Hollywood (1936)

rr Features for December Death On The Cutting Room Floor! When Alma Lloyd, attractive ingenue daughter of Frank Lloyd, the director, was cast in the important role of Florence Udney in Anthony Adverse, excitement reached a high plane in the Lloyd household. Here, chirruped Alma, at last was her chance to distinguish herself on the screen, her opportunite grande. With the character figuring so prominently in the story, she would be famous overnight through her portraiture of the part in the film. Day and night she studied and rehearsed her lines at home, even enlisting her capable father's aid in suggesting improvements in her rendition of the character. Then, in the studio, weeks of work before the camera. All who saw her acting — director, producer, fellow players — proclaimed her work. Her scenes with Fredric March were particularly outstanding, and marked a milestone in her career. She simply couldn't miss. Came the night of the preview of the picture, a masterpiece of cinema art if ever Hollywood saw one. With her mother and father and a few intimate friends invited especially for the occasion. Alma thrilled with anticipation when the film opened. With its close, she sat stunned, crushed. She had not appeared in a single scene! What happened, you ask in amazement? How could anything so cruel and unjust and illogical be inflicted upon this clever young actress, particularly after the studio, in its months of publicizing the picture, had broadcast stories Committ of fi ng murder — the Hollywood way! Im represent blasted hopes — death These discard to many a Jane Withers throughout the nation that Alma Lloyd's performance would be one of the most brilliant in the production? How Alma Was "Killed" The explanation is simple. Alma was the innocent and unavoidable victim of the cutting-room — the proverbial faceon-the-cutting-room-floor. The entire sequence in which she figured had been lifted bodily from the film because of excess footage and all her excellent work, together with that of all those others appearing in this sequence, had gone for naught. Death on the cutting-room floor! Nothing is so distressing, particularly to the younger players who have yet to make their mark on the screen, as this bugaboo of all actors. It strikes when least expected — and the heads that have fallen, even among seasoned veterans, are myriad in number. Often an ambitious young actor will be given a part which bears every promise of developing into stellar proportions. He will spend days and weeks on the set, and from all indications is destined to be a sensation. When the picture is assembled and ready for general release, for any one of a dozen or more reasons he may find his role cut to a single scene, to a small percentage of the footage originally allotted the character — or, again, he may appear prominently throughout the length of the production. Similarly, an actor who worked only a day or so may discover his appearance in the picture a memorable one. To learn the reason for this juggling of human fates, let's turn to the cutting-room for our answer. Master of Their Fate i» r . u l i j i Ostensibly, the director determines the Valerie Hobson worked long and hard dur.ng lot of a p]ayer in a picture. Actually, the thoot.nq of Univerwl s Great E ,pecta*ons, , but film ediror-the cutter-is responsible w^n H,P R|m came out ,h« w«Sn t ,„ ,+! Upml M<8 shml]der.s reSTS the task of tak 32 ing all film exposed — photographed— and from these miles of celluloid fashion a picture. The cutter of the average production is given film ranging anywhere from seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand feet in length. This he must convert into a finished picture which averages approximately six thousand five hundred feet, and frequently even considerably less. Sometimes the footage handed him far exceeds the hundred thousand foot mark, but still the picture must not run more than sixty-five hundred feet. You may readily understand, then, that in bridging this rather staggering reduction he cannot include every bit of good acting or every sequence shot on the sets. First and foremost, he must strive toward one goal. The picture itself is the end in view and to reach this objective all else must be sacrificed, whether it be the work of an actor or a spectacular bit of action. The picture comes first, always, and is to be so regarded even above the performance of the Naturally, every consideration is accorded the star, for interest rests primarily in him, but scenes in which the star appears to particular advantage are not necessarily used if they do not aid in the motivation of the plot. Through having worked side by side with the director throughout the shooting of the film, the cutter knows the story thoroughly. It [Continued on page 63] ed strips reer! star. Marian Marsh Viewing the film through a tiny projector, this anonymous film editor watches the action, hears the speech from the speaker high above his left hand A motion of his right hand settles the destiny of an actor HOLLYWOOD