Ralph Rosenblum
Encyclopedia
Ralph Rosenblum was an American film editor who worked extensively with the directors Sidney Lumet
and Woody Allen
. He won the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Editing
for his work on Annie Hall
, and published an influential memoir When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story (which is still in print).
Towards the end of the Second World War, Rosenblum worked as a filmmaking apprentice in the U. S. Office of War Information
; among his mentors there were Sidney Meyers
and Helen van Dongen
. Following the war he became van Dongen's assistant while she was editing Robert Flaherty's film Louisiana Story
(1948). Much of Rosenblum's work in the 1950s and early 1960s was in television; he worked on shows such as The Search, Omnibus, The Guy Lombardo
Show, and The Patty Duke Show
. With Sid Katz and Gene Milford, he formed a company, MKR Films, that provided editorial services for television shows, spots, and corporate films.
In the 1960s, Rosenblum edited five films directed by Sidney Lumet
, starting with Long 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,
Paul Monaco has summarized Rosenblum's editing innovations on The Pawnbroker, as well as their influence, as follows, "In his work on The Pawnbroker, Rosenblum imitated devices from several French films of the previous decade, but he also extended them. Like Dede 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."
In 1966, Rosenblum was nominated for an American Cinema Editors
"Eddie" award (Best Editing of a Feature Film) for A Thousand Clowns
(1965), which was directed by Fred Coe
.
In 1968, Rosenblum was hired as an "editorial consultant" to help a young Woody Allen
hone a large amount of footage into what became Allen's first film, the mockumentary
Take the Money and Run
. Rosenblum went on to edit the next five of Allen's films, including Annie Hall
, for which he won the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Editing
(with Wendy Greene Bricmont). Interiors
(1978) was Rosenblum's last film with Allen. Rosenblum declined to edit Allen's 1979 film, Manhattan
. 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.
In 1979, Rosenblum published a book written with Robert Karen, When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story. Gallagher described the importance of this book as follows:
Rosenblum worked as a director for about five years, commencing with the documentary film Acting Out (1980). His films included Summer Solstice (1981), which was made for television and which was actor Henry Fonda
's last film.
Rosenblum taught film and film editing at Columbia University
for a number of years until his death in 1995.
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
and Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
. He won the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Editing
BAFTA Award for Best Editing
The BAFTA Award for Best Editing is one of several annual awards presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . The film-voting members of the Academy select the five nominated films in each category; only the principal editor for each film are named, which excludes additional...
for his work on Annie Hall
Annie Hall
Annie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
, and published an influential memoir When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story (which is still in print).
Towards the end of the Second World War, Rosenblum worked as a filmmaking apprentice in the U. S. Office of War Information
United States Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information was a U.S. government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. It operated from June 1942 until September 1945...
; among his mentors there were Sidney Meyers
Sidney Meyers
Sidney Meyers was an American film director and editor.Sidney Meyers is best known for two documentary films: The Quiet One, which he wrote and directed, and for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; and British Academy of Film and Television Arts winner The Savage Eye,...
and Helen van Dongen
Helen van Dongen
Helen van Dongen was a pioneering editor of documentary films who was active from about 1925-1950. She collaborated with filmmaker Joris Ivens from 1925 to 1940, made several independent documentaries, and edited two of Robert Flaherty's films before retiring from filmmaking in her 40s.-Life and...
. Following the war he became van Dongen's assistant while she was editing Robert Flaherty's film Louisiana Story
Louisiana Story
Louisiana Story is a 78-minute black-and-white American film. Although the events and characters depicted are fictional, it is often misidentified as a documentary film. In fact, it is a docufiction. The script was written by Frances H. Flaherty and Robert J. Flaherty, and also directed by Robert...
(1948). Much of Rosenblum's work in the 1950s and early 1960s was in television; he worked on shows such as The Search, Omnibus, The Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
Show, and The Patty Duke Show
The Patty Duke Show
The Patty Duke Show is an American sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, until May 4, 1966, with reruns airing through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke...
. With Sid Katz and Gene Milford, he formed a company, MKR Films, that provided editorial services for television shows, spots, and corporate films.
In the 1960s, Rosenblum edited five films directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, starting with Long Day's Journey into Night
Long Day's Journey into Night (1962 film)
Long Day's Journey into Night is a 1962 film adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill play. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Ely Landau with Joseph E. Levine and Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr. as executive producers. The screenplay was by Eugene O'Neill, the music score by André Previn and the...
(1962). These films, which were all serious dramas, were very important to Rosenblum's career; as John Gallagher has noted,
Paul Monaco has summarized Rosenblum's editing innovations on The Pawnbroker, as well as their influence, as follows, "In his work on The Pawnbroker, Rosenblum imitated devices from several French films of the previous decade, but he also extended them. Like Dede Allen
Dede Allen
Dorothea Carothers "Dede" Allen was an American film editor, well-known "film editing doctor" to the major American movie studios, and one of cinema's all-time celebrated 'auteur' film editors....
, 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."
In 1966, Rosenblum was nominated for an American Cinema Editors
American Cinema Editors
Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
"Eddie" award (Best Editing of a Feature Film) for A Thousand Clowns
A Thousand Clowns
A Thousand Clowns is a 1962 American play by Herb Gardner, which tells the story of a young boy who lives with his eccentric uncle Murray, who is forced to conform to society in order to keep custody of the boy. A 1965 movie version was adapted from the play by Gardner and directed by Fred Coe.-...
