# John Dunning (film editor)

John D. Dunning (May 5, 1916 – February 25, 1991) was an American film editor who worked on several large-scale Hollywood movies from 1947 to 1970. He was an editor contracted to MGM Studios. While working with MGM, Dunning was picked by the famed director Frank Capra to collorabate with him on a World War II series of seven patriotic films for the American public, collectively called Why We Fight, produced from 1942 to 1945. This early relation with Capra honed his skills with a talented director and brought him to the professional recognition in the film world.
This recognition proved fruitful when the low-budget war film Battleground became a sleeper hit in 1949, earning critical praise and several Oscar nominations, including one for Best Film Editing.
Dunning worked on the remake of Show Boat (1951); Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play (1953); and the Southern epic Raintree County (1957). In 1959 he won an Oscar for Best Film Editing, shared with Ralph E. Winters, for Ben-Hur.
Dunning then moved to television, where he edited The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
Dunning retired in 1970. He was married to Ruth Dunning (née Danson). Together they had three children, John Dunning, Robert Dunning and Barbara Dunning. After Dunning retired, he and son Robert ran a winery in Paso Robles, California, Dunning Vineyards, which Robert began on his father's property in Malibu. Barbara Dunning followed her father into the editing business, working as a freelance editor on films such as Cocktail, Green Card and Die Hard 2.
At Dunning's funeral in 1991, Frank Capra and the senior staff of MGM were there to pay their respects.

## Selected filmography

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1947 | This Time for Keeps | Richard Thorpe | |
| 1947 | Cass Timberlane | George Sidney | First collaboration with George Sidney |
| 1948 | Homecoming | Mervyn LeRoy | |
| 1948 | Julia Misbehaves | Jack Conway | |
| 1949 | Battleground | William A. Wellman | First collaboration with William A. Wellman |
| 1950 | The Next Voice You Hear... | William A. Wellman | Second collaboration with William A. Wellman |
| 1950 | The Happy Years | William A. Wellman | Third collaboration with William A. Wellman |
| 1951 | Show Boat | George Sidney | Second collaboration with George Sidney |
| 1951 | Across the Wide Missouri | William A. Wellman | Fourth collaboration with William A. Wellman |
| 1952 | The Wild North | Andrew Marton | |
| 1952 | My Man and I | William A. Wellman | Fifth collaboration with William A. Wellman |
| 1953 | Julius Caesar | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | |
| 1953 | Take the High Ground! | Richard Brooks | First collaboration with Richard Brooks |
| 1954 | Rhapsody | Charles Vidor | First collaboration with Charles Vidor |
| 1954 | Betrayed | Gottfried Reinhardt | |
| 1954 | The Last Time I Saw Paris | Richard Brooks | Second collaboration with Richard Brooks |
| 1955 | Interrupted Melody | Curtis Bernhardt | |
| 1955 | The Tender Trap | Charles Walters | |
| 1955 | It's a Dog's Life | Herman Hoffman | |
| 1956 | The Swan | Charles Vidor | Second collaboration with Charles Vidor |
| 1957 | Raintree County | Edward Dmytryk | |
| 1958 | The Brothers Karamazov | Richard Brooks | Third collaboration with Richard Brooks |
| 1959 | Ben-Hur | William Wyler | |
| 1960 | Cimarron | Anthony Mann | |
Editorial department :
| Year | Film | Director | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | The Spy with My Face | John Newland | Supervising film editor | Uncredited |
| 1966 | One of Our Spies Is Missing | E. Darrell Hallenbeck | Supervising film editor | |

### Short documentaries

Editorial department :
| Year | Film | Director | Role |
| 1968 | Rowan & Martin at the Movies | Jack Arnold | Editorial supervisor |

### TV movies

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director |
| 1970 | The Mask of Sheba | David Lowell Rich |

### TV pilots

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director |
| 1965 | Dream Wife | Don Taylor |
| 1966 | Meet Me in St. Louis | Alan D. CourtneyJeffrey Hayden |

### TV series

Editor :
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1961 | Father of the Bride | 1 episode |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | 2 episodes |
| 1963 | The Eleventh Hour | 1 episode |
| 1969−70 | Medical Center | 25 episodes |
Editorial department :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1961 | The Asphalt Jungle | Supervising film editor | 12 episodes |
| 1961−62 | Cain's Hundred | Supervising film editor | 30 episodes |
| 1962−63 | Sam Benedict | Supervising film editor | 26 episodes |
| 1962−63 | The Eleventh Hour | Supervising editorSupervising film editor | 20 episodes |
| 1963−64 | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | Supervising film editor | 26 episodes |
| 1963−64 | The Lieutenant | Supervising film editor | 29 episodes |
| 1963−65 | Mr. Novak | Supervising film editor | 60 episodes |
| 1961−66 | Dr. Kildare | Supervising film editor | 191 episodes |
| 1964−66 | Flipper | Editorial supervisorSupervising film editor | 59 episodes |
| 1965−66 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Supervising editorSupervising film editor | 29 episodes |
| 1966−67 | Jericho | Supervising film editor | 16 episodes |
| 1966−67 | The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | Supervising editorSupervising film editor | 27 episodes |
| 1965−67 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | Supervising film editor | 58 episodes |
| 1967 | Hondo | Supervising editor | 17 episodes |
| 1964−68 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Supervising film editor | 105 episodes |
| 1969 | Then Came Bronson | Supervising film editor | 7 episodes |
| 1969 | Medical Center | Supervising film editor | 1 episode |
| 1969−70 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Assistant editorSupervising editorSupervising film editor | 25 episodes |