Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/407863
60 CINEMONTAGE / NOV-DEC 14 afternoon? What were they thinking of him? If they thought of him as a filmmaker, what were the films they thought of as his? The Quiet One? That's all? His value as a filmmaker spread so much further than 'credits.' What did 'edited by' really mean in his case? Most of the people sitting there…knew that Sidney had helped them more than they could ever admit to themselves… "We all knew that Sidney loved films so much, and some filmmakers too, that we could count on his advice whenever we needed it," Leyda continued. "If he found himself bending over a Moviola, with the loose or shapeless structure of a friend's film stumbling through it, he knew this was where he belonged. Sometimes a director was sensible enough to bring Sidney in before the film was shot, or during the shooting, and call this actual artistic supervision of the film 'editing.'" Leyda concluded: "If it was a…network or business that wanted his help, he asked for a proper salary, but usually settled for minimum. The livelihood of his working years came from places like CBS, NBC, Monsanto, the Girl Scouts and the Ford Motor Company, but always there were promises, promises to direct from producers that were never consummated." At Sidney's memorial service, my friend Manny Kirchheimer spoke of the essential Sidney so many of us knew and loved. He spoke for so many of us who began our professional lives under Sidney's care and tutelage: "Close to when I first met him — I was 21 working at my first job in film — he told me of the time he was asked by the distributor to cut down Rashômon for American audiences. Sidney said, 'I told him it's the work of a master — I wouldn't touch it.' And then he impishly added, 'And I needed the money, too.' That comes back to me now for good reason. It meant you 'have dignity.' "Another time on a very hot, not air- conditioned day," Kirchheimer added, "standing on a plush, red carpet left over from when the cutting room belonged to a high- fashion milliner, Sidney was rewinding bare- armed in a sleeveless undershirt, and wearing a pinched brown hat. 'Why the hat, Sid?' I asked. 'That's to let them know I'm not here to stay.' That was funny. What it meant to me was: Be your own man. Don't let them seduce you with money, praise, comfort." Kirchheimer continued his tribute: "One lunch hour of a particularly beautiful day… we were walking on the avenue when Sidney said, 'Look at the people; don't they look great with the sun on their faces?' And realizing that the sun was not on his face, he suddenly ran ahead, turned around into the sun, floated back towards me, and asked, 'Did I look great CONTINUED ON PAGE 74 The Quiet One. Photofest