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Harry Marker
Harry Marker
Harry Marker
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Harry Marker (October 7, 1899 – October 18, 1990) was an American Oscar-nominated film editor, who also worked in the television medium. Over the course of his 45-year career, he worked on more than 100 films and television shows. In 1946 he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Film Editing for The Bells of St. Mary's.

Key Information

Life and career

[edit]

Born William Harry Marker Jr. on October 7, 1899, in Tipton, Indiana, he entered the film industry at the age of 17, as an editor on the 1918 silent film, Selfish Yates.[1] During the silent film era, he would edit 15 films, including such notable movies as: The Jailbird (1920), directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starring Douglas MacLean;[2] the 1920 comedy Silk Hosiery, directed by Fred Niblo and starring Enid Bennett;[3] The Rookie's Return (1920), a comedy directed by Jack Nelson and starring Douglas MacLean;[4] the 1928 Western, The Border Patrol, starring Harry Carey and directed by James P. Hogan;[5] and Burning Bridges (1928), again starring Carey and directed by Hogan;[6]

During the sound era, Marker worked on many notable films and with some very notable directors, including: William Wyler's 1929 romantic comedy, The Love Trap, starring Laura La Plante;[7] the 1930 Wyler Western, Hell's Heroes, based on Peter B. Kyne's novel, The Three Godfathers;[8] 1932's East Is West, starring Lupe Vélez, Lew Ayres, and Edward G. Robinson;[9] the 1936 version of The Last of the Mohicans, directed by George B. Seitz and starring Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, and Henry Wilcoxon;[10] 1938's The Saint in New York, the first film appearance of Simon Templar, aka "The Saint";[11] and the 1939 melodrama Five Came Back, directed by John Farrow and starring Chester Morris and Lucille Ball.[12]

Marker would continue to work steadily through the 1940s and 1950s. Some of the more notable films he worked on include: Stranger on the Third Floor, a 1940 film noir starring Peter Lorre;[13] A Bill of Divorcement (1940), starring Maureen O'Hara and Adolphe Menjou, and directed by John Farrow;[14] the romantic comedy starring Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie, Cross-Country Romance,[15] Play Girl (1941), another romantic comedy, this one starring Kay Francis;[16] the second film in the Falcon franchise, A Date with the Falcon (1942), starring George Sanders (he would also edit the next Falcon film, The Falcon Takes Over that same year);[17][18] the 1943 comedy starring the team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney, The Adventures of a Rookie;[19] the Academy Award-nominated musical Music in Manhattan, starring Anne Shirley;[20] and the 1945 psychological thriller, The Spiral Staircase, directed by Robert Siodmak.[21]

1945 would also see Marker reach the pinnacle of his career, when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the classic drama, The Bells of St. Mary's, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. He would lose to Robert J. Kern for National Velvet.[22] His next picture was another Oscar-winning film, the 1947 comedy-drama, The Farmer's Daughter, starring Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, and Ethel Barrymore, and was directed by H. C. Potter.[23] Other notable films he worked on during this period include: the classic 1948 comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, again directed by H. C. Potter, and starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas;[24] Rachel and the Stranger, a 1948 Western starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Mitchum;[25] the romantic comedy, Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), starring Cary Grant and Betsy Drake;[26] and in 1949 he edited another romantic comedy, Holiday Affair, starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh.[27]

During the 1950s Marker would continue to work on notable films, before segueing into the television industry. His 1950 films include: the psychological thriller directed by Mel Ferrer, The Secret Fury, starring Claudette Colbert and Robert Ryan;[28] the Bette Davis vehicle, Payment on Demand (1951), which also stars Barry Sullivan;[29] the 1951 color musical, Two Tickets to Broadway, starring Tony Martin and Janet Leigh;[30] the musical comedy Double Dynamite, starring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra;[30] the 1953 romantic comedy Susan Slept Here, starring Debbie Reynolds and Dick Powell, in his last screen appearance;[31] the Civil War Western, Great Day in the Morning, starring Robert Stack and Virginia Mayo;[32] the 1956 musical comedy, Bundle of Joy, starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher;[33] the cold war action film Jet Pilot, starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh, and directed by Josef von Sternberg;[34] and 1958's musical comedy The Girl Most Likely, starring Jane Powell and Cliff Robertson;[35]

Marker's final film editing of the job of the 1950s was Thunder Road, a 1958 crime drama starring Robert Mitchum.[36] After this film, Marker took a break from the big screen and spent the rest of the decade, and the first half of the next, concentrating on television.[37][38] Over the next five years he would work on a number of television shows, including Behind Closed Doors (1959), Lassie (1959), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1961), and The Rifleman (1962).[38] Marker returned to feature films in 1963, working on the independent feature, Decision at Midnight,[39] and his final credit was in 1964, on the drama Voice of the Hurricane.[40]

Marker died on October 18, 1990, in New Milford, Connecticut.

Filmography

[edit]

(Per AFI database)[37]

References

[edit]
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Harry Marker

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Harry Marker was an American film editor known for his prolific career in Hollywood that spanned from the late 1920s through the 1960s, including long tenures at Universal Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures, where he shaped numerous classic films across genres such as drama, thriller, comedy, and film noir, and for receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing on The Bells of St. Mary's (1945). Born William Harry Marker Jr. on October 7, 1899, in Tipton, Indiana, he entered the film industry early and worked steadily as an editor, contributing to over a hundred feature films during the golden age of studio filmmaking. He served as an editor at Universal from 1927 to 1935 and then at RKO from 1937 to 1954, collaborating on projects with major directors and stars of the era. Among his most notable editing credits are The Bells of St. Mary's, The Spiral Staircase, The Farmer's Daughter, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and Holiday Affair, which highlight his skill in pacing and narrative flow. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Marker transitioned to television, editing episodes of popular series including Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, and Lassie. He died on October 18, 1990, in New Milford, Connecticut.

