Robert Simpson (film editor)

Robert Laughlin Simpson, A.C.E. (July 31, 1910 – June 26, 1977), was an American film editor with more than 100 feature film credits.

Robert Laughlin Simpson
Born	July 31, 1910 Missouri
Died	June 26, 1977 (aged 66)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Film editor

Biography

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Simpson began his career at Paramount Pictures in 1935. By the end of the decade, he had joined 20th Century Fox, where he remained for more than 35 years.

Cornell Borchers and Montgomery Clift in The Big Lift (1950)

During a 55-year career, Simpson edited one hundred films, including Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Pride of St. Louis (1952), Call Me Madam (1953), The King and I (1956), South Pacific (1958), Fate is the Hunter (1964), and Tony Rome (1967). He collaborated with director George Seaton on several projects, including Miracle on 34th Street, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Apartment for Peggy, and Chicken Every Sunday. He also worked with John Ford, Sidney Lanfield, and Walter Lang.

Simpson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for The Grapes of Wrath.

Partial filmography

Based on Simpson's filmography at the Internet Database.

Editor

Year	Film	Director	Notes	Other notes
1935	The Gay Deception	William Wyler
1936	Her Master's Voice	Joseph Santley
	Big Brown Eyes	Raoul Walsh	First collaboration with Raoul Walsh
	Palm Springs	Aubrey Scotto	First collaboration with Aubrey Scotto
	Spendthrift	Raoul Walsh	Second collaboration with Raoul Walsh
	Follow Your Heart	Aubrey Scotto	Second collaboration with Aubrey Scotto
	The President's Mystery	Phil Rosen
	One in a Million	Sidney Lanfield	First collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
1937	Wake Up and Live		Second collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
	Thin Ice		Third collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
	Love and Hisses		Fourth collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
1938	Josette	Allan Dwan
	Always Goodbye	Sidney Lanfield	Fifth collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
	Submarine Patrol	John Ford	First collaboration with John Ford
	Thanks for Everything	William A. Seiter
1939	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Sidney Lanfield	Sixth collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
	Second Fiddle		Seventh collaboration with Sidney Lanfield
	Drums Along the Mohawk	John Ford	Second collaboration with John Ford
1940	The Grapes of Wrath		Third collaboration with John Ford
	Star Dust	Walter Lang	First collaboration with Walter Lang
	The Man I Married	Irving Pichel	First collaboration with Irving Pichel
	Public Deb No. 1	Gregory Ratoff	First collaboration with Gregory Ratoff
	Hudson's Bay	Irving Pichel	Second collaboration with Irving Pichel
1941	The Great American Broadcast	Archie Mayo
	Belle Starr	Irving Cummings	First collaboration with Irving Cummings
	I Wake Up Screaming	H. Bruce Humberstone	First collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone
1942	Song of the Islands	Walter Lang	Second collaboration with Walter Lang
	My Gal Sal	Irving Cummings	Second collaboration with Irving Cummings
	Footlight Serenade	Gregory Ratoff	Second collaboration with Gregory Ratoff
	Springtime in the Rockies	Irving Cummings	Third collaboration with Irving Cummings
1943	Coney Island	Walter Lang	Third collaboration with Walter Lang
	Sweet Rosie O'Grady	Irving Cummings	Fourth collaboration with Irving Cummings
	Claudia	Edmund Goulding	First collaboration with Edmund Goulding
1944	Pin Up Girl	H. Bruce Humberstone	Second collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone
	Greenwich Village	Walter Lang	Fourth collaboration with Walter Lang
	Something for the Boys	Lewis Seiler
1945	Diamond Horseshoe	George Seaton	First collaboration with George Seaton
	Junior Miss		Second collaboration with George Seaton
1946	Claudia and David	Walter Lang	Fifth collaboration with Walter Lang
	Do You Love Me	Gregory Ratoff	Third collaboration with Gregory Ratoff
1947	The Shocking Miss Pilgrim	George Seaton	Third collaboration with George Seaton
