1. Sergei Eisenstein
Top 5 Edited films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Battleship Potemkin | Sergei Eisenstein | 1925 |
2. Strike | Sergei Eisenstein | 1925 |
3. October: Ten Days That Shook the World | Sergei Eisenstein | 1928 |
4. Alexander Nevsky | Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev | 1938 |
5. Ivan the Terrible | Sergei Eisenstein | 1944-46 |

2. Thelma Schoonmaker
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Raging Bull | Martin Scorsese | 1980 |
2. Goodfellas | Martin Scorsese | 1990 |
3. Casino | Martin Scorsese | 1995 |
4. The Aviator | Martin Scorsese | 2004 |
5. The Age of Innocence | Martin Scorsese | 1993 |

3. Akira Kurosawa
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Rashomon | Akira Kurosawa | 1950 |
2. Seven Samurai | Akira Kurosawa | 1954 |
3. Ran | Akira Kurosawa | 1985 |
4. Yojimbo | Akira Kurosawa | 1961 |
5. High and Low | Akira Kurosawa | 1963 |

4. George Tomasini
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Psycho | Alfred Hitchcock | 1960 |
2. Vertigo | Alfred Hitchcock | 1958 |
3. Rear Window | Alfred Hitchcock | 1954 |
4. North by Northwest | Alfred Hitchcock | 1959 |
5. The Birds | Alfred Hitchcock | 1963 |

5. Nino Baragli
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly | Sergio Leone | 1966 |
2. Once Upon a Time in the West | Sergio Leone | 1968 |
3. Once Upon a Time in America | Sergio Leone | 1984 |
4. Django | Sergio Corbucci | 1966 |
5. Teorema | Pier Paolo Pasolini | 1968 |

6. D.W. Griffith, James and Rose Smith
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Intolerance | D.W. Griffith | 1916 |
2. The Birth of a Nation | D.W. Griffith | 1915 |
3. Broken Blossoms | D.W. Griffith | 1919 |
4. Way Down East | D.W. Griffith | 1920 |
5. Orphans of the Storm | D.W. Griffith | 1921 |

7. Yoshiyasu Hamamura
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Tokyo Story | Yasujirō Ozu | 1953 |
2. Early Summer | Yasujirō Ozu | 1951 |
3. Late Spring | Yasujirō Ozu | 1949 |
4. An Autumn Afternoon | Yasujirō Ozu | 1962 |
5. There Was a Father | Yasujirō Ozu | 1942 |

8. Marguerite Beaugé
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. The Passion of Joan of Arc | Carl Theodor Dreyer | 1928 |
2. Napoleon | Abel Gance | 1927 |
3. La Roue | Abel Gance | 1923 |
4. Pépé le Moko | Julien Duvivier | 1937 |
5. Olivia | Jacqueline Audry | 1951 |

9. Michael Kahn
Top 5 Edited Films
Film | Director | Year |
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | 1981 |
2. Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg | 1998 |
3. Schindler’s List | Steven Spielberg | 1993 |
4. Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | 1993 |
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Steven Spielberg | 1984 |

10. Jay Rabinowitz
Top 5 Edited Films
Year | Director | Year |
1. Requiem for a Dream | Darren Aronofsky | 2000 |
2. The Tree of Life | Terrence Malick | 2011 |
3. The Fountain | Darren Aronofsky | 2006 |
4. Dead Man | Jim Jarmusch | 1995 |
5. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai | Jim Jarmusch | 1999 |

