Dann Cahn
Editor
About This Interview
Dann Cahn (1923-2012) was interviewed in his home in Brentwood, CA for close to five and a half hours. Mr. Cahn talks about growing up in 1920's and '30's Hollywood and explains how he got his start in the entertainment industry as an assistant editor on several motion pictures. His first jobs for the small screen came in 1949, on the critically acclaimed programs Your Show Time and Lucky Strike Showtime. Mr. Cahn discusses working at Desilu on I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks, The Untouchables, and The Loretta Young Show and shares his thoughts on Desilu's famed Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Jess Oppenheimer. Cahn also describes editing several other hit television shows including The Beverly Hillbillies, Police Woman, and Remington Steele. He recounts working at Glenn Larson Productions as head of Post Production, and speaks to the importance of one particularly prolific producer who he believes was the ideal collaborator in the editing room. The interview was conducted by Michael Rosen on August 18, 1999.
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Highlights
Dann Cahn on the new technology (multiple moviola) developed for editing I Love Lucy
Clip begins at: 23:12, Duration: 02m 24s- Dann Cahn on the kinescope pilot of I Love Lucy - to prove that Lucy and Desi would work as the stars of the show, and to snag a sponsor
Clip begins at: 12:43, Duration: 01m 26s 
Editor Dann Cahn on editing the famous candy factory episode of I Love Lucy entitled "Job Switching"
Clip begins at: 17:01, Duration: 02m 14s- Dann Cahn on editing comedy
Clip begins at: 13:39, Duration: 00m 48s 
Dann Cahn on the importance of imagination in editing
Clip begins at: 11:04, Duration: 00m 24s
Interview
- Part 1
- On his childhood and early influences - his uncle Edward Cahn and father, Philip Cahn, both editors at Universal
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On how he got into the film business (as a child actor in B-movies); on his high school years
Clip begins at: 15:46 - On wanting to get out of acting and into behind the scenes studio work
Clip begins at: 20:02 - On how the depression affected his family and what Hollywood was like in the 1930s
Clip begins at: 22:48 - Part 2
- On the 1938 L.A. flood; on the origins of Universal Studios and the first sound movies
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the depression and 1930's Hollywood; on Anti-Semitism at the time
Clip begins at: 14:06 - On his experiences as a young kid on the Universal lot and watching his dad edit film; on burning nitrate film for silver
Clip begins at: 21:33 - On legendary sound man, Jack Foley - the man responsible for early background sound effects
Clip begins at: 25:20 - Part 3
- On sound man Jack Foley; on Cahn's path out of the Universal mail room and into the editing room
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On film editing - serving as an apprentice and then assistant editor and working on the feature film Pittsburgh
Clip begins at: 07:43 - On enlisting in the airforce for World War II and meeting Marlene Dietrich
Clip begins at: 20:20 - On working for Paramount after the war; on his first chance editing for television on Lucky Strike Showtime
Clip begins at: 22:54 - Part 4
- On editing Your Show time (misquoted as Lucky Strike Showtime) - filmed television; on early commercials
Clip begins at: 0:44 - On his first memories of and the rise of television; on working on Your Show Time (misquoted as Lucky Strike Showtime)
Clip begins at: 02:14 - On his father's thoughts of his work in television; on being on a television set (Your Show Time)
Clip begins at: 11:21 - On the path to his job on I Love Lucy by way of Republic Films
Clip begins at: 22:27 - Part 5
- On his film editing mentors
Clip begins at: 0:11 - On his experience editing I Love Lucy
Clip begins at: 03:04 - On the concept of I Love Lucy and show rehearsals; on the new technology developed for the show
Clip begins at: 17:14 - On the filming of the first episode of I Love Lucy
Clip begins at: 25:36 - Part 6
- On the first completed (4th aired) episode of I Love Lucy; on editing
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On watching the first aired episode of I Love Lucy -- with out of sync sound
Clip begins at: 20:57 - On initial reviews and reception of I Love Lucy; on expanding the post-production crew
Clip begins at: 23:45 - Part 7
- On expanding the post-production team on I Love Lucy; on the Blacklist
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On coordinating Lucille Ball's C-section with the birth of Little Ricky on I Love Lucy
Clip begins at: 04:39 - On the I Love Lucy writers and the episodes where the cast drives across country to Hollywood
Clip begins at: 05:45 - On editing and the production schedule at I Love Lucy and the growth of Desilu productions
Clip begins at: 14:16 - Part 8
- On working with directors
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On editing I Love Lucy
Clip begins at: 01:49 - On working on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
Clip begins at: 20:43 - Part 9
- On The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Clip begins at: 0:5 - On leaving Desilu and working on M Squad, Shotgun Slade, Coronado 9, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Guns of Will Sonnett
Clip begins at: 12:04 - Part 10
- On working on Aaron Spelling's The Most Deadly Game and on several Desi Arnaz productions including Land's End and The Mothers-In-Law
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On working on the productions Branded, Hondo, Police Woman, The Man From Atlantis, Temperatures Rising, Remington Steele, and the TV Movies Bud and Lou and Tough Enough
Clip begins at: 07:34 - Part 11
- On the TV movie The Man Upstairs
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On his current project on the history of Desilu
Clip begins at: 02:42 - On advice to young editors; on thoughts about current editing technology
Clip begins at: 05:49 - On his proudest achievements, frustrations
Clip begins at: 09:28 - On people he's worked with and his family
Clip begins at: 14:13
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