Ferris Maynard Webster (April 29, 1912 – February 4, 1989)Birth and death dates and place-of-death obtained from a search of the Social Security Death Index. was an American film editor with approximately seventy-two film credits. He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Film Editing for his work on Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Great Escape (1963).

Webster was raised in the state of Washington, and was a student at the University of Southern California, where he was an outstanding track and field athlete. Webster was an All-American at 880 yards for the USC Trojans track and field team, finishing 4th at the 1933 NCAA Track and Field Championships. He was trained as an editor at the MGM Studios, and received his first feature-film credit in 1943 for Harrigan's Kid. At MGM, Webster edited six films with director Vincente Minnelli: Undercurrent (1946), Madame Bovary (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Father's Little Dividend (1951), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), and Tea and Sympathy (1956). Film critic Bruce Eder has written of Madame Bovary that, "the cutting of the film in the gala ball sequence, in particular, was a marvel of the editor's art in the service of old Hollywood's restrained, elegant storytelling." In the mid-1950s, he edited three films with director Richard Brooks: Blackboard Jungle (1955), Something of Value (1957), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958); Webster received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Blackboard Jungle. His last film at MGM was Key Witness (1960).

Bruce Eder has written, "If ever a film editor deserved public recognition in the 1960s, it was Ferris Webster." Webster edited the three films of director John Frankenheimer's "paranoia trilogy": The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), and Seconds (1966). Eder writes that The Manchurian Candidate was "the editor's magnum opus. The shooting, cutting, and intercutting of one extended brainwashing sequence, seen from multiple points-of-view, is still striking decades later, and the movie earned Webster his second Academy Award nomination." Frankenheimer cast Webster in his only appearance as a film actor, as Air Force Gen. Bernard "Barney" Rutkowski in Seven Days in May.

Webster was nominated for an Academy Award for the editing of The Great Escape (1963), which was directed by John Sturges. Webster and Sturges' notable collaboration included fifteen films between 1950 and 1972, which is about half of Sturges' films in that period. It started with The Magnificent Yankee and Mystery Street (1950), and included The Law and Jake Wade (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), and Ice Station Zebra (1968). The final film of their collaboration was Joe Kidd (1972), which was near the end of Sturges' career.

Joe Kidd starred Clint Eastwood. In the last phase of his career, Webster edited and co-edited eight films that were directed by Eastwood, starting with High Plains Drifter (1973), which was Eastwood's second film as a director. Webster edited Breezy (1973), The Eiger Sanction (1975), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Gauntlet (1977), Bronco Billy (1980), Firefox and Honkytonk Man (both 1982). These latter two films with Eastwood concluded Webster's career as an editor, apparently after a falling-out between the two men. Malpaso staffers believed Clint had been spoiled by Webster’s ability to piece together footage so that the sequence always made sense. Clint the actor was as notorious for doing as few camera takes (usually only a couple) as he was for not repeating his scripted dialogue -- and if they hadn't filmed with multiple cameras running (offering more footage to cutaway to), this time-consuming/unproductive process could wear down a film cutter. Around the time of The Enforcer (1976), Eastwood's (on-camera) anti-post-production idiosyncrasies supposedly became more, and more, time consuming for Webster.

Nevertheless, Webster reportedly had started out "liking" Clint enormously, had spent much of his career working exclusively for the star. He had even moved up near Burney, CA (where Clint purchased a "forever home," in late-1978) thinking he would edit Malpaso films for the rest of his life. ‘He died brokenhearted,’ according to Malpaso producer, Fritz Manes.

Additional credits include The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Lili (1953), Forbidden Planet (1956), Les Girls (1957), Divorce American Style (1967).

