Recollections II – Editing and Directing – Starsky and Hutch Fiction Archive

These are a few reminiscences about editing and directing, picked up during my tenure as the legal and production researcher for Starsky & Hutch, ’76 through ’79.

Looking back, from 2014, and remembering what it was like doing the research on, and being part of “Starsky & Hutch” from near the end of first season, 1976, through the end of the series in 1979. I was the legal and production researcher on the show, Seasons 2 through 4, and am writing from my own experiences, as I remember them. I have only recently rediscovered Starsky & Hutch fandom and am enjoying sharing some of those experiences. Memory being mutable, events and emotions I talk about may not be as others remember them, so I apologize, in advance, and sincerely hope not to offend anyone.

I have two wonderful memories of the little time I was able to spend in the editing department of the show, watching those skilled artists put rolls and rolls (and rolls) of film through their viewers, selecting tiny portions from the, quite literally, miles of footage shot, and cutting those portions together into a seamless episode.

The director of each episode always oversaw the first cut, deciding what would be kept and what would end up on the proverbial cutting room floor. After that Director’s Cut, the editor was left to fine tune the approximate 46 minutes of film required.

I was watching over Asa Clark’s shoulder one evening as he was cutting a fairly routine scene in “Blindfold,” one he didn’t have to concentrate on, and telling me about a scene he wasn’t happy with: the one where Starsky shoots The Innocent Bystander. He tried to explain what he was having trouble with but wasn’t succeeding very well. After a few minutes of frustration, he took the film he was working on out of the viewer and put it aside; opened a different box, took out a roll and fed it into the machine. “Watch this” he said. The way the director had Asa cut it, the fleeing felon knocks the girl down and keeps running, Starsky sprints to the end of the walkway, hollers for the bad guy to stop or he’ll fire, the guy stops, wait’s a second then turns and fires at Starsky, who ducks back out of the way, the girl jumps out into the walkway between Starsky and the bad guy, Starsky spins around, sights and fires, the girl is hit and drops to the sidewalk. “Uh, wait a second,” I said…“that doesn’t look right.” Asa agreed, that’s why he was showing it to me, but he wasn‘t sure what was wrong with it. I pointed out that in several episodes, Starsky had demonstrated much more control and quick reactions: he hadn’t shot Hutch when they’d come around opposite sides of the bulldozer (or whatever it was), primed and ready to fire at anything that moved, in “Bounty Hunter,” or when they had appeared, suddenly, across from each other in the courtyard of Scotty’s Castle in “Set-Up, Part II,” and at least one more example which I can’t, at this point in time, remember; his reactions were sharper and better than that. Asa realized I had verbalized his uneasiness. He was a big fan of the show, in addition to working on it; he really wanted to get this scene right. During the next hour he carefully re-cut the entire sequence so that, after the bad guy has knocked the girl down and kept running, Starsky arrives at his end of the walkway, totally concentrated on the guy at the far end; shouts his warning; the guy stops, then turns and fires; Starsky ducks out of the way, then turns back quickly, drops into his shooting stance, sighting on the felon, never realizing the girl is anywhere near the line of fire; he is actually in the act of pulling the trigger when the girl runs out and is hit by the bullet intended for the perp. When the episode aired, I found myself wishing Asa could have cut a split second of the footage that showed her standing there with her back to Starsky, before he fired, but it was still far better than the way the scene was cut originally, where Starsky just flat-out shoots a bystander. I think Asa and I were very glad that I was there that evening and knew the characters and episodes as well as I did (he had not been on the show first season); it allowed him to keep from making it appear as if Starsky was just another careless cop. It’s my opinion that editing can make or break any show; S&H had some really good editors!

