The Cutting Edge

Image credit: Jaws: Everett Collection

SHARK TALE Jaws makes the cut

The Cutting Edge

Can you name a few movies that reveal how an editor saved a film? — Tami
I don't know about saving, but two emblematic tales of editing, both from the '70s, show just how potent and creative this most taken-for-granted of cinematic arts really is. Verna Fields, the editor of Jaws, was largely responsible for deciding to display the killer shark in teasing quick cuts, all because the prop shark looked so fake. And it was editor Ralph Rosenblum, scrutinizing a multi-hour rough cut of a new Woody Allen film, who suggested to Allen that his freewheeling comedy of a neurotic's progress would be better off if whittled down to its romantic subplot. Thus, it became Annie Hall.

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