Early life

Birth and family background

Harry Marker was born on October 7, 1899, in Tipton, Indiana, USA. Little is known about his family background or early life, as major sources such as IMDb provide no verified details on his parents, siblings, childhood, or education. This scarcity of biographical information on his pre-career years is common for many film editors of his generation, with records focusing almost exclusively on his professional contributions.

Entry into the film industry

Harry Marker entered the film industry during the silent era, beginning his professional career as a film editor. His earliest known editing credit came in 1918 with the silent western Selfish Yates, directed by and starring William S. Hart. In the early 1920s, Marker continued working as an editor on several silent films, including The Jailbird (1920), where he was credited as William H. Marker, as well as Silk Hosiery (1920) and The Rookie's Return (1920). During this period, he was sometimes credited under variations such as H. Marker Jr. or William H. Marker. Little documentation exists regarding his training, mentors, or the precise circumstances of his initial entry into editing, reflecting the limited surviving records from the early silent film industry. These early credits marked the start of a long career that later included extended studio affiliations.

Film editing career

Early career and Universal Pictures (1918–1935)

Harry Marker began his career as a film editor in 1918, with early credits including Selfish Yates (1918) and several films in the 1920s. He joined Universal Pictures in 1927, remaining under contract with the studio until 1935. During this period, he edited a variety of films as Universal navigated the industry's shift from silent to sound production following the introduction of talking pictures in the late 1920s. His key credits at Universal include The Michigan Kid (1928), The Border Patrol (1928), Modern Love (1929), Hell's Heroes (1929, directed by William Wyler), and The Love Trap (1929, directed by William Wyler). These works spanned late silent features and early sound films, with collaborations such as those with director William Wyler highlighting his contributions to the studio's output in westerns and other genres during the transition era. Marker concluded his tenure at Universal in 1935, followed by a gap before his next documented studio affiliation in 1937.

RKO Radio Pictures (1937–1954)

Harry Marker worked as a film editor at RKO Radio Pictures from 1937 to 1954, marking the longest and most productive phase of his career in feature films. During this time, he contributed to a range of studio productions across genres, from adventure and thriller to comedy and drama. His early credits at the studio included Five Came Back (1939), directed by John Farrow, and Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), noted as an early example of film noir. A transitional credit just before his RKO tenure was The Last of the Mohicans (1936). Marker edited several high-profile releases in the mid-1940s and late 1940s, including The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing; The Spiral Staircase (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak; The Farmer's Daughter (1947), directed by H. C. Potter and starring Loretta Young; Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), directed by H. C. Potter and starring Cary Grant; and Holiday Affair (1949), starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. He frequently collaborated with directors John Farrow and H. C. Potter, as well as actors Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum across these projects.

Later feature films (1955–1964)

After leaving RKO Radio Pictures, Harry Marker worked as a freelance film editor on a series of independent and studio feature films through the late 1950s and early 1960s. These projects represented a shift from his long-term studio contract to more varied assignments, though they were fewer in number and generally lower-profile compared to his earlier work. Among his notable credits in this period was Bundle of Joy (1956), a musical comedy remake directed by Norman Taurog and starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. He also edited Jet Pilot (1957), an aviation drama directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh; the film had been in production since the late 1940s under RKO but saw delayed release through Universal after RKO's collapse. In 1958, Marker served as editor on Thunder Road, a crime drama directed by Arthur Ripley and starring Robert Mitchum, who also produced the independent production. Following these films, Marker increasingly focused on television editing, though he returned to features for two final credits later in his career: Decision at Midnight (1963), directed by Lewis Allen, and Voice of the Hurricane (1964). These later assignments reflected a gradual wind-down of his work in theatrical feature films as he transitioned toward retirement.

Television career

Transition to and work in television

In the late 1950s, as his opportunities in feature film editing declined, Harry Marker transitioned to episodic television work, a shift that reflected the growing prominence of the medium during that era. His television credits included contributions to anthology series in 1958 and began more substantially in 1959 with episodes of Lassie and Behind Closed Doors, where he edited seven episodes. Marker edited multiple episodes for several Western and adventure series into the early 1960s, including Wanted: Dead or Alive from 1959 to 1961, Johnny Ringo in 1960, Michael Shayne from 1960 to 1961, and Stagecoach West from 1960 to 1961. He also edited an episode of The Rifleman in 1962. His work in television was his primary focus during the late 1950s and early 1960s, with credits in that medium until 1962. This phase overlapped with occasional feature film projects, such as Decision at Midnight (1965).

Awards and recognition

Academy Award nomination

Harry Marker received an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing for his work on the 1945 film The Bells of St. Mary's at the 18th Academy Awards held in 1946. The nomination recognized his editing contributions to the Leo McCarey-directed picture, which itself garnered eight Academy Award nominations across various categories. In the Best Film Editing category, Marker was one of five nominees, alongside Doane Harrison for The Lost Weekend, George Amy for Objective, Burma!, Charles Nelson for A Song to Remember, and Robert J. Kern for National Velvet. The award ultimately went to Robert J. Kern for National Velvet. This nomination for The Bells of St. Mary's marked Harry Marker's only Academy Award recognition, with no other nominations documented for him in any category.

Personal life

Marriage and family

Harry Marker married Mary Louise Taylor on June 8, 1923, in Orange, California. Their marriage continued for the remainder of his life, lasting until his death on October 18, 1990.

Death

Harry Marker died on October 18, 1990, in New Milford, Connecticut, at the age of 91. No further details regarding the cause of his death are documented in available sources. This marked the end of his extensive career in film and television editing that spanned over four decades.
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