Editing

Elmo Williams

Born — Died

1913-04-30 — 2015-11-25

Place of birth

Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, United States

Known for

Editing

Credits

11 titles

Elmo Williams was an esteemed American film editor, producer, director, and executive, celebrated for his meticulous editing and significant contributions to the film industry. Born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, Williams began his career in the 1930s, learning the craft of film editing under the mentorship of Merrill G. White. He gained prominence with his work on High Noon (1952), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Williams's editing was instrumental in building the film's tension, particularly through the iconic montage leading up to the climactic showdown. His other notable editing credits include 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and The Vikings (1958). Transition…

Known for

Behind the camera

Tora! Tora! Tora! poster
7.2

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970

Caravans poster
5.8

This epic adventure-drama based on James Michener's best-selling novel concerns a young American embassy official who is sent into the Middle-Eastern desert to find the missing daughter of a US Senator. The young woman has left her husband, a Colonel in the Shadom - she was his number two wife - and has opted for the lifestyle of a nomadic tribe. When the diplomat locates the girl he joins the caravan and attempts to persuade the girl to return.

Caravans

1978

Hell Ship Mutiny poster
5.5

A ship's captain in the South Seas battles a villainous pearl trader who uses island natives as slaves for his business.

Hell Ship Mutiny

1957

The Tall Texan poster
5.6

Groups of desperate travelers journey together throughout the Southwest and soon find trouble when they all get gold fever. The action and drama are heightened when they discover gold…on an Indian burial ground!

The Tall Texan

1953

Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. poster
5.1

In a small Southern town, the local sheriff tries to keep everything peaceful and under control.

Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.

1981

Apache Warrior poster
5.0

An Apache brave vows revenge when he feels betrayed by the U.S. Army.

Apache Warrior

1957

The Big Gamble poster
6.0

Irish seaman Vic Brennan persuades his Dublin family to finance a truck-hauling business in the remote African town of Jebanda. The only stipulation is that his cousin Samuel, a timid bank clerk, accompany Vic and his Corsican bride, Marie, to Africa and protect the family fortune.

The Big Gamble

1961

Women Without Men poster
7.5

In love with a man who wants to marry her after he returns from a trip to sea, chorus girl Angela Booth tries to quit her seamy job and become a model citizen. When her employer refuses to dissolve her contract, though, they quarrel and she accidentally hits him. He presses charges, claiming she hit him deliberately, and she is convicted and sent to prison. As her fiance is at sea and out of contact, she is terrified he will think she has jilted him when she does not keep a New Year's date. A kindly old convict, Gran', notorious as a prison-breaker, agrees to engineer an escape for Angela...

Women Without Men

1956

No artwork available
4.0

This colorful and exciting film vividly portrays the life of the real working cowboy, a life that has virtually vanished since this motion picture was made by Elmo Williams, Oscar-winning film editor of "High Noon." The cowboy's work is hard, hot and dusty, but it is not without drama and times of humor. Filmed on location in the Southwest, this unique document captures a profession and a place in time that has almost disappeared.

The Cowboy

1954

Blonde Bait poster
5.8

Seeking the whereabouts of international gangster Nick Randall, the US State Department contacts Scotland Yard, as his girlfriend, Angela Booth, is currently in a British prison. Angela has refused to give Nick up to the law, so the combined authorities arrange for Angela to escape, aided by stoolie Gran' Ramsey who is at the same prison. The police will then follow Angela to Nick. Gran' stages the getaway, and the two women, accompanied by a third convict, Marguerite, whose prison-born baby is about to be turned over to welfare authorities. It is up to Gran' to keep the police informed of Angela's movements without being detected by the escapees, until Angela contacts Nick. This film is a reworking of principal footage from the UK film WOMEN WITHOUT MEN (1955), q.v., which, with added new footage (including scenes with original star Beverly Michaels), significantly revises the plot and central characters from a story about a wrongly imprisoned waif to one about a gangster's moll.

Blonde Bait

1956

College Capers poster
NR

A slapstick comedy about the antics of a fraternity pledge who is forced by upper-classmen to stage a panty-raid in a sorority house.

College Capers

1953