Editing Margaret Booth (section)

==Career==
===1915–1921: Editing for D. W. Griffith===
By 1915, Booth had graduated from [[Los Angeles High School]]. Griffith hired Booth on a salary for ten dollars a week as one of several female editors for his studio.{{sfn|Acker|1991|p=221}} Booth remembered years later, "...in the old days we had to cut negative by eye. We matched the print to the negative without any edge numbers. We had to match the action. Sometimes there'd be a tiny pinpoint on the negative, and then you knew you were right, but it was very tedious work."{{sfn|Brownlow|1968|p=302}}{{sfn|Malone|2017|p=35}} One of the films she worked on was ''[[Orphans of the Storm]]'' (1921) starring [[Lillian Gish]]. After a few months, Booth worked for [[Paramount Pictures]]' editing department, assembling the tinted sections for release prints.{{sfn|Brownlow|1968|p=302}}

===1921–1938: Editing at MGM===
In 1921, Booth began working for [[Louis B. Mayer]] at his [[Louis B. Mayer Pictures|namesake film production studio]].<ref name="Variety">{{cite magazine |last=Galloway |first=Douglas |url=https://variety.com/2002/scene/people-news/margaret-booth-1117875330/ |title=Obituaries: Margaret Booth |magazine=Variety |date=October 31, 2002 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402214623/https://variety.com/2002/scene/people-news/margaret-booth-1117875330/ |archive-date=April 2, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Mayer had hired [[John M. Stahl]] when [[Edward Small]], who was Stahl's publicity agent, inquired why there were no hired Jewish directors.{{sfn|Eyman|2005|p=56}} Inside the editing room, Booth observed Stahl, and because he was a perfectionist, Stahl would shoot multiple takes of several scenes and leave outtake footage literally on the cutting room floor. At the end of the day, Booth assembled the outtakes and stayed overnight to practice her cutting techniques. One day, Stahl was frustrated when he couldn't make a scene work. After he left, Booth took her own approach; when Stahl screened her work, he was impressed and hired her immediately as his editorial assistant.{{sfn|Malone|2017|p=35}} For Stahl, she edited ''[[The Gay Deceiver]]'' (1926), ''[[Lovers (1927 film)|Lovers?]]'' (1927), and ''[[In Old Kentucky (1927 film)|In Old Kentucky]]'' (1927).<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last=Bergan |first=Ronald |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/16/guardianobituaries.filmnews |title=Obituary: Margaret Booth |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=November 15, 2002 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015145634/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/16/guardianobituaries.filmnews |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Stahl personally mentored Booth on the craft of film editing, explaining the exact purpose for his editing decisions. Booth reflected, "He taught the value of a scene. When a scene drops or doesn't drop, and when it sustains. You have to feel this, intrusively, in your work."{{sfn|Acker|1991|p=221}} In 1924, Mayer merged with [[Metro Pictures]] and [[Goldwyn Pictures]] to form a new conglomerate film production studio known as [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM). Stahl stayed with MGM for several years,{{sfn|Eyman|2005|p=66}} but when he left the studio in 1927, he asked Booth to join him but she declined. Booth stated, "I went on to working at M-G-M, mostly with [Irving] [[Irving Thalberg|Thalberg]]—the greatest man who was ever in pictures. M-G-M was like home to me."{{sfn|Brownlow|1968|p=303}} Her editing skills were appreciated by Thalberg, MGM's head of production, that he asked her if she would consider directing. However, she was not interested.{{sfn|Acker|1991|p=221}} Regardless, according to film historian [[Cari Beauchamp]], Thalberg was the first known person to call cutters "film editors," starting with Booth.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news|last=Luther|first=Claudia|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-31-me-booth31-story.html |title=Margaret Booth, 104; Film Editor Had 70-Year Career|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 31, 2002 |access-date=October 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202110701/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-31-me-booth31-story.html|archive-date=December 2, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> Her first official editing credit was for the 1929 [[part-talkie]] film ''[[The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929 film)|The Bridge of San Luis Rey]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/02/arts/margaret-booth-film-editor-104.html |title=Margaret Booth, Film Editor, 104 |page=B4 |agency=Associated Press |work=The New York Times |date=November 2, 2002 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412005744/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/02/arts/margaret-booth-film-editor-104.html |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Menuel|2016|p=61}} 

