Dorothy Spencer

For the 17th century English aristocrat, see Dorothy Spencer, Countess of Sunderland.

Dorothy Spencer
Spencer, June 1985
Born(1909-02-03)February 3, 1909
Covington, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedMay 23, 2002(2002-05-23) (aged 93)
Encinitas, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm editor
Years active1926–1979
FamilyJeanne Spencer (sister)

Dorothy Spencer (February 3, 1909 – May 23, 2002), known as Dot Spencer, was an American film editor with 75 feature film credits from a career that spanned more than 50 years.[1] Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing on four occasions, Spencer is remembered for editing three of John Ford's best known films, including Stagecoach (1939) and My Darling Clementine (1946).

Career

Dorothy Spencer was born in Covington, Kentucky in 1909 to Charles Spencer and Catherine (née Spellbrink). She was the youngest of four children, which included her older sister Jeanne. When she was a child, her family relocated to Los Angeles, where Jeanne evidently became a film editor.[2] In 1924, at the age of 15, Dorothy joined Consolidated-Aller Lab as an uncredited assistant editor on several films directed by Raoul Walsh and The Strong Man (1926) and Long Pants (1927), both directed by Frank Capra. In 1929, she joined Twentieth Century-Fox as an editor.[3] Her first credits were Married in Hollywood and Nix on Dames (both released in 1929).[1]

By the 1930s, Spencer worked freelance on several films distributed by Paramount and Universal Pictures.[1] She next teamed with Otho Lovering, in which they shared editing credits on several United Artists films, including The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936) and Winter Carnival (1939). Several of these films were directed by Tay Garnett and produced by Walter Wanger, including Stand-In (1937), Trade Winds (1938), and Eternally Yours (1939).[3]

1939: Stagecoach

In 1939, Spencer and Lovering co-edited John Ford's seminal Western Stagecoach. They have been retrospectively praised for the Apache attack on the stagecoach and the ensuing chase across the desert terrain.[4] Most notably, both had broken the 180-degree rule in film editing, with the intention to "disorient, confuse, and heighten anxiety for viewers, and by achieving this, the scene achieved a couple of intriguing results."[4] In this way, the audience is drawn closer to "the characters in the stagecoach, who are themselves thoroughly disoriented and confused."[4]

In 1974, Spencer reflected that Ford had allowed them much editorial freedom: "With most directors, you cut it exactly the way they want it, and there's no room for editorial creativity [...] Ford never told me anything and he never looked at the picture until it was finished."[5] They received an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing.[1]

1943–1967: Editor at Twentieth Century-Fox

By the 1940s, Spencer collaborated with several notable film directors, including Ernst Lubitsch for To Be or Not to Be (1942) and concluding with his last, posthumous credit That Lady in Ermine (1948). In 1943, Spencer rejoined Twentieth Century-Fox as a hired staff editor. There, she edited Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944).[6] The project presented technical challenges as the characters were confined in a lifeboat in the Atlantic Ocean, which was shot on the Twentieth Century-Fox sound stage. Author David Menuel wrote extenstively the interaction between the characters, as well as the experience of being at sea, with the ebbs and flows of the waves, had to be presented credibly to the viewers.[7]

Spencer next edited Elia Kazan's directorial film debut, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945). She also edited John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) with its notable depiction of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It has been noted that in "its editing, a tight, pared-down construction in which only the barest (and most pertinent) of information is conveyed."[6]

Spencer collaborated with Anatole Litvak with The Snake Pit (1948) and was followed by Decision Before Dawn (1951), which earned her second Oscar nomination. The success of the film began Spencer's association with historical spectacles and action films.[6] She once reflected, "For some reason I always seem to get assigned to pictures that are very physical. I don't know why."[5]

1962–1963: Cleopatra

Spencer was handed the "most difficult task" of her career when she edited Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra (1963).[8] Initially budgeted at $2 million (equivalent to $21,257,593 in 2024), the production was plagued by cost overruns and casting changes. Mankiewicz was hired to replace Rouben Mamoulian, who had been the film's initial director, after the production had spent $5 million (equivalent to $53,143,982 in 2024). Dissatisfied with the earlier scripts, Mankiewicz had written an incomplete shooting script and rewrote the script by longhand as filming proceeded.[8]

