The Visual Rhythms of Dede Allen

“I think the editor makes a difference on every picture.”  
– Dede Allen, Film Quarterly, 1992 

Three-time Oscar-nominated film editor Dede Allen (1923–2010) began her career in Hollywood at age 20 as a messenger for Columbia Pictures before promotions to editing assistant and then sound editor put her on track to become a full-fledged editor for Robert Wise’s Odds against Tomorrow (1959). Born Dorothea Corothers Allen in Cleveland, Ohio, the woman renowned for the radical editing in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) lived an unsettled childhood, finding her only comfort as a teen visiting the cinema several times a week with her mother. Encouraged by Wise to never shy away from experimentation, and learning from Robert Rossen to always make choices in service of narrative, Allen would move confidently into the 1960s to help shape the tone and stylistic flourishes of the New Hollywood period and beyond. Working on multiple pictures with greats such as Sidney Lumet and Arthur Penn, Allen also supported the directing careers of actors Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford with her trusted feel for story and pacing, taking a break from editing in 1992 to serve as an executive at Warner Bros. for several years. The eight films presented in this series celebrate the decade-spanning influence of this legendary editor in her centennial year.