Barbara McLean

Barbara "Bobby" McLean (November 16, 1903 – March 28, 1996) was an American film editor with 62 film credits.

In the period Darryl F. Zanuck was dominant at the 20th Century Fox Studio, from the 1930s through the 1960s, McLean was the studio's most prominent editor and ultimately the head of its editing department. She won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the film Wilson (1944). She was nominated for the same award another six occasions, including All About Eve (1950). Her total of seven nominations for Best Editing Oscar was not surpassed until 2012 by Michael Kahn.

She had an extensive collaboration with the director Henry King over 29 films, including Twelve O'Clock High (1949). Her impact was summarized by Adrian Dannatt in 1996 who wrote that McLean was "a revered editor who perhaps single-handedly established women as vital creative figures in an otherwise patriarchal industry."

Early life and career McLean was born in Palisades Park, New Jersey; she was the daughter of Charles Pollut, who ran a film laboratory. As a child she worked on release prints from the adjacent studio of E.K. Lincoln in Grantwood, who was an early producer of films. No doubt the early experience in processing of film was helpful to McLean when she became an assistant film editor, but McLean later commented that her musical training as a child also was very important. In 1933, she received her first editing credit for Gallant Lady;

McLean retained this position until her retirement in 1969. McLean had more authority over the editing of the studio's films than is typical for contemporary film editors; as Lizzie Francke described it: "McLean worked during a period when the editor was often left to his or her own devices in the cutting room. The pressures of production turn-over during the hey-day of the studio system often meant that the director could not be around to supervise since they were on to their next production."

Darryl Zanuck not only trusted McLean with the editing of 20th Century Fox's more important projects, he depended on her judgment in many other areas of filmmaking, including casting and production.

The films McLean edited at 20th Century Fox included The Rains Came (1939), the only time she worked with director Clarence Brown, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for editing. She was credited with working on John Ford's Tobacco Road (1941), and George Cukor's, Winged Victory (1944). In 1950–1951, McLean edited three of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's films, including All About Eve, for which she received her final Academy Award nomination. Her nomination was among the 14 nominations for the film.

In the 1940s, McLean and her first husband divorced. In 1951 she married Robert D. Webb, who had been working as King's assistant director.

Collaboration with Henry King "For all her focus on keeping the narrative moving, McLean's editing could dazzle if called for. In A Bell for Adano (1945), she took material director Henry King shot on the return of the Italian POWs to their village and put it together with such a pure sense of emotion that when she cut at exactly the right moment to King's overhead shot of the prisoners and villagers coming together in the square, the cut was more heart-stopping than conventional close-ups would have been." — Tom Stempel While the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, neither King nor McLean received personal Academy Award recognition for their work in making that film. Nearly half of the 62 films crediting McLean as editor were directed by Henry King.

Later years McLean edited Viva Zapata! (1952), one of Elia Kazan's films, and Michael Curtiz's The Egyptian (1954). She also edited the first released movie produced in CinemaScope, Henry Koster's The Robe (1953). McLean's last editing credit was for Untamed (1955). She was co-producer of Seven Cities of Gold (1955). Her later work was primarily as a supervisor and administrative. McLean was instrumental in the careers of other film editors such as Hugh S. Fowler, William H. Reynolds, and Robert Simpson.

McLean retired from 20th Century Fox in 1969, apparently because of her husband's poor health. She received the inaugural American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award in 1988. She died in Newport Beach, California in 1996.