When principal photography was completed, Mankiewicz had shot 120 miles (630,000 ft) of footage. By October 1962, Mankiewicz had screened a five-and-a-half hour rough cut to Darryl F. Zanuck in Paris. Undeterred by the film's length, Mankiewicz had envisioned releasing Cleopatra in two parts: the first installment titled Caesar and Cleopatra and the second Antony and Cleopatra.[9] Zanuck disagreed with Mankiewicz's vision, as the studio aimed to publicize the onscreen pairing of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. He hired editor Elmo Williams to write a detailed analysis of the rough cut, in which Zanuck delivered a written response considering the battle sequences amateurish and unconvincing. Mankiewicz replied back in a letter sent days later, defending himself as he and Spencer had prepared a "rough cut" of the film and planned to discuss the final editing.[9]

As plans for another meeting were rebuffed, Mankiewicz learned that Zanuck and Williams had went to Spencer's hotel to discuss the footage he and Spencer had removed. Mankiewicz tried to arrange to view the cut himself but was told it would be unavailable to him. Two weeks had passed since the rough-cut screening, and Mankiewicz sent a three-page letter to Zanuck demanding where he stood in relation to the film.[10] Zanuck replied in a nine-page letter, blaming him for the film's cost overruns and fired him upon the completion of the dubbing. Months later, Zanuck rehired him to reshoot two key battle sequences in Almería, Spain.[11]

At Zanuck's request, Spencer reedited the film down to four hours for the premiere. However, to maximize the number of showings per day in each theatre, Cleopatra had its runtime truncated to slightly over three hours for first-run engagements.[8] A year later, in 1964, Cleopatra garnered nine Oscar nominations at the Academy Awards, including Spencer's third nomination for Best Film Editing.[12]

1965–1979: Films with Mark Robson and retirement

Spencer collaborated with Mark Robson on several of his films, including Von Ryan's Express (1965) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). Spencer then edited the disaster film Earthquake (1974), her eight collaboration with Robson. In an article for American Cinematographer magazine, Spencer wrote: "[Robson and I] have a very nice relationship and I like working with him. Although he is a top‑notch editor himself, he gives me free rein to exercise my own creative individuality in cutting a sequence the way I feel it should go."[5] She received her fourth and final Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing. Her last film credit was for The Concorde...Airport '79.[13] She retired to Encinitas, California.[2]

In 1989, Spencer was awarded the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award and was among the first four editors to receive the award.[13] In November 2001, Eileen Kowalski of Variety commemorated, "Indeed, many of the editorial greats have been women: Dede Allen, Verna Fields, Thelma Schoonmaker, Anne V. Coates and Dorothy Spencer."[14]

Death

She died on May 23, 2002, at the age of 93. Her death was not widely reported in the press of the time.[2]

