Doane Harrison
Encyclopedia
Doane Harrison was an American
film editor and producer
whose career spanned four decades. For nearly twenty years, from 1935-1954, Harrison was a prolific editor of films for Paramount Pictures
, including eleven films with director Mitchell Leisen
. For twenty-five years, from 1941-1966, Harrison edited or produced all the films directed by Billy Wilder
, who is now considered as one of the great 20th Century filmmakers.
, Harrison began his career during the silent film
era. The earliest phase of his career and his education don't appear to have been documented. In 1925-1926, he was credited as the editor for nine films starring Richard Talmadge
, and produced by Richard Talmadge Productions. By 1928, he was editing films produced by Pathé Exchange. In 1933 he edited his eleventh (and last) film starring Richard Talmadge, On Your Guard. By 1935, Harrison had joined Paramount Pictures
, which was one of the major Hollywood studios
at that time. Harrison remained at Paramount for more than eighteen years. His first film there was Four Hours to Kill!
(1935), which was directed by Mitchell Leisen
; at Pathé Exchange, Leisen had been the art director and Harrison the editor on three films. Their notable director-editor collaboration ultimately stretched over twenty-three years and eleven films, including Hold Back the Dawn
(1941), which received six Academy Award nominations, Easy Living (1937), Midnight
(1939), and Remember the Night
(1940).
. As a new immigrant to the United States in the 1930s, Wilder had found work as a screenwriter for Paramount, where Harrison was also working as an editor. Wilder and Harrison both worked on Midnight in 1939, and again on Hold Back the Dawn in 1941. By 1942 Wilder had persuaded the management at Paramount to assign him as the director of the comedy The Major and the Minor
; Wilder had previously directed just a single film in France. Wilder asked that Harrison be assigned as the film's editor. Wilder has been quoted as saying about this early assignment, "I worked with a very good cutter, Doane Harrison, from whom I learned a great deal. He was much more of a help to me than the cameraman. When I became a director from a writer my technical knowledge was very meagre." Sam Stagg has described their early collaboration, "In valuable early lessons, Harrison taught Wilder how to preplan each shot as part of a total editing scheme. The results: Time and money saved, and few protection shots required. (The term "protection shot", also called coverage, refers to footage shot from various setups and angles that may be needed for editing a sequence in the cutting room.)"
The Major and the Minor was successful, and launched Wilder's directing career. Harrison worked on all the films directed by Wilder for the next 25 years, through The Fortune Cookie
(1966); their unusually close collaboration involved Harrison in filming as well as editing. Harrison was the principal credited editor for the next five films that Wilder directed, through A Foreign Affair
(1948). Arthur P. Schmidt
joined with Harrison to edit Sunset Boulevard
(1950), and Harrison began to assume additional producing duties on Wilder's films. Harrison was credited as an "editorial consultant" on Sabrina
(1954), which was the last film at Paramount for Wilder and Harrison. After leaving Paramount, Harrison became the associate producer for Wilder's first independent film, The Seven Year Itch
(1955), and was credited as a producer in all of Wilder's films through The Fortune Cookie.
(1966). While he was producing with Wilder, Harrison did edit three more films by other directors; his final editing credit, for The Girl Most Likely
(1958), was a reunion with director Mitchell Leisen. Harrison also acted as a consultant to Mike Nichols
on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1966), which was the first film Nichols directed.
Harrison was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for three films directed by Wilder: Five Graves to Cairo
(1943), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Boulevard
(with Arthur P. Schmidt
, 1950).
Harrison died in 1968 in Riverside, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film editor and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
whose career spanned four decades. For nearly twenty years, from 1935-1954, Harrison was a prolific editor of films for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, including eleven films with director Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.-Film career:He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments...
. For twenty-five years, from 1941-1966, Harrison edited or produced all the films directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
, who is now considered as one of the great 20th Century filmmakers.
Early Career
Born in Paw Paw, MichiganPaw Paw, Michigan
Paw Paw is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 3,363. It is the county seat of Van Buren County.-Overview:...
, Harrison began his career during the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era. The earliest phase of his career and his education don't appear to have been documented. In 1925-1926, he was credited as the editor for nine films starring Richard Talmadge
Richard Talmadge
Richard Talmadge was a Swiss-born American actor, stuntman and film director....
, and produced by Richard Talmadge Productions. By 1928, he was editing films produced by Pathé Exchange. In 1933 he edited his eleventh (and last) film starring Richard Talmadge, On Your Guard. By 1935, Harrison had joined Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, which was one of the major Hollywood studios
Studio system
The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1960s. The term studio system refers to the practice of large motion picture studios producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under...
at that time. Harrison remained at Paramount for more than eighteen years. His first film there was Four Hours to Kill!
Four Hours to Kill!
