Senior Planet Talks to…Film Editor Thelma Schoonmaker, 84

Three-time Oscar winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, 84, has famously worked with Martin Scorsese for five decades – and yet her favorite filmmaker is surely Michael Powell, a British director whom she married, spending the last ten years of his life together.  Today Schoonmaker and Scorsese have collaborated with director David Hinton to spotlight Powell’s iconic films with a documentary titled Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger.  The energetic octogenarian walks us through her extraordinary life.

Q: Talk about your very first meeting with Scorsese?

THELMA: We met through a series of bizarre accidents and through a series of jobs I had, one of which was helping someone butcher the great films of Fellini and Truffaut for late night television slots. I learned just enough to handle film a bit. But I couldn’t stand the job so I quit.

Then I signed on for a six week film course at NYU where we were put into small teams to make 10 minute movies. I wasn’t on Marty’s movie, but someone had cut his negative wrong so the professor asked if anyone could help him. So I helped him put his film back together and I think he felt he could trust me, so he began teaching me how to edit. I knew nothing about editing really so he taught me everything. We work very closely together. It’s a collaboration.

Q: In Made in England we learn how Martin Scorsese first fell in love with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s movies as a child. Fantastical films like The Life and Death Of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann. When did you discover them?

THELMA: Marty had educated me about Michael’s movies back in the 70s, sending me home with VHSs of the films. I fell in love with them as much as Marty did.

Q: And when did you actually meet Michael Powell?

THELMA: It was around 1978 when we were editing Raging Bull in the bedroom of Marty’s New York apartment, when he said: ‘Michael’s coming for dinner tonight. Would you like to meet him?’ And I said, Yes, of course. And I was just stunned by him at the dinner table. He was a remarkable man. He didn’t say much but when he said something, it was really interesting. And after the dinner, he came back to see where I was working, and we had film racks in the bathtub. Michael thought that was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. And then when we went out for Oscar nominations for Raging Bull, that’s when things began to develop between us while Michael was working at the Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope studios.

Q: You and Martin are synonymous with New York but you moved to England after your marriage to Michael in 1984?

THELMA: Yes, Michael had this little cottage in a beautiful little town called Avening in the Cotswolds. I still have it.  We spent many happy times there. We were very much in love. We didn’t need to marry, but for legal reasons he wanted me to make it official so I would have the power to protect and develop his great legacy because he left tons of stuff, some of which appears in this documentary.

Q: I imagine that you have to be very objective in your work as a film editor. Was it difficult to edit this documentary because it’s so personal?

THELMA: We really only came into it after director David Hinton had already done a first pass. We were finishing Killers of the Flower Moon when Marty and I began getting involved in suggesting edits. It was hard to edit down these great masterpieces into 10 minutes but David kept us on track, saying: Look, it can’t be five hours long! But we got there and the reaction to the documentary has been wonderful.

And one of the things that David said was: It’s got to be one person narrating – Marty. Not lots of talking heads – and not me. And boy was he right. What makes it work so beautifully is the slow build of Marty’s emotion which peaks at the end, and leaves some people in tears.

Q: Your career is synonymous with Martin but are there any other directors you would like to work with?

THELMA: No, I would never want to work with anyone other than Marty. There is nothing like working for Marty. He’s such a unique genius and I don’t think anyone could match that – except maybe Michael.

Q: How do you spend your spare time?

THELMA: I don’t have time for much other than my work when I’m working on Marty’s films, which is one of the greatest things that anyone could ever want. So my friends and family have to wait for me to emerge at the end. I work long hours seven days a week, but it’s the best job in the world and Marty gave me the best husband in the world. So I have no complaints. I’ve had it all.

Q: Is retirement an option?

THELMA: Oh no. I wouldn’t know what to do! I am fortunate that we have a little lag now between two films so I’m working on editing Michael’s diaries, among other things.

Q: What’s your secret to aging with attitude?

THELMA: I’m very lucky in that I’ve been given some good genes, so I’ve stayed healthy and been blessed with relatively good health. I’ve always had a lot of stamina. And when you’re up all night, getting ready for a screening the next day and you’re terrified you’re not going to get the film out there – that’s what keeps you going. I can outlast my two younger assistants because the panic inside me drives me on.

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from Made in England?

THELMA: The great thing about having Marty as a host in this is that he never talks to you like a teacher or talks down to you. He excites and enthuses you so then you want to go see those movies. As a result, young people are pouring into these screenings and the Museum of Modern Art is now running a film retrospective and it’s just thrilling. So we hope audiences will rediscover these movies and carry on the legacy.

Photo: Left to right: Martin Scorsese, Michael Powell, Thelma Schoonmaker. Photo courtesy of Cohen Media Group .

NB: Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger is in theaters now.

 

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.