Filmography

Year Film Director Notes Refs
1926 The Strong Man Frank Capra Assistant editor
1927 Long Pants
1928 In Old Arizona
  • Irving Cummings
  • Raoul Walsh
1929 Four Married Men Marcel Silver
Married in Hollywood [15]
Nix on Dames Donald Gallaher [15]
1931 Mamá Benito Perojo [15]
1934 Coming Out Party John G. Blystone Uncredited [15]
Such Women Are Dangerous James Flood [15]
She Was a Lady Hamilton MacFadden [15]
1935 Lottery Lover Wilhelm Thiele [15]
1936 The Moon's Our Home William A. Seiter [15]
The Case Against Mrs. Ames [15]
The Luckiest Girl in the World Edward Buzzell [15]
1937 Vogues of 1938 Irving Cummings [15]
Stand-In Tay Garnett [15]
1938 Blockade William Dieterle [15]
Trade Winds Tay Garnett [15]
1939 Stagecoach John Ford Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing [15]
Winter Carnival Charles Reisner [15]
Eternally Yours Tay Garnett [15]
Slightly Honorable [15]
1940 The House Across the Bay Archie Mayo [15]
Foreign Correspondent Alfred Hitchcock [15]
1941 Sundown Henry Hathaway [15]
The Captain from Köpenick Richard Oswald [15]
1942 To Be or Not to Be Ernst Lubitsch [15]
1943 Heaven Can Wait [15]
Happy Land Irving Pichel [15]
1944 Lifeboat Alfred Hitchcock [15]
Sweet and Low-Down Archie Mayo [15]
1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Elia Kazan [15]
A Royal Scandal Otto Preminger [15]
Here Is Germany (Documentary) Frank Capra [15]
1946 Dragonwyck Joseph L. Mankiewicz [15]
Cluny Brown Ernst Lubitsch [15]
My Darling Clementine John Ford [15]
1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Joseph L. Mankiewicz [15]
1948 That Lady in Ermine Ernst Lubitsch [15]
The Snake Pit Anatole Litvak [15]
1949 Down to the Sea in Ships Henry Hathaway [15]
1950 Three Came Home Jean Negulesco [15]
Under My Skin [15]
1951 Fourteen Hours Henry Hathaway [15]
Decision Before Dawn Anatole Litvak Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing [15]
1952 Lydia Bailey Jean Negulesco [15]
What Price Glory John Ford [15]
1953 Tonight We Sing Mitchell Leisen [15]
Man on a Tightrope Elia Kazan [15]
Vicki Harry Horner [15]
1954 Night People Nunnally Johnson [15]
Demetrius and the Gladiators Delmer Daves [15]
Broken Lance Edward Dmytryk [15]
Black Widow Nunnally Johnson [15]
1955 Prince of Players Philip Dunne [15]
Soldier of Fortune Edward Dmytryk [15]
The Left Hand of God [15]
The Rains of Ranchipur Jean Negulesco [15]
1956 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Nunnally Johnson [15]
The Best Things in Life Are Free Michael Curtiz [15]
1957 A Hatful of Rain Fred Zinnemann [15]
1958 The Young Lions Edward Dmytryk [15]
1959 The Journey Anatole Litvak [15]
A Private's Affair Raoul Walsh [15]
1960 Seven Thieves Henry Hathaway [15]
From the Terrace Mark Robson [15]
North to Alaska Henry Hathaway [15]
1961 Wild in the Country Philip Dunne [15]
1963 Cleopatra Joseph L. Mankiewicz Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing [15]
1964 Circus World Henry Hathaway [15]
1965 Von Ryan's Express Mark Robson [15]
1966 Lost Command [15]
1967 A Guide for the Married Man Gene Kelly [15]
Valley of the Dolls Mark Robson [15]
1969 Daddy's Gone A-Hunting [15]
1971 Happy Birthday, Wanda June [15]
1972 Limbo [15]
1974 Earthquake Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing [15]
1979 The Concorde... Airport '79 David Lowell Rich [15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Dorothy Spencer — Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Edwards, Gavin (October 29, 2022). "Overlooked No More: Dorothy Spencer, Film Editor Sought Out by Big Directors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Menuel 2016, p. 94.
  4. ^ a b c Menuel 2016, p. 95.
  5. ^ a b c Spencer, Dorothy (November 1974). "The Film Editing". American Cinematographer. Vol. 55, no. 11. p. 1316. ISSN 0002-7928. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023 – via The Hitchcock Zone.
  6. ^ a b c Menuel 2016, p. 97.
  7. ^ Menuel 2016, p. 101.
  8. ^ a b c Menuel 2016, p. 98.
  9. ^ a b Lev 2013, p. 220.
  10. ^ Stern 2019, pp. 335–336.
  11. ^ Stern 2019, p. 336.
  12. ^ "'Tom Jones' Top Oscar Candidates". The New York Times. February 25, 1964. p. 23. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Menuel 2016, p. 99.
  14. ^ Kowalski, Eileen (November 14, 2001). "Tina Hirsch". Variety. Archived from the original on November 26, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw "Dorothy Spencer — Filmography". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 25, 2025.

Bibliography

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