Four Hours to Kill! is a 1935 drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Richard Barthelmess.-Cast:* Richard Barthelmess - Tony Mako* Joe Morrison - Eddie* Gertrude Michael - Mrs. Sylvia Temple* Helen Mack - Helen* Dorothy Tree - Mae Danish...
(1935), which was directed by Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.-Film career:He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments...
; at Pathé Exchange, Leisen had been the art director and Harrison the editor on three films. Their notable director-editor collaboration ultimately stretched over twenty-three years and eleven films, including Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn
Hold Back the Dawn is a 1941 romantic film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her...
(1941), which received six Academy Award nominations, Easy Living (1937), Midnight
Midnight (1939 film)
Midnight is a 1939 romantic comedy directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder based on a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz. It starred Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore.-Plot:Eve Peabody is an out-of-work American showgirl...
(1939), and Remember the Night
Remember the Night
Remember the Night is a 1940 American romantic comedy/drama Christmas film directed by Mitchell Leisen, and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray...
(1940).
Collaboration with Billy Wilder
Harrison is probably best known for his long association with Billy WilderBilly Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
. As a new immigrant to the United States in the 1930s, Wilder had found work as a screenwriter for Paramount, where Harrison was also working as an editor. Wilder and Harrison both worked on Midnight in 1939, and again on Hold Back the Dawn in 1941. By 1942 Wilder had persuaded the management at Paramount to assign him as the director of the comedy The Major and the Minor
The Major and the Minor
The Major and the Minor is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder, and launched his "incomparable" directing career...
; Wilder had previously directed just a single film in France. Wilder asked that Harrison be assigned as the film's editor. Wilder has been quoted as saying about this early assignment, "I worked with a very good cutter, Doane Harrison, from whom I learned a great deal. He was much more of a help to me than the cameraman. When I became a director from a writer my technical knowledge was very meagre." Sam Stagg has described their early collaboration, "In valuable early lessons, Harrison taught Wilder how to preplan each shot as part of a total editing scheme. The results: Time and money saved, and few protection shots required. (The term "protection shot", also called coverage, refers to footage shot from various setups and angles that may be needed for editing a sequence in the cutting room.)"
The Major and the Minor was successful, and launched Wilder's directing career. Harrison worked on all the films directed by Wilder for the next 25 years, through The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on-screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.- Plot :...
(1966); their unusually close collaboration involved Harrison in filming as well as editing. Harrison was the principal credited editor for the next five films that Wilder directed, through A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Richard L. Breen is based on a story by David Shaw adapted by Robert Harari...
(1948). Arthur P. Schmidt
Arthur P. Schmidt
Arthur P. Schmidt was an American film editor and producer. He had more than sixty film credits for editing from 1934 through 1962. In the 1950s, Schmidt edited five films directed by Billy Wilder, who has been called one of the great 20th Century filmmakers...
joined with Harrison to edit Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
(1950), and Harrison began to assume additional producing duties on Wilder's films. Harrison was credited as an "editorial consultant" on Sabrina
Sabrina (1954 film)
Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair...
(1954), which was the last film at Paramount for Wilder and Harrison. After leaving Paramount, Harrison became the associate producer for Wilder's first independent film, The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American film based on a three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role...
(1955), and was credited as a producer in all of Wilder's films through The Fortune Cookie.
Final cuts
Harrison's and Wilder's notable director-editor collaboration had extended over ten films, from The Major and the Minor (1942) through Sabrina (1954). Harrison was subsequently credited as a producer on ten more of Wilder's films, from The Seven Year Itch (1955) through The Fortune CookieThe Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on-screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.- Plot :...
(1966). While he was producing with Wilder, Harrison did edit three more films by other directors; his final editing credit, for The Girl Most Likely
The Girl Most Likely
The Girl Most Likely is a musical about a young woman who ends up engaged to three men at the same time. The film, a remake of Tom, Dick and Harry , was directed by Mitchell Leisen, and stars Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson, and Keith Andes...
(1958), was a reunion with director Mitchell Leisen. Harrison also acted as a consultant to Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
(1966), which was the first film Nichols directed.
Harrison was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for three films directed by Wilder: Five Graves to Cairo
Five Graves to Cairo
Five Graves to Cairo is a 1943 World War II film by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. It is one of a number of films based on Lajos Biró's play Színmü négy felvonásban, including Hotel Imperial .-Plot:...
(1943), The Lost Weekend (1945), and Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (film)
Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett...
(with Arthur P. Schmidt
Arthur P. Schmidt
Arthur P. Schmidt was an American film editor and producer. He had more than sixty film credits for editing from 1934 through 1962. In the 1950s, Schmidt edited five films directed by Billy Wilder, who has been called one of the great 20th Century filmmakers...
, 1950).
Harrison died in 1968 in Riverside, California
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
.