Partial filmography + Editor Year Film Director Notes Other notes More notes1929 CoquetteSam Taylor1933 Gallant LadyGregory La CavaFirst collaboration with Gregory La Cava 1934 The House of RothschildFirst collaboration with Sidney Lanfield The Affairs of CelliniGregory La CavaSecond collaboration with Gregory La Cava The Mighty BarnumWalter LangFirst collaboration with Walter Lang 1935 Clive of India Richard BoleslawskiFirst collaboration with Richard Boleslawski Les MisérablesSecond collaboration with Richard Boleslawski MetropolitanThird collaboration with Richard Boleslawski Professional SoldierTay Garnett 1936 The Country DoctorHenry KingFirst collaboration with Henry King Sins of Man Sing, Baby, SingSidney LanfieldSecond collaboration with Sidney Lanfield Lloyd's of London Henry KingSecond collaboration with Henry King 1937 Seventh HeavenThird collaboration with Henry King Love Under FireGeorge Marshall 1938 In Old ChicagoHenry KingFourth collaboration with Henry King The Baroness and the ButlerWalter LangSecond collaboration with Walter Lang Alexander's Ragtime BandHenry KingFifth collaboration with Henry King SuezAllan Dwan 1939 Jesse JamesHenry KingSixth collaboration with Henry King Stanley and LivingstoneSeventh collaboration with Henry King The Rains CameClarence Brown 1940 Little Old New York Henry KingEighth collaboration with Henry King MarylandNinth collaboration with Henry King Down Argentine WayIrving CummingsFirst collaboration with Irving Cummings Chad HannaHenry KingTenth collaboration with Henry King 1941 Tobacco RoadJohn Ford A Yank in the R.A.F. Henry KingEleventh collaboration with Henry King Remember the DayTwelfth collaboration with Henry King 1942 Rings on Her FingersRouben Mamoulian The Magnificent DopeWalter LangThird collaboration with Walter Lang The Black SwanHenry KingThirteenth collaboration with Henry King 1943 Hello, Frisco, HelloH. Bruce HumberstoneFirst collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone The Song of Bernadette Henry KingFourteenth collaboration with Henry King 1944 WilsonFifteenth collaboration with Henry King Winged VictoryGeorge Cukor 1945 A Bell for AdanoHenry KingSixteenth collaboration with Henry King The Dolly SistersIrving CummingsSecond collaboration with Irving Cummings 1946 Three Little Girls in BlueH. Bruce HumberstoneSecond collaboration with H. Bruce Humberstone MargieHenry KingSeventeenth collaboration with Henry King 1947 Nightmare AlleyEdmund Goulding Captain from Castile Henry KingEighteenth collaboration with Henry King 1948 Deep WatersNineteenth collaboration with Henry King When My Baby Smiles at MeWalter LangFourth collaboration with Walter Lang 1949 Prince of Foxes Henry KingTwentieth collaboration with Henry King Twelve O'Clock HighTwenty-first collaboration with Henry King 1950 The GunfighterTwenty-second collaboration with Henry King No Way Out Joseph L. MankiewiczFirst collaboration with Joseph L. Mankiewicz All About EveSecond collaboration with Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1951 I'd Climb the Highest MountainHenry KingTwenty-third collaboration with Henry King Follow the SunSidney LanfieldThird collaboration with Sidney Lanfield David and BathshebaHenry KingTwenty-fourth collaboration with Henry King People Will TalkJoseph L. MankiewiczThird collaboration with Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1952 Viva Zapata!Elia Kazan Wait till the Sun Shines, NellieHenry KingTwenty-fifth collaboration with Henry King Lure of the WildernessJean NegulescoFirst collaboration with Jean Negulesco O. Henry's Full House Henry KingTwenty-sixth collaboration with Henry King"The Gift of the Magi" segment The Snows of KilimanjaroTwenty-seventh collaboration with Henry King 1953 NiagaraHenry Hathaway The Desert RatsRobert Wise The RobeHenry Koster King of the Khyber RiflesHenry KingTwenty-eighth collaboration with Henry King1954 The EgyptianMichael Curtiz1955 UntamedHenry KingTwenty-ninth collaboration with Henry King

+ Producer Year Film Director Credit Notes1955 Seven Cities of Gold Robert D. WebbProducerFirst collaboration with Robert D. Webb1956 On the Threshold of SpaceAssociate producerSecond collaboration with Robert D. Webb