At MGM, Booth edited several films starring [[Greta Garbo]], including ''[[Camille (1936 film)|Camille]]'' (1936). She also edited ''[[Wise Girls (1929 film)|Wise Girls]]'' (1929), ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'' (1934), and ''[[Romeo and Juliet (1936 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1936).{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}} Booth received her only competitive [[Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]] on ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1935).{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}}

===1939–1968: Supervising editor of MGM===
In 1936, Thalberg had unexpectedly died and Mayer assumed the position as production head. Three years later, in 1939, Mayer appointed Booth to be the studio's supervising film editor.{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}} Booth stated, "They liked me because I was fast. I was always very fast cutting everything I did. And boy, was I tough."{{sfn|Acker|1991|p=221}} As the supervising editor, she did no actual film editing herself but instead hired the personnel and reviewed the [[dailies]] for each film, overseeing classics such as ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]'' (1939) and ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]'' (1959).{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}}{{sfn|Malone|2017|p=36}} In his 1995 book ''Making Movies'', director [[Sidney Lumet]] called Booth "a remarkable person. She was bright and tireless, and she loved movies. I don't know if she had any other life."{{sfn|Lumet|1995|p=151}} He told one story while filming ''[[The Hill (1965 film)|The Hill]]'' (1965) in England, in which she arrived on location and asked to see a rough-cut version, promptly at eight during the following morning. A screening was arranged for her, with Lumet and [[Thelma Connell]], the editor for ''The Hill'', present. When the screening was over, she asked for two minutes of the film to be cut so it would be under two hours. Lumet pushed back and after two more screenings, Booth relented. Following the third screening, Lumet consoled a despondent Booth, who personally felt none of the new studio executives knew or care about filmmaking.{{sfn|Lumet|1995|pp=152–154}} She remained in her position until she retired in 1968.{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Hatch |first=Kirsten |url=https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/margaret-booth-2/ |title=Margaret Booth |website=Women Film Pioneers Project |year=2013 |location=New York |publisher=[[Columbia University Libraries]] |doi=10.7916/d8-ps4e-hw86 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402222014/https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/margaret-booth-2/ |archive-date=April 2, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Booth said she left MGM after being fired by James Aubrey.<ref>Behlmer pp 93-94</ref>

In its 1982 article about Booth's long tenureship, the ''[[Village Voice]]'' describes her as "the final authority of every picture the studio made for 30 years."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rafferty |first=Terrance |author-link=Terrence Rafferty |title=His Girl Friday |magazine=Village Voice |date=November 30, 1982 |page=83}}</ref>

===1969–1985: Editing for Ray Stark===
After leaving MGM, Booth was hired by [[Ray Stark]] as the supervising editor for his company, Rastar Productions. She says he hired her the night she was fired from MGM going straight into working on ''The Owl and the Pussycat''.<ref>Behlmer p 95</ref>

Booth supervised the editing for several films, including ''[[The Way We Were]]'' (1973), ''[[The Sunshine Boys (1975 film)|The Sunshine Boys]]'' (1975), ''[[The Goodbye Girl]]'' (1977), ''[[California Suite (film)|California Suite]]'' (1978), and ''[[Annie (1982 film)|Annie]]'' (1982).<ref name="The Guardian" /> She was last credited as an executive producer for ''[[The Slugger's Wife]]'' (1985) when she was 87.{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}}

In 1977, Booth was awarded an [[Academy Honorary Award]] denoting her for "62 years of exceptionally distinguished service to the motion picture industry as a film editor."{{sfn|Unterberger|1998|p=43}} In 1983, she was awarded the [[Women in Film Los Angeles|Women in Film]] [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards#THE CRYSTAL AWARD|Crystal Award]] for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wif.org/past-recipients |title=Past Recipients |website=Women in Film Awards |access-date=2011-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830035734/http://www.wif.org/past-recipients |archive-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> On her centennial birthday, in 1998, Booth was honored with a gala commemorating her seven-decade contributions to the film industry at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, hosted by the [[Motion Picture Editors Guild]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Viera |first=Lauren |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jan-15-ca-8359-story.html |title=Legendary Editor Gets Time in the Spotlight |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 15, 1998 |access-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710024158/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jan/15/entertainment/ca-8359 |archive-date=July 10, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>