The other memory doesn’t involve the cutting of footage but the first watching of it. I had just come into the editing offices; Asa heard my voice from down the hall, asked me if I had a few moments to look at something. Always, I said. We went to his office, him telling me he was cutting “Deckwatch,” an episode Paul was directing. He loaded a small roll of film into his viewer and motioned me behind his shoulder. He was smiling as he said: “Do you remember what the script calls for in the opening shot? EXTERIOR – DOCKS – NIGHT (STOCK FOOTAGE)”? Of course I remembered, but then lots of scripts call for Stock Footage; it cuts way down on production costs. Well, evidently Paul had another idea for the opening shot, and had taken a full crew, equipment trucks, a water truck, and the guest star to the docks for night-filming. The footage Asa showed me was the result of that ‘excessive expenditure,’ as I’m quite sure the production company viewed it. Excessively expensive it might have been, when “stock footage” had been indicated, but it was a masterpiece: moody, atmospheric, even sinister. It was what is termed a ‘Master’ shot, meaning it is all one ‘take,’ beginning to end. The shot opens (no sound yet, remember; this is just the editing stage), all blacks, brilliant blues and searing white spotlights in the background, ESTABLISHING the slick, wet surface of a dock, puddles everywhere; camera begins to TRUCK backward along this seemingly deserted portion of a very long dock; then camera PANS SLOWLY DOWN and PUSHES IN as a pair of feet stride into the shot, walking toward camera; PULLING BACK AND PANNING UP as the figure continues to walk, deliberately, relentlessly toward camera, which is still moving backward; the camera finally stops and the figure keeps approaching; camera moves in to CLOSE UP of a man’s face as he finally stops walking; the face is intent, purposeful, threatening; he puts a cigarette in his mouth and lights it, the low ambient light illuminating the evil that will hover over the next hour; then the figure moves off, out of frame.

Asa was so proud of that shot you’d have thought he had directed it himself; he was almost bursting. “‘Stock Footage’ my ass!” he crowed. “Is Paul brilliant, or what??!” I couldn’t have agreed more. I’m not an aficionado of film noir but I could recognize genius when I saw it. I had known Paul was a good director but I hadn’t known he was that good! The next time you have a chance, look, really look at that opening shot of “Deckwatch.” It’s a beauty.

And, speaking of directorial genius, there’s a scene in “Survival” that I’d like you to take a longer look at, the next time you watch the show, keeping in mind that it was David’s directorial debut. Starsky goes to Karla’s apartment, needing to find out where her boyfriend is. He has knocked on her door, heard her response, and opened it. The camera is positioned low, behind the unmade bed, focused on Starsky in the doorway (he’s wound so tight he’s afraid he’ll snap but, if he does, he’ll never find Hutch and that’s the most important thing in the world to him); Camera PANS with him as he slowly approaches the woman sitting in a chair at a table in front of the window (the red light, pulsing outside, is also a directorial touch); Starsky, exchanging “pleasantries” with her as he walks, reaches the table; lifts a second chair around, places it close to her knees and sits down opposite her, so close that his knees bracket hers: he’s really getting into her space; leans forward even more and forces her, with his presence and voice, to pay attention; he’s tense but calm, doing his best to keep his emotions under control. During the conversation you might not even be aware of it but the camera is slowly moving in on the pair (you shouldn’t be aware of it, actually, it’s called a SLOW PUSH IN and is meant to be an almost subliminal approach). As Starsky scoots forward, getting even more in her face, the camera is now in a TWO-SHOT, hopefully without the viewer even being aware of the movement. Starsky’s intent gaze won’t allow Karla to look away from him: “Someone very, very, very close to me might be dead… because of your friend….. And I got no way of knowin’…… unless I can find ‘im,… and I can ask ‘im.” “Hotel Garvey” she finally says, very softly. “What?” “Hotel Garvey!” He looks at her for another long beat, then almost swallows the “good.” He gets up, turns and walks out of the room as the camera stays locked on Karla, absorbing her fear and uncertainty. The entire scene, from when Starsky walks into the room, until the door is heard to close behind him, is one long ‘take,’ and, in my opinion, it’s brilliant.

FYI, the third “very” was not in the script I read. It was Paul’s, and possibly David’s contribution to a tense, beautifully executed scene.

Editing and directing, again in my opinion, are not only skills but also art, when done with perception, understanding of the characters, dedication and love.

Thanks for listening.