An Interview with Dede Allen

Abstract

O utside of the industry itself, very few motion picture editors enjoy any kind of recognition. Of these, Dede Allen is by far the best known. She credits much of this to her association with the great directors she's worked with, many of whom were lionized as auteurs when applications of the theory were just burgeoning in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. But Allen is modest and perhaps somewhat unfair to herself. While what she says of the attention she's received is true, nevertheless she is probably our greatest contemporary editor. Even if she had cut nothing else but Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Allen's place in cinema history would be virtually assured, but her roster of credits also includes Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), The Hustler (1961), America, America (1963), Rachel, Rachel (1968), Alice's Restaurant (1969), Little Big Man (1970), Slaughterhouse Five (1972), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975, Academy Award nomination), Night Moves (1975), The Missouri Breaks (1976), Slap Shot (1977), Reds (1981, Academy Award nomination), Mike's Murder (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Henry and June (1990); and, most recently, The Addams Family (1991). Allen's best collaborations have been with