William H. Reynolds
Rememberedby Michael Polakow
Near midnight on July 16, 1997, cancer took a dear friend and colleague, William H. Reynolds , at the age of eighty-seven. I was fortunate to be Bill's assistant on nine of the feature films that he cut. It was also my honor and my privilege to call Bill my friend for over twenty-five years. As a young
apprentice in 1975, I first worked with Bill (even back then his hair was strikingly white!) on the Jack Lemmon film 'The Entertainer', it was Bill's fifty-second film as editor. In all, Bill cut an astonishing seventy-two films!
After graduating Princeton in 1933, Bill informed his family in Elmira, N.Y. that he would not be following his father's footsteps in the family-owned bank. Rather he would be headed for the West Coast and a career in film. He received little support for his decision. Starting his career in the editing room as an assistant at Fox in 1935 (and becoming a charter member of the then Society of Motion Picture Editors, now the Editors Guild), Bill worked at all the major lots, Paramount, United Artists and Universal. On films starring legendary names such as Henry Fonda, Janet Gaynor, Cary Grant, David Niven, Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. In 1942 he returned to 20th Century Fox as an editor. Staying at Fox for the next 16 years and working with Darryl Zanuck, he cut twenty-four films there (and later many more films), including 'The Big Lift' with Montgomery Clift, Robert Wise's 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', 'Desiree' with Marlon Brando, the musical 'Carousel' and 'Bus Stop' with Marilyn Monroe.
Over the next 40 years Bill cut films such as 'Love Is A Many Splendored Thing', 'South Pacific', 'Beloved Infidel', 'The Great White Hope', 'Compulsion', 'Ensign Pulver' and 'The Great Waldo Pepper'. Directors such as Robert Wise, Joshua Logan, Elia Kazan, Gene Kelly, Martin Ritt, Francis Coppola, Herbert Ross, Michael Cimino, Arthur Hiller, George Roy Hill, and Roman Polanski were always eager to work with him. He was nominated for an Academy Award for 'Fanny', 'The Sand Pebbles', 'Hello, Dolly!', 'The Godfather', and 'The Turning Point', and he won the Best Editing Oscar for 'The Sound of Music' and 'The Sting.' In 1993 Bill was still in the cutting room, hard at work, earning an Emmy nomination for Bette Midler's 'Gypsy.'
German Paperclips
Working with Bill was truly inspiring. His ability to see the drama in every scene, and instinctively know where each cut belonged, never failed to dazzle me.
When we first met, Kems had just made their appearance in Hollywood and Bill wasn't ready to give up his cutter's Moviola and German paperclips. Our routine in the cutting room was very simple. He would view the take, make his cut, then paperclip it to the previous cut on his rewind. After the entire scene was done he would give the film to me to splice together (and often tell me of the hot splicing days, when the black frames in your cut gave away your indecision). He did Variety's crossword puzzle (in pen) as I furiously spliced away (saving his 'special blunt paperclips'). He then would look at what he had put together. Rarely, he would make a change in the scene. And when I went to the bin to roll up his trims I was constantly amazed, and thankful, to mostly find only two trims per take, the head trim and the tail trim. Then we went off to the old Nibblers in Beverly Hills for lunch. He had the diet plate.
I once asked Bill to teach me editing, he simply said, "I can't. But you can watch me." (He had a dry sense of humor and an impish smile). And I did watch, an editor whose cutting room reflected his calm and graceful nature. Bill never panicked, never screamed, never blamed, never let his acclaim go to his head, and was always appreciative of those working with him. He thanked me each night for my day's work.
He was a man that moved quietly and affected everyone he met. Bill never spoke about his helping to financially support a couple and their children in Mexico and, when one of the children wanted to go to medical school, Bill provided the funds. He was a gentleman in a blue sweater.
Many times I tried to get Bill to tell me some of his "horror" stories in the business, the stars or directors that were nasty to him in one way or another, but he never had a bad word about anyone. It must have been because everyone he worked with recognized his experience, his talent and respected him for the fine editor and person that he was. Who couldn't like Bill?
But listing all of the films that Bill edited and all of his accomplishments and reciting little daily events in his life, will never equal knowing this man. It's unfortunate that the movie-going public never got to know the tremendous part that William H. Reynolds played in the making of their favorite films, films that will stand for many, many generations. But I'm sure that's the way he wanted it. He was much more than a great editor, he was a great man. And I'll forever miss him.