Film Editor | Top 3 Edited Films |
11. William Chang | 1. Chungking Express (1994) 2. In the Mood for Love (2000) 3. The Grandmaster (2013) |
12. Gerald B. Greenberg | 1. Apocalypse Now (1979) 2. The French Connection (1971) 3. The Untouchables (1987) |
13. Dylan Tichenor | 1. There Will Be Blood (2007) 2. Magnolia (1999) 3. Boogie Nights (1997) |
14. Sally Menke | 1. Pulp Fiction (1994) 2. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 3. Kill Bill (2003-04) |
15. Eraldo Da Roma | 1. Red Desert (1964) 2. L’Avventura (1960) 3. L’Eclisse (1962) |
16. Lee Smith | 1. Dunkirk (2017) 2. Inception (2010) 3. The Dark Knight (2008) |
17. Lou Lombardo | 1. The Wild Bunch (1969) 2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) 3. The Long Goodbye (1973) |
18. Ulla Ryghe | 1. Persona (1966) 2. The Silence (1963) 3. Hour of the Wolf (1968) |
19. Paul Hirsch | 1. Blow Out (1981) 2. Carrie (1976) 3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) |
20. Ruggero Mastroianni | 1. Juliet of the Spirits (1965) 2. Amarcord (1973) 3. Fellini Satyricon (1969) |
21. Graeme Clifford | 1. Don’t Look Now (1973) 2. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) 3. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) |
22. Agnès Guillemot | 1. Contempt (1963) 2. Weekend (1967) 3. Alphaville (1965) |
23. Ray Lovejoy | 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2. The Shining (1980) 3. Aliens (1986) |
24. Joe Walker | 1. Shame (2011) 2. Dune (2021-23) 3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) |
25. Dede Allen | 1. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) 3. Reds (1981) |
26. Cécile Decugis | 1. Breathless (1960) 2. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) 3. My Night at Maud’s (1969) |
27. Barry Alexander Brown | 1. Do the Right Thing (1989) 2. Malcolm X (1992) 3. 25th Hour (2002) |
28. Tom Cross | 1. Whiplash (2014) 2. La La Land (2016) 3. Babylon (2022) |
29. Billy Weber | 1. The Tree of Life (2011) 2. The Thin Red Line (1998) 3. Days of Heaven (1978) |
30. Anne V. Coates | 1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 2. Out of Sight (1998) 3. The Elephant Man (1980) |
31. Sam O’Steen | 1. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 2. The Graduate (1967) 3. Chinatown (1974) |
32. Peter Zinner | 1. The Godfather Part II (1974) 2. The Godfather (1972) 3. The Deer Hunter (1978) |
33. Zach Staenberg | 1. The Matrix (1999) 2. Speed Racer (2008) 3. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) |
34. Claudine Bouché | 1. Jules and Jim (1962) 2. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) 3. The Soft Skin (1964) |
35. The Coen Brothers | 1. No Country for Old Men (2007) 2. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) 3. Blood Simple (1984) |
36. Susan E. Morse | 1. Manhattan (1979) 2. Stardust Memories (1980) 3. Broadway Danny Rose (1984) |
37. Jill Bilcock | 1. Moulin Rouge! (2001) 2. Romeo + Juliet (1996) 3. Muriel’s Wedding (1994) |
38. Robert Wise | 1. Citizen Kane (1941) 2. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) |
39. Leo Catozzo | 1. 8 1/2 (1963) 2. La Dolce Vita (1960) 3. Nights of Cabiria (1957) |
40. Chris Dickens | 1. Hot Fuzz (2007) 2. Submarine (2010) 3. Small Axe (2020) |
41. Pietro Scalia | 1. JFK (1991) 2. The Quick and the Dead (1995) 3. Gladiator (2000) |
42. Verna Fields | 1. Jaws (1975) 2. American Graffiti (1973) 3. What’s Up, Doc? (1972) |
43. Stuart Gilmore | 1. The Palm Beach Story (1942) 2. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) 3. The Andromeda Strain (1971) |
44. Hank Corwin | 1. The Tree of Life (2011) 2. The New World (2005) 3. The Big Short (2015) |
45. Mary Sweeney | 1. Mulholland Drive (2001) 2. Lost Highway (1997) 3. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) |
46. Walter Murch | 1. Apocalypse Now (1979) 2. The Conversation (1974) 3. The English Patient (1996) |
47. Alan Heim | 1. Lenny (1974) 2. American History X (1998) 3. Network (1976) |
48. Gene Havlick | 1. Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 2. It Happened One Night (1934) 3. Lost Horizon (1937) |
49. Joe Bini | 1. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) 2. You Were Never Really Here (2017) 3. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) |
50. Stephen Mirrione | 1. 21 Grams (2003) 2. Traffic (2000) 3. The Revenant (2015) |
Cool list, really draws attention to a lot of people I’ve never heard of but have appreciated them in the background.
Thanks Harry, this was probably one of the most enlightening lists for me to put together. For most of the others I at least had a pretty good idea beforehand who would be in the top 10, but for this one I was learning lots of names I hadn’t heard before.
Is Marguerite Beaugé arguably the best solo film editor? Every higher editor except Nino Baragli worked with one director for their top five, and Baragli worked with one director for his top three – where Beaugé had four directors, and two separate directors for her top three.
She’s a got a solid case there, I would also caveat that with her being the best solo film editor who also wasn’t a director – Eisenstein and Kurosawa for instance worked as solo editors on their own films for instance. Like you mentioned, her and Rabinowitz are the only ones in that tier to have an insanely strong top 3 split across multiple directors. It would take incredible judgement and talent to accomplish something like that.
Where is Alastair McIntyre(Repulsion, Tess, Macbeth, Cul-de-sac)?
I’ve not yet seen Tess, Macbeth, or Cul-de-sac, but Repulsion does feature very impressive editing.