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RICHARD S. BRUMMER JANUARY 6, 1924—JANUARY 22, 2022 58 C I N E M O N T A G E I N M E M O R I A M I n the mid-1990s, picture editor Bob Murawski, ACE, had the opportunity to meet Russ Meyer, the legendary ex- ploitation director responsible for cult classics including "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (1965), "Vixen!" (1968), and "Cherry, Harry & Raquel!" (1969). Murawski, lat- er the Oscar-winning editor of "The Hurt Locker" (2008) and other acclaimed films, had by then accumulated some high-pro- file editing credits and wanted to let the master know he was available. "I offered my services to Russ, telling him I'd be thrilled to have a chance to work with him, Murawski said. "His response was, 'Thanks, kid, but I've got Brummer. He always knows exactly where to make the cut.'" "Br ummer " was picture and sound editor Richard S. Brummer, who died on January 22 at age 98. Although he was a force in American independent cinema f ro m t h e 1 9 5 0 s u n t i l j u s t a f e w y e a r s a go, B r u m m e r i s p e r h a p s b e s t k n o w n for his longtime association with Mey- er, for whom he worked in a variety of capacities for decades — and not just in the editorial department. "If you needed a stunt done, and there was no stunt coordinator, it might be one of the actresses, or it might be my dad because he had a judo background," said Brummer's daughter, Alison Brummer. Brummer is also survived by a son, Byron. His wife, Louise, died in 2007. "On the poster for 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,'" there's a guy [actress] Tura Satana has thrown on the ground — that's my dad," Alison Brummer said. But Brummer's contributions to the in- toxicatingly intense editing of Meyer's films are sure to stand as his most lasting legacy. "Russ's f ilms tower above most ex- ploitation films of their time because they are so well made," Murawski said. "His photography is always extraordinary, with rich lighting and beautiful compositions. . . . And the dynamic editing always plays an important role. There is never a slow moment in a Russ Meyer movie. The pace is always relentless. Dick Brummer was the key to that." One of two sons born in New York City to Imre Brummer, a noted art dealer, and his wife Etelka, Richard grew up in a family in which the arts were not an avocation but the family business. Imre and his brothers Joseph and Ernest, Richard's uncles, were the proprietors of the acclaimed Brummer Galleries in Paris and New York. Imre died when Richard was four years old, but the die was cast. "My dad was a very good painter," Ali- son Brummer said. "I have paintings from when he was about eight. They're in oil, and you can't even imagine that an eight-year- old had the ability to do them." Richard's mother came from a perform- ing arts background. She was a dancer and dance teacher, and her family included musicians and composers. "They were interested in my dad learning the piano, which he couldn't do," Alison Brummer said, adding that her father took dance lessons, appeared with his mother's troupe, and was proficient in 1940s-style swing dancing. Nevertheless, painting remained his passion. After graduating from George Wash- ington High School, Brummer served in the Army during World War II. He was sta- tioned at Camp Crowder in Missouri at the same time as his future collaborator Russ Meyer, which helped cement the future bond between the men. "They didn't know each other then, but they had been there at the exact same time," Alison Brummer said. "Russ had his group of people that worked with him who had actually served next to him and knew him in the Army, but my dad was still part of that group because it was the same experience." After leaving the Army in 1946, Brum- mer entered the Parsons School of Design. He graduated in 1948. Then came the turn- ing point in his professional life: In 1950-51, Brummer continued his education at New York University, where he took several courses under the banner "New Frontiers in Cinema." In 1952, Brummer directed a pair of short films, "The Drum" and "First Fear," before getting his first significant postpro- duction credit as the editor of Roger Tilton's legendary short film "Jazz Dance" (1954), a boldly kinetic black-and-white documenta- ry recording a single night of music-making and dancing at the Central Plaza Dance Hall in New York. Here, the influence of Brum- mer's mother paid dividends. P H OT O : C O U R T E S Y B R U M M E R FA M I LY