Dann Cahn
Editor
About This Interview
Dann Cahn 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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Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his childhood and early influences - his uncle Edward Cahn and father, Philip Cahn, both editors at Universal
- On how he got into the film business (as a child actor in B-movies); on his high school years
- On wanting to get out of acting and into behind the scenes studio work
- On how the depression affected his family and what Hollywood was like in the 1930s
- Chapter 2
- On the 1938 L.A. flood; on the origins of Universal Studios and the first sound movies
- On the depression and 1930's Hollywood; on Anti-Semitism at the time
- On his experiences as a young kid on the Universal lot and watching his dad edit film; on burning nitrate film for silver
- On legendary sound man, Jack Foley - the man responsible for early background sound effects
- Chapter 3
- On sound man Jack Foley; on Cahn's path out of the Universal mail room and into the editing room
- On film editing - serving as an apprentice and then assistant editor and working on the feature film Pittsburgh
- On enlisting in the airforce for World War II and meeting Marlene Dietrich
- On working for Paramount after the war; on his first chance editing for television on Lucky Strike Showtime
- Chapter 4
- On editing Your Show time (misquoted as Lucky Strike Showtime) - filmed television; on early commercials
- On his first memories of and the rise of television; on working on Your Show Time (misquoted as Lucky Strike Showtime)
- On his father's thoughts of his work in television; on being on a television set ( Your Show Time)
- On the path to his job on I Love Lucy by way of Republic Films
- Chapter 5
- On his film editing mentors
- On his experience editing I Love Lucy
- On the concept of I Love Lucy and show rehearsals; on the new technology developed for the show
- On the filming of the first episode of I Love Lucy
- Chapter 6
- On the first completed (4th aired) episode of I Love Lucy; on editing
- On watching the first aired episode of I Love Lucy -- with out of sync sound
- On initial reviews and reception of I Love Lucy; on expanding the post-production crew
- Chapter 7
- On expanding the post-production team on I Love Lucy; on the Blacklist
- On coordinating Lucille Ball's C-section with the birth of Little Ricky on I Love Lucy
- On the I Love Lucy writers and the episodes where the cast drives across country to Hollywood
- On editing and the production schedule at I Love Lucy and the growth of Desilu productions
- Chapter 8
- On working with directors
- On editing I Love Lucy
- On working on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
- Chapter 9
- On The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
- On leaving Desilu and working on M Squad, Shotgun Slade, Coronado 9, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Guns of Will Sonnett
- Chapter 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
- 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
- Chapter 11
- On the TV movie The Man Upstairs
- On his current project on the history of Desilu
- On advice to young editors; on thoughts about current editing technology
- On his proudest achievements, frustrations
- On people he's worked with and his family
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