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Dede Allen Editor Revolutionized Imagery, Sound and Pace in U.S. Films

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Dede Allen, the film editor whose seminal work on Robert Rossen's “The Hustler" in 1961 and especially on Arthur Penn's “Bonnie and Clyde" in 1967 brought a startling new approach to imagery, sound and pace in American movies, died Saturday. She was 86.

Allen, who was nominated for Academy Awards for “Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), “Reds" (1981) and “Wonder Boys" (2000), died at her Los Angeles home days after having a stroke, said her son, Tom Fleischman.

Allen was the first film editor -- male or female -- to receive sole credit on a movie for her work. The honor came with “Bonnie and Clyde," a film in which Allen raised the level of her craft to an art form that was as seriously discussed as cinematography or even directing.

“She was just an extraordinary collaborator, and in the course of editing that film, I came to develop confidence in Dede," Penn told The Times on Saturday. “Indeed, she wasn't an editor, she was a constructionist."

The two were “not just collaborators," Penn said, “but deep family friends. We made six films together."

Greg S. Faller, professor of film studies at Towson University in Maryland, said “The Hustler" and “Bonnie and Clyde" “must be considered as benchmark films in the history of editing."

“It's hard to see the changes she made because most of what she did has been so fully embraced by the industry," Faller said.

Allen departed from the standard Hollywood way of cutting -- making smooth transitions starting with wide shots establishing place and characters and going on to medium shots and finally close-ups -- by beginning with close-ups or jump cuts. While these editing methods had been pioneered by the French new wave and some British directors, Allen is generally credited as being the first to use and shape them in American film.

In Sidney Lumet's “Dog Day Afternoon," she employed a staccato tempo, sometimes called shock cutting.

“She creates this menacing quality by not cutting where you'd expect it -- she typically would cut sooner than you might expect," Faller said. “You weren't ready for it."

She also would begin the sound from the next scene while the previous scene was still playing -- a technique now standard in film editing.

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