James Bond film editor John Grover dies at 87
British film editor John Grover, whose career included work on six James Bond films and Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, has died at the age of 87.
Grover died on Monday at his home in Buckinghamshire, England, after a short illness, his son Tim told The Hollywood Reporter.
His Bond credits included editing ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1981), ‘The Living Daylights’ (1987) and ‘Licence to Kill’ (1989). He also worked on the assembly of ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977) and ‘Moonraker’ (1979).
A longtime vice chairman of the British Film Editors, Grover was presented with the organisation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in April.
His other credits included ‘The Wild Geese’ (1978), ‘The Sea Wolves’ (1980), ‘The Final Option’ (1982), Tobe Hooper’s ‘Lifeforce’ (1985), the 1984 NBC miniseries ‘The First Olympics’ and Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth’ (1986), which he regarded as his favourite film.
Early career and work with Kubrick
Grover began his career as an uncredited assistant editor, working with Robert Wise on ‘The Haunting’ (1963), David Lean on ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1965), John Frankenheimer on ‘Grand Prix’ (1966), Kubrick on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) and Herbert Ross on ‘Goodbye, Mr Chips’ (1969).
Speaking at an editing conference in 2016, Grover recalled his time working with Kubrick and described the director as a perfectionist.
Grover was particularly outspoken about the making of ‘2001’, criticising its length while acknowledging its innovative use of music and visual imagination.
He also claimed that he provided the distinctive heavy breathing heard during the film’s astronaut scenes.
According to Grover, Kubrick repeatedly asked him to perform the breathing while watching the scenes and matching the physical strain of the astronauts.
The British editors guild said both Kubrick and Grover were recorded for the breathing sequences, but it was believed Grover’s recording was ultimately used in the film.
The breathing was recorded simultaneously on two 35mm film rolls in 10-minute sessions, allowing the editors to remove unwanted background noise.
Bond films
Grover later served as assembly editor on ‘Moonraker’ alongside John Glen. The production generated around 800,000 feet of film, with the final edit taking about 10 months and being completed a day before the premiere.
For ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, Grover edited the pre-credit sequence featuring Roger Moore skiing down a mountain before parachuting from a cliff. Bad weather delayed filming the stunt for 10 days before a short 15-minute window allowed the scene to be completed.
Grover also used a music box he had received while working on ‘Doctor Zhivago’ in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. The instrument played ‘Lara’s Theme’ and was used by Barbara Bach’s character, Anya Amasova. Composer Maurice Jarre received royalties for the brief use of the theme.
During ‘The Living Daylights’, Grover and Peter Davies jointly edited Timothy Dalton’s first appearance as James Bond.
A work print containing dialogue scenes was later leaked and distributed on VHS. Grover was questioned by producer Albert Broccoli and associate producer Tom Pevsner because the editing team had access to the material.
Grover later said he had marked individual frames with identifying symbols whenever footage was sent outside the editing rooms. The markings helped trace the leaked material to a trailer company in New York.
Career beginnings
Born on October 24, 1938, in Barnet, Middlesex, Grover completed National Service as a teenager before joining MGM Studios as a numbering boy, earning £6 10 shillings a week. His uncle worked at the studio as supervising editor.
Grover recalled David Lean as a filmmaker who welcomed input from his collaborators. He also remembered a technical problem during the 70mm Los Angeles premiere of ‘Doctor Zhivago’, when a gearbox in the projection booth exploded during the first reel changeover, leaving the audience in darkness for eight minutes.
Grover is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jenny, their son Tim, daughter Camilla, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
After retiring, Grover described the appeal of the Bond franchise as family entertainment that allowed different generations to watch the films together.
Roger Moore was Grover’s favourite actor to play James Bond.