Faith & Spirit Quote by John Frankenheimer

Hollywood runs on confidence, not competence, and Frankenheimer skewers that economy with a director's weary precision. His jab lands because it flips the industry's glamour into something petty: a town full of people who may not be able to make the thing, but are certain they can fix the thing. "Expert editors" isn't praise; it's a demotion. Editing becomes the one craft everyone feels entitled to claim because it's downstream from risk. You don't have to light a scene, coax a performance, or solve a script problem under pressure to say, "Cut that", or "Tighten it up". You just have to have an opinion.

The subtext is a power map. In studio culture, "notes" are currency, and "editing" is the safest disguise for control. It's the managerial impulse dressed up as artistry: if you can reshape the final product, you can claim authorship without accountability. Frankenheimer's list - can't direct, can't write, can't act - is less insult than diagnosis. Those jobs require visible failure; editing, especially in committee form, can be presented as taste.

Context matters: Frankenheimer came up in an era of strong directors and hard-won authority, then watched decision-making migrate to executives, agents, producers, and test-screening logic. His profanity ("by God") isn't just color; it's exasperation at a system that confuses proximity to the cutting room with mastery of storytelling. The line is funny because it's true, and it's true because Hollywood rewards certainty even when it's unearned.