Ferris Webster

Ferris Webster
Born
Ferris Maynard Webster

(1912-04-29)April 29, 1912
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1989(1989-02-04) (aged 76)
San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm editor
Years active1939–1982

Ferris Maynard Webster (April 29, 1912 – February 4, 1989)[1] was an American film editor with approximately seventy-two film credits. He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Film Editing for his work on Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Great Escape (1963).[2]

Webster was raised in the state of Washington,[3] and was a student at the University of Southern California, where he was an outstanding track and field athlete.[4][5] He was trained as an editor at the MGM Studios,[3] and received his first feature-film credit in 1943 for Harrigan's Kid. At MGM, Webster edited six films with director Vincente Minnelli: Undercurrent (1946), Madame Bovary (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Father's Little Dividend (1951), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), and Tea and Sympathy (1956). Film critic Bruce Eder has written of Madame Bovay that, "the cutting of the film in the gala ball sequence, in particular, was a marvel of the editor's art in the service of old Hollywood's restrained, elegant storytelling." In the mid-1950s, he edited three films with director Richard Brooks: Blackboard Jungle (1955), Something of Value (1957), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958); Webster received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Blackboard Jungle. His last film at MGM was Key Witness (1960).[3]

Bruce Eder has written, "If ever a film editor deserved public recognition in the 1960s, it was Ferris Webster."[3] Webster edited the three films of director John Frankenheimer's "paranoia trilogy": The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), and Seconds (1966). Eder writes that The Manchurian Candidate was "the editor's magnum opus. The shooting, cutting, and intercutting of one extended brainwashing sequence, seen from multiple points-of-view, is still striking decades later, and the movie earned Webster his second Academy Award nomination." Frankenheimer cast Webster in his only appearance as a film actor, as Air Force Gen. Bernard "Barney" Rutkowski in Seven Days in May.[3]

Webster was nominated for an Academy Award for the editing of The Great Escape (1963), which was directed by John Sturges. Webster and Sturges' notable collaboration included fifteen films between 1950 and 1972, which is about half of Sturges' films in that period. It started with The Magnificent Yankee and Mystery Street (1950), and included The Law and Jake Wade (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), and Ice Station Zebra (1968). The final film of their collaboration was Joe Kidd (1972), which was near the end of Sturges' career.

Joe Kidd starred Clint Eastwood. In the last phase of his career, Webster edited and co-edited eight films that were directed by Eastwood, starting with High Plains Drifter (1973), which was Eastwood's second film as a director. Webster edited Breezy (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Bronco Billy (1980), Firefox and Honkytonk Man (both 1982). These latter two films with Eastwood concluded Webster's career as an editor, apparently after a falling-out between the two men.[6]

Additional credits include The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Lili (1953), Forbidden Planet (1956), Les Girls (1957), Divorce American Style (1967).