	The Homestretch	H. Bruce Humberstone	Third collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone
	Miracle on 34th Street	George Seaton	Fourth collaboration with George Seaton
1948	Fury at Furnace Creek	H. Bruce Humberstone	Fourth collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone
	Apartment for Peggy	George Seaton	Fifth collaboration with George Seaton
1949	Chicken Every Sunday		Sixth collaboration with George Seaton
	The Forbidden Street	Jean Negulesco	First collaboration with Jean Negulesco	Uncredited
	Slattery's Hurricane	Andre de Toth
1950	Wabash Avenue	Henry Koster	First collaboration with Henry Koster
	The Big Lift	George Seaton	Seventh collaboration with George Seaton
	American Guerrilla in the Philippines	Fritz Lang
	For Heaven's Sake	George Seaton	Eighth collaboration with George Seaton
1951	Rawhide	Henry Hathaway	First collaboration with Henry Hathaway
	I Can Get It for You Wholesale	Michael Gordon	First collaboration with Michael Gordon
	As Young as You Feel	Harmon Jones	First collaboration with Harmon Jones
	The Model and the Marriage Broker	George Cukor	First collaboration with George Cukor
1952	The Pride of St. Louis	Harmon Jones	Second collaboration with Harmon Jones
	My Wife's Best Friend	Richard Sale	First collaboration with Richard Sale
1953	Treasure of the Golden Condor	Delmer Daves
	Call Me Madam	Walter Lang	Sixth collaboration with Walter Lang
	The Girl Next Door	Richard Sale	Second collaboration with Richard Sale
	Inferno	Roy Ward Baker
1954	Prince Valiant	Henry Hathaway	Second collaboration with Henry Hathaway
	There's No Business Like Show Business	Walter Lang	Seventh collaboration with Walter Lang
1955	A Man Called Peter	Henry Koster	Second collaboration with Henry Koster
	The Virgin Queen		Third collaboration with Henry Koster
	The View from Pompey's Head	Philip Dunne
1956	The King and I	Walter Lang	Eighth collaboration with Walter Lang
1957	The True Story of Jesse James	Nicholas Ray
	Desk Set	Walter Lang	Ninth collaboration with Walter Lang
	Kiss Them for Me	Stanley Donen
1958	South Pacific	Joshua Logan
	Mardi Gras	Edmund Goulding	Second collaboration with Edmund Goulding
1959	Woman Obsessed	Henry Hathaway	Third collaboration with Henry Hathaway
	The Best of Everything	Jean Negulesco	Second collaboration with Jean Negulesco
1960	Can-Can	Walter Lang	Tenth collaboration with Walter Lang
	High Time	Blake Edwards
1961	Sanctuary	Tony Richardson
	Marines, Let's Go	Raoul Walsh	Third collaboration with Raoul Walsh
1962	The Chapman Report	George Cukor	Second collaboration with George Cukor
1963	The Stripper	Franklin J. Schaffner
	Move Over, Darling	Michael Gordon	Second collaboration with Michael Gordon
1964	Fate Is the Hunter	Ralph Nelson
1965	The Reward	Serge Bourguignon
	Do Not Disturb	Ralph Levy
1966	Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider	George Sherman
1967	Caprice	Frank Tashlin
	Tony Rome	Gordon Douglas	First collaboration with Gordon Douglas
1968	The Detective		Second collaboration with Gordon Douglas
	Lady in Cement		Third collaboration with Gordon Douglas
1969	100 Rifles	Tom Gries
	The Undefeated	Andrew V. McLaglen	First collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen
1970	Chisum		Second collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen
1971	One More Train to Rob		Third collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen
	Fools' Parade		Fourth collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen
	Something Big		Fifth collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen
1973	Cahill U.S. Marshal		Sixth collaboration with Andrew V. McLaglen

Editorial department

Year	Film	Director	Role	Notes
1933	It's Great to Be Alive	Alfred L. Werker	Editorial assistant	Uncredited

Actor

Year	Film	Director	Role	Notes
1936	Lloyd's of London	Henry King	Captain	Uncredited

TV series

Editor

Year	Title	Notes
1955	The 20th Century Fox Hour	1 episode
1960	Hong Kong	2 episodes
1963−65	Vacation Playhouse	3 episodes
1966	Daniel Boone

See also

• List of film director and editor collaborations. From 1940 to 1960, Simpson edited ten films directed by Walter Lang; The King and I (1956) was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Director.

External links

• Robert L. Simpson at IMDb