Selected filmography + Editor Year Film Director Notes 1943 Harrigan's KidCharles Reisner Swing FeverTim Whelan1944 RationingWillis Goldbeck 1945 The Picture of Dorian GrayAlbert Lewin Dangerous PartnersEdward L. Cahn 1946 The Hoodlum SaintNorman TaurogFirst collaboration with Norman Taurog UndercurrentVincente MinnelliFirst collaboration with Vincente Minnelli 1947 Living in a Big WayGregory La Cava If Winter ComesVictor Saville 1948 On an Island with YouRichard ThorpeFirst collaboration with Richard Thorpe Words and MusicNorman TaurogSecond collaboration with Norman Taurog 1949 Madame BovaryVincente MinnelliSecond collaboration with Vincente Minnelli The Doctor and the GirlCurtis Bernhardt 1950 Please Believe MeNorman TaurogThird collaboration with Norman Taurog Father of the BrideVincente MinnelliThird collaboration with Vincente Minnelli Mystery StreetJohn SturgesFirst collaboration with John Sturges Watch the BirdieJack Donohue The Magnificent YankeeJohn SturgesSecond collaboration with John Sturges 1951 Father's Little DividendVincente MinnelliFourth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli Kind LadyJohn SturgesThird collaboration with John Sturges 1952 Lone StarVincent Sherman The Girl in WhiteJohn SturgesFourth collaboration with John Sturges 1953 LiliCharles WaltersFirst collaboration with Charles Walters Scandal at ScourieJean Negulesco All the Brothers Were ValiantRichard ThorpeSecond collaboration with Richard Thorpe1954 The Long, Long TrailerVincente MinnelliFifth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli 1955 Blackboard JungleRichard BrooksFirst collaboration with Richard Brooks The Glass SlipperCharles WaltersSecond collaboration with Charles Walters 1956 Ransom!Alex Segal Forbidden PlanetFred M. Wilcox The Fastest Gun AliveRussell Rouse Tea and SympathyVincente MinnelliSixth collaboration with Vincente Minnelli 1957 Something of ValueRichard BrooksSecond collaboration with Richard Brooks Les GirlsGeorge Cukor 1958 The High Cost of LovingJosé Ferrer The Law and Jake WadeJohn SturgesFifth collaboration with John Sturges Cat on a Hot Tin RoofRichard BrooksThird collaboration with Richard Brooks 1959 Green MansionsMel Ferrer Never So FewJohn SturgesSixth collaboration with John Sturges 1960 Key WitnessPhil Karlson The Magnificent Seven John SturgesSeventh collaboration with John Sturges 1961 By Love PossessedEighth collaboration with John Sturges A Thunder of DrumsJoseph M. Newman 1962 Sergeants 3John SturgesNinth collaboration with John Sturges The Manchurian CandidateJohn FrankenheimerFirst collaboration with John Frankenheimer1963 The Great EscapeJohn SturgesTenth collaboration with John Sturges1964 Seven Days in MayJohn FrankenheimerSecond collaboration with John Frankenheimer 1965 The Satan Bug John SturgesEleventh collaboration with John Sturges The Hallelujah TrailTwelfth collaboration with John Sturges1966 SecondsJohn FrankenheimerThird collaboration with John Frankenheimer 1967 Divorce American StyleBud YorkinFirst collaboration with Bud Yorkin Hour of the Gun John SturgesThirteenth collaboration with John Sturges1968 Ice Station ZebraFourteenth collaboration with John Sturges 1970 Start the Revolution Without MeBud YorkinSecond collaboration with Bud Yorkin A Walk in the Spring RainGuy Green Zig ZagRichard A. Colla 1971 Le MansLee H. Katzin My Old Man's PlaceEdwin Sherin The OrganizationDon Medford1972 Joe KiddJohn SturgesFifteenth collaboration with John Sturges 1973 High Plains Drifter Clint EastwoodFirst collaboration with Clint Eastwood BreezySecond collaboration with Clint Eastwood Magnum ForceTed Post1974 Thunderbolt and LightfootMichael Cimino1975 The Eiger Sanction Clint EastwoodThird collaboration with Clint Eastwood 1976 The Outlaw Josey WalesFourth collaboration with Clint Eastwood The EnforcerJames FargoFirst collaboration with James Fargo1977 The GauntletClint EastwoodFifth collaboration with Clint Eastwood1978 Every Which Way but LooseJames FargoSecond collaboration with James Fargo1979 Escape from AlcatrazDon Siegel 1980 Bronco BillyClint EastwoodSixth collaboration with Clint Eastwood Any Which Way You CanBuddy Van Horn 1982 Firefox Clint EastwoodSeventh collaboration with Clint Eastwood Honkytonk ManEighth collaboration with Clint Eastwood

+ Editorial department Year Film Director Role Notes Other notes1954 The Student PrinceRichard ThorpeEditor: WidescreenThird collaboration with Richard Thorpe1970 Cannon for CordobaPaul WendkosEditorial advisor

+ Actor Year Film Director Role Notes1964 Seven Days in MayJohn FrankenheimerGen. Bernard 'Barney' Rutkowski

TV series

+ Editorial department Year Title Role Notes1966 The Rat PatrolSupervising film editor1 episode

See also List of film director and editor collaborations

References