Selected filmography

[edit]
Editor
Year Film Director Notes
1943 Harrigan's Kid Charles Reisner
Swing Fever Tim Whelan
1944 Rationing Willis Goldbeck
1945 The Picture of Dorian Gray Albert Lewin
Dangerous Partners Edward L. Cahn
1946 The Hoodlum Saint Norman Taurog First collaboration with Norman Taurog
Undercurrent Vincente Minnelli First collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
1947 Living in a Big Way Gregory La Cava
If Winter Comes Victor Saville
1948 On an Island with You Richard Thorpe First collaboration with Richard Thorpe
Words and Music Norman Taurog Second collaboration with Norman Taurog
1949 Madame Bovary Vincente Minnelli Second collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
The Doctor and the Girl Curtis Bernhardt
1950 Please Believe Me Norman Taurog Third collaboration with Norman Taurog
Father of the Bride Vincente Minnelli Third collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
Mystery Street John Sturges First collaboration with John Sturges
Watch the Birdie Jack Donohue
The Magnificent Yankee John Sturges Second collaboration with John Sturges
1951 Father's Little Dividend Vincente Minnelli Fourth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
Kind Lady John Sturges Third collaboration with John Sturges
1952 Lone Star Vincent Sherman
The Girl in White John Sturges Fourth collaboration with John Sturges
1953 Lili Charles Walters First collaboration with Charles Walters
Scandal at Scourie Jean Negulesco
All the Brothers Were Valiant Richard Thorpe Second collaboration with Richard Thorpe
1954 The Long, Long Trailer Vincente Minnelli Fifth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
1955 Blackboard Jungle Richard Brooks First collaboration with Richard Brooks
The Glass Slipper Charles Walters Second collaboration with Charles Walters
1956 Ransom! Alex Segal
Forbidden Planet Fred M. Wilcox
The Fastest Gun Alive Russell Rouse
Tea and Sympathy Vincente Minnelli Sixth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli
1957 Something of Value Richard Brooks Second collaboration with Richard Brooks
Les Girls George Cukor
1958 The High Cost of Loving José Ferrer
The Law and Jake Wade John Sturges Fifth collaboration with John Sturges
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Richard Brooks Third collaboration with Richard Brooks
1959 Green Mansions Mel Ferrer
Never So Few John Sturges Sixth collaboration with John Sturges
1960 Key Witness Phil Karlson
The Magnificent Seven John Sturges Seventh collaboration with John Sturges
1961 By Love Possessed Eighth collaboration with John Sturges
A Thunder of Drums Joseph M. Newman
1962 Sergeants 3 John Sturges Ninth collaboration with John Sturges
The Manchurian Candidate John Frankenheimer First collaboration with John Frankenheimer
1963 The Great Escape John Sturges Tenth collaboration with John Sturges
1964 Seven Days in May John Frankenheimer Second collaboration with John Frankenheimer
1965 The Satan Bug John Sturges Eleventh collaboration with John Sturges
The Hallelujah Trail Twelfth collaboration with John Sturges
1966 Seconds John Frankenheimer Third collaboration with John Frankenheimer
1967 Divorce American Style Bud Yorkin First collaboration with Bud Yorkin
Hour of the Gun John Sturges Thirteenth collaboration with John Sturges
1968 Ice Station Zebra Fourteenth collaboration with John Sturges
1970 Start the Revolution Without Me Bud Yorkin Second collaboration with Bud Yorkin
A Walk in the Spring Rain Guy Green
Zig Zag Richard A. Colla
1971 Le Mans Lee H. Katzin
Uncredited
My Old Man's Place Edwin Sherin
The Organization Don Medford
1972 Joe Kidd John Sturges Fifteenth collaboration with John Sturges
1973 High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood First collaboration with Clint Eastwood
Breezy Second collaboration with Clint Eastwood
Magnum Force Ted Post
1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Michael Cimino
1975 The Eiger Sanction Clint Eastwood Third collaboration with Clint Eastwood
1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales Fourth collaboration with Clint Eastwood
The Enforcer James Fargo First collaboration with James Fargo
1977 The Gauntlet Clint Eastwood Fifth collaboration with Clint Eastwood
1978 Every Which Way but Loose James Fargo Second collaboration with James Fargo
1979 Escape from Alcatraz Don Siegel
1980 Bronco Billy Clint Eastwood Sixth collaboration with Clint Eastwood
Any Which Way You Can Buddy Van Horn
1982 Firefox Clint Eastwood Seventh collaboration with Clint Eastwood
Honkytonk Man Eighth collaboration with Clint Eastwood
Editorial department
Year Film Director Role Notes Other notes
1954 The Student Prince Richard Thorpe Editor: Widescreen Third collaboration with Richard Thorpe
Uncredited
1970 Cannon for Cordoba Paul Wendkos Editorial advisor
Actor
Year Film Director Role Notes
1964 Seven Days in May John Frankenheimer Gen. Bernard 'Barney' Rutkowski
Uncredited

TV series

Editorial department
Year Title Role Notes
1966 The Rat Patrol Supervising film editor 1 episode

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Birth and death dates and place-of-death obtained from a search of the Social Security Death Index.
  2. ^ Ferris Webster at IMDb
  3. ^ a b c d e Eder, Bruce. "Ferris Webster > Biography". Allmovie. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  4. ^ Rapf, Maurice (1999). Back Lot: Growing Up with the Movies. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-3583-2.
  5. ^ "USC All-Americans (outdoors)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-06-28. Webster was a 1933 All-American at 880 yards.
  6. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (2002). Clint: The Life and Legend. MacMillan. pp. 349–350. ISBN 978-0-312-29032-0.
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