Dede Allen: The Film Editor Who Transformed Movies

Dede Allen/Courtesy http://www.editorsguild.com

Over the course of a sixty-year career, Dede Allen dispensed with many of the conventions of editing that make old movies glacially slow to contemporary eyes. She also made innovations that changed film forever. Since her death last month, I’ve been re-watching films she edited–“Bonnie and Clyde,” “Reds,” “Little Big Man,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Wonder Boys,” among others. A more detailed essay can be found in my Pages.

Death at the 1916 “Julius Caesar”: A News Account

Peg Entwistle’s biographer, James Zeruk, Jr., came across this article in the archives of the Santa Monica Outlook. Because the Beachwood “Julius Caesar” attracted a crowd of 40,000, a single accidental death doesn’t seem surprising. What is striking is that the poor woman appears not to have been taken to a hospital. Instead, her family took her home, where she later died of a fractured skull.

“Julius Caesar” at the Hollywood Bowl: Stills from the 1922 Production

All Photos Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library, Security Pacific Collection

 As promised in a previous post (“When Shakespeare Came to Beachwood Canyon: ‘Julius Caesar,’ 1916,” Feb. 9, 2010), here are photos from the 1922 production of “Julius Caesar” at the Hollywood Bowl. Because both productions starred Tyrone Power and a cast of thousands, one can only assume they were stylistically similar.

With only six years left before the quadricentennial of Shakespeare’s death and, of course, the centennial of the Beachwood extravaganza, the obvious comes to mind: how about staging a commemorative performance of “Julius Caesar” at the Hollywood Bowl?

Shoot me an e-mail, interested parties. Let’s get the ball rolling!