Biography
Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on THX 1138, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather I, II, and III, American Graffiti, The Conversation, and The English Patient, with three Academy Award wins (from nine nominations: six for picture editing and three for sound mixing), he has been referred to by Roger Ebert as "the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Megalopolis
2024
Thanks
Genius artist Cesar Catilina seeks to leap the City of New Rome into a utopian, idealistic future, while his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, remain...

Her Name Was Moviola
2024
as Self
A documentary about cutting film... the way it used to be done.

Her Name Was Moviola
2024
Writer
A documentary about cutting film... the way it used to be done.

The Cinema Within
2024
THE CINEMA WITHIN is a documentary about the psychology of film editing, edited and directed by Chad Freidrichs (The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, The Experimenta...

Remembering Return to Oz
2021
as Self
The gathered memories and warm recollections of the cast and crew of the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures film, RETURN TO OZ. For the first time, we get inti...

Sight & Sound: The Cinema of Walter Murch
2020
as Himself
Legendary film editor and sound designer Walter Murch talks about his work and philosophy. (Based on over 50 hours of Murch's lectures, interviews, an...

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
2019
as Self
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

Coup 53
2019
as Self - Film Editor
Tehran, Iran, August 19, 1953. A group of Iranian conspirators who, with the approval of the deposed tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, have conspired with...

Coup 53
2019
Editor, Writer
Tehran, Iran, August 19, 1953. A group of Iranian conspirators who, with the approval of the deposed tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, have conspired with...

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
2018
as Self
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a...

78/52
2017
as Self
The most famous murder scene in movie history comprises 78 camera settings and 52 cuts: the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. 78/52 tells the...

Tomorrowland
2015
Editor
Bound by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor jaded by disillusionment emba...

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014
as Self - Film and Sound Editor
The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter,...

Particle Fever
2013
Editor
As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time -...

Hemingway & Gellhorn
2012
Editor
Writer Ernest Hemingway begins a romance with fellow scribe Martha Gellhorn.

Side by Side
2012
as Self
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmak...

Don't Expect Too Much
2011
as Himself
Documentary about director/artist Nicholas Ray and his time as a University professor

The Wolfman
2010
Editor
Lawrence Talbot, an American man on a visit to Victorian London to make amends with his estranged father, gets bitten by a werewolf and, after a moonl...

Tetro
2009
Editor
Bennie travels to Buenos Aires to find his long-missing older brother, a once-promising writer who is now a remnant of his former self. Bennie's disco...

The Godfather: When the Shooting Stopped
2008
as Self
Members of the crew recall the post-production process on the three 'Godfather' movies.

The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
2008
as Self
On the 35th anniversary of the release of the landmark film "The Godfather," (March 15, 1972) we look back at the time and place of the film's concept...

Youth Without