# George Tomasini

George Tomasini (April 20, 1909 – November 22, 1964) was an American film editor, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, who had a decade long collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock, editing nine of his movies between 1954 and 1964. Tomasini edited many of Hitchcock's best-known works, such as Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963), as well as other well-received films such as Cape Fear (1962). On a 2012 listing of the 75 best edited films of all time, compiled by the Motion Picture Editors Guild based on a survey of its members, four films edited by Tomasini for Hitchcock appear. No other editor appeared more than three times on this listing. The listed films were Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest.
George Tomasini was known for his innovative film editing which, together with Hitchcock's stunning techniques, redefined cinematic language. Tomasini's cutting was always stylish and experimental, all the while pursuing the focus of the story and the characters. Hitchcock and Tomasini's editing of Rear Window has been treated at length in Valerie Orpen's monograph, Film Editing: The Art of the Expressive. His dialogue overlapping and use of jump cuts for exclamation points was dynamic and innovative (such as in the scene in The Birds where the car blows up at the gas station and Tippi Hedren's character watches from a window, as well as the infamous "shower scene" in Psycho). George Tomasini's techniques would influence many subsequent film editors and filmmakers.
George Tomasini was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for North by Northwest, but Ben-Hur's editors won the award that year.
In November 22, 1964, while he was editing In Harm's Way, Tomasini died of a massive heart attack. He was 55 years old. He left behind Mary Brian, his wife of 17 years and no children.

## Filmography as film editor

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1947 | Wild Harvest | Tay Garnett | |
| 1952 | The Turning Point | William Dieterle | First collaboration with William Dieterle |
| 1953 | Stalag 17 | Billy Wilder | |
| 1953 | Houdini | George Marshall | |
| 1954 | Elephant Walk | William Dieterle | Second collaboration with William Dieterle |
| 1954 | Rear Window | Alfred Hitchcock | First collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1955 | To Catch a Thief | Alfred Hitchcock | Second collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1956 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | Alfred Hitchcock | Third collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1956 | The Wrong Man | Alfred Hitchcock | Fourth collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1957 | Hear Me Good | Don McGuire | |
| 1958 | Vertigo | Alfred Hitchcock | Fifth collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1958 | I Married a Monster from Outer Space | Gene Fowler Jr. | |
| 1959 | North by Northwest | Alfred Hitchcock | Sixth collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1960 | The Time Machine | George Pal | First collaboration with George Pal |
| 1960 | Psycho | Alfred Hitchcock | Seventh collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1961 | The Misfits | John Huston | |
| 1962 | Cape Fear | J. Lee Thompson | |
| 1963 | The Birds | Alfred Hitchcock | Eighth collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1963 | Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? | Daniel Mann | |
| 1964 | 7 Faces of Dr. Lao | George Pal | Second collaboration with George Pal |
| 1964 | Marnie | Alfred Hitchcock | Ninth collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1965 | In Harm's Way | Otto Preminger | |
Editorial department :
| Year | Film | Director | Role | Notes | Other notes |
| 1948 | Beyond Glory | John Farrow | Assistant editor | First collaboration with John Farrow | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Night Has a Thousand Eyes | John Farrow | Assistant editor | Second collaboration with John Farrow | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Red, Hot and Blue | John Farrow | Assistant editor | Third collaboration with John Farrow | Uncredited |
Sound department :
| Year | Film | Director | Role | Notes |
| 1939 | Union Pacific | Cecil B. DeMille | Sound effects editor | Uncredited |

### Shorts

Editor :
| Year | Film | Director |
| 1951 | Benjy | Fred Zinnemann |
   Tomasini's most important work with Hitchcock was the memorable shower scene in Psycho (1960). Its aesthetic and dramatic accomplishment was achieved largely through the editor's skill. The completed forty-five second sequence that Hitchcock originally storyboarded was compiled by Tomasini from footage shot over several days that utilized a total of over seventy camera setups. From that mass of footage, Tomasini selected sixty different shots, some of them very short, through which he elected to rely heavily on the techniques of 'associative editing'.