style, and it takes a lot of hard editing to make it work." Lucas replaced him with Paul Hirsch
Paul Hirsch (film editor)
Paul Hirsch is an American motion picture editor.A native of New York City, after graduating from Columbia he began to pursue a career in editing. In the late 1960s, while editing trailers in NYC, he was introduced by his brother, Charles, to then unknown filmmaker Brian De Palma...
, Richard Chew and his wife Marcia Lucas
Marcia Lucas
Marcia Lucas is an American film editor.In 1974, Lucas and Verna Fields were nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing for their work on American Graffiti...
. Jympson's edit, the "Lost Cut", contained about 30-40% different footage from the film's final version.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986), A Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 crime-comedy film written by John Cleese and Charles Crichton. It was directed by Crichton and an uncredited Cleese, and stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The film is about a jewel heist and its aftermath...
(1988), HouseSitter
HouseSitter
HouseSitter is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.-Plot:Newton Davis is a...
(1992), Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. The film was directed by Robert Young, and features music by Michael Kamen...
(1993), Circle of Friends
Circle of Friends (1995 film)
Circle of Friends is a 1995 film directed by Irish filmmaker Pat O'Connor and based on the novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy.-Plot:...
(1995), Haunted (1995) and In and Out (1997) were some of Jympson's later editing projects. Sloman says A Fish Called Wanda was "probably the biggest success of his career." Jympson received a BAFTA nomination for his editing of the film. His final film was 1999's Mad Cows.