Arthur Schneider is considered one of the pioneers in the field of television editing. In a career which spanned from 1951 to 1988, he worked as editor on hundreds of television programs, specials, sports broadcasts, and television movies. His long career included work on such programs as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Sonny and Cher Show, and numerous Bob Hope Specials, to name but a few.

In the fall of 1966, Mr. Schneider was called on to edit a television film for ABC's Stage 67 series. The program would be based on Katherine Anne Porter's book Noon Wine, a poignant tale about the disintegration of a man's life after he is accused of a murder which he committed in the defense of a friend. Jason Robards was cast as the man accused (a farmer), while the remainder of the lead roles were filled out by an outstanding cast which included Theodore Bikel, Olivia de Havilland, and Per Oscarsson.

Producer Daniel Melnick took what appeared to some as a risk when he asked Sam Peckinpah to write the screenplay as well as direct the program. Peckinpah had been fired after only one day of shooting on his most recent film, The Cincinnati Kid. Following this incident as well as his heated battles with the producers of Major Dundee he was having trouble finding work due to his blacklisting as a "difficult director."

When Noon Wine aired on November 23, 1966, the reviews were extremely enthusiastic. The program would garner Peckinpah a Writers Guild nomination for Best Television Adaptation as well as a Directors Guild nomination for Best Television Direction. In addition to immediate work on another Stage 67 production, the success of Noon Wine re-established Peckinpah's reputation among the Hollywood studio producers. He would soon begin pre-production work on The Wild Bunch for Warner Brothers.

Mr. Schneider kindly offered me the following recollections regarding his work on Noon Wine:

Did Sam Peckinpah take an active role in the editing process, and if so, how?

A.S.: Sam was very active in the editing process from day one. He and I spent an average of 20 hours a day for three weeks. I would edit a sequence, then he would review it and make suggestions. Even though the first cut of Noon Wine was completed in just over a week, the other two weeks were used in fine-tuning the program. He was in the editing room every day without exception, something I, and most other editors do not really like because its just like having someone looking over your shoulders while you make each edit. Although, he didn't actually do that, being in the room with him made me a little self-conscious at first.

Please relate the story of your first visit to the shooting location of Noon Wine

A.S.: The shooting location of Noon Wine was only a few miles from my home in Agoura, California so I was able to schedule my day to spend much of it on the set. The first day of shooting we were all sitting down to the catered breakfast when a swarm of bees attacked us. We grabbed our food and tried to hide but the bees quickly followed us forcing us to drop our plates and go without breakfast. Everything was well organized on the set and most of the shooting went on without incident. It was a tribute to the skill and organization of Sam. It was really mostly uneventful but I was able to watch Sam do the directing for which he was famous. During production, Sam and I conferred and I made notes in my script book for later editing. There was more to this story that I can relate now but remember this program was shot more than 30 years ago.

Peckinpah was in a difficult period of his career when he directed Noon Wine (He had just been fired from his last film The Cincinnati Kid and was blacklisted in Hollywood at the time for being "difficult"). Where you aware of any of the personal troubles he was going through at the time?

A.S.: I was not aware of any of his personal problems. Maybe because he got his act together after being fired from the movie job. He and I got along well and we never had an argument. He never discussed his personal life or his problems with me even when we would go to lunch.

Peckinpah was notorious for shooting unusually large amounts of footage and bringing all of it to the editing room. Do you recall this being the case with Noon Wine?

A.S.: My only complaint with him is that he loved to play "what if" which increased the amount of editing time to more than double. He did shoot a lot of footage, I would guess about 3-4 to one which is somewhat more than producers wanted to shoot.

What do you remember most about his personality? Did anything stand out which set him apart from other directors you have worked with?

A.S.: Sam was a perfectionist, something I was constantly aware of. Although we got along well, from time to time, I had to grit my teeth from time to time to keep my opinions to myself. We had differences of opinion on some edits but generally, we were in agreement. After the program aired, he sent me a very nice personal letter thanking me for doing a good job of editing. He really knew what he wanted and if we had had another two months to work on the show, he would have used that time to make even more changes but time constraints due to a scheduled air date prevented that. We had no personality conflicts but there were differences of opinion on the timing of a few edits. He was a bulldog however in that he would work continuously with out breaks for 24 hours a day if he could. Fortunately, union rules would not let him do that.

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