(1965), which was directed by Fred Coe
Fred Coe
Fred Coe , nicknamed Pappy, was a television producer and director most famous for The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1948-1955 and Playhouse 90 from 1957 to 1959...
.
In 1968, Rosenblum was hired as an "editorial consultant" to help a young Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
hone a large amount of footage into what became Allen's first film, the mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Take the Money and Run
Take the Money and Run
Take the Money and Run is a 1969 comedy film written by Woody Allen and Mickey Rose, and directed by and starring Woody Allen. It is an early mockumentary, chronicling the life of Virgil Starkwell, a bungling petty thief...
. Rosenblum went on to edit the next five of Allen's films, including Annie Hall
Annie Hall
Annie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
, for which he won the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Editing
BAFTA Award for Best Editing
The BAFTA Award for Best Editing is one of several annual awards presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . The film-voting members of the Academy select the five nominated films in each category; only the principal editor for each film are named, which excludes additional...
(with Wendy Greene Bricmont). Interiors
Interiors
Interiors is a 1978 drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. Featured performers are Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, E. G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton and Sam Waterston....
(1978) was Rosenblum's last film with Allen. Rosenblum declined to edit Allen's 1979 film, Manhattan
Manhattan (film)
Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen about a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl before eventually falling in love with his best friend's mistress...
. Susan E. Morse
Susan E. Morse
Susan E. Morse is an American film editor with more than 30 film credits. She had a notable collaboration with director Woody Allen from 1977-1998...
, 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.
In 1979, Rosenblum published a book written with Robert Karen, When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor's Story. Gallagher described the importance of this book as follows:
Rosenblum worked as a director for about five years, commencing with the documentary film Acting Out (1980). His films included Summer Solstice (1981), which was made for television and which was actor Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
's last film.
Rosenblum taught film and film editing at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
for a number of years until his death in 1995.
Selected filmography (editor)
The director of each film is indicated in parenthesis.- Long Day's Journey into NightLong Day's Journey into Night (1962 film)Long Day's Journey into Night is a 1962 film adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill play. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Ely Landau with Joseph E. Levine and Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr. as executive producers. The screenplay was by Eugene O'Neill, the music score by André Previn and the...
(Lumet - 1962) - Fail-SafeFail-Safe (1964 film)Fail-Safe is a 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It tells the story of a fictional Cold War nuclear crisis...
(Lumet - 1964) - The PawnbrokerThe PawnbrokerThe Pawnbroker is a novel by Edward Lewis Wallant which tells the story of Sol Nazerman, a concentration camp survivor who suffers flashbacks of his past Nazi imprisonment as he tries to cope with his daily life operating a pawn shop in East Harlem...
(Lumet - 1965) - A Thousand ClownsA Thousand ClownsA Thousand Clowns is a 1962 American play by Herb Gardner, which tells the story of a young boy who lives with his eccentric uncle Murray, who is forced to conform to society in order to keep custody of the boy. A 1965 movie version was adapted from the play by Gardner and directed by Fred Coe.-...
(Coe - 1965) - The GroupThe Group (film)The Group is a 1966 ensemble film directed by Sidney Lumet based on the novel of the same name by Mary McCarthy about a group of female graduates from a Connecticut College-like college during the early 1930s....
(Lumet - 1966) - The ProducersThe Producers (1968 film)The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
(BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
-1968) - The Night They Raided Minsky'sThe Night They Raided Minsky'sThe Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Norman Lear. It is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky's Burlesque in 1925...
(Friedkin - 1968) - Goodbye, ColumbusGoodbye, Columbus (film)Goodbye, Columbus is a 1969 American romantic comedy drama film starring Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw, directed by Larry Peerce and based on the novella of the same name by Philip Roth...
(PeerceLarry PeerceLarry Peerce is an American film and TV director whose work includes the theatrical feature Goodbye, Columbus, the early rock and roll concert film The Big T.N.T. Show, and One Potato, Two Potato , the first U.S...
- 1969) - Take the Money and RunTake the Money and RunTake the Money and Run is a 1969 comedy film written by Woody Allen and Mickey Rose, and directed by and starring Woody Allen. It is an early mockumentary, chronicling the life of Virgil Starkwell, a bungling petty thief...
(Allen - 1969) (as Editorial Consultant) - BananasBananas (film)Bananas is a 1971 comedy film written by Mickey Rose and Woody Allen, directed by Allen, and starring himself and Louise Lasser. Parts of the plot were based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell. It was filmed on location in New York City, Lima , and various locations in Puerto...
(Allen - 1971) - SleeperSleeper (film)Sleeper is a 1973 futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman, and directed by Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner of a Greenwich Village, NY health food store played by Woody Allen who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200...
(Allen - 1973) - Love and DeathLove and DeathLove and Death is a 1975 comedy film by Woody Allen. Starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, Love and Death is a satirical take on Russian epic novels. Coming in between Sleeper and Annie Hall, Love and Death is in many respects an artistic transition between the two...
(Allen - 1975) - Annie HallAnnie HallAnnie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
(Allen - 1977) - InteriorsInteriorsInteriors is a 1978 drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. Featured performers are Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, E. G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton and Sam Waterston....
(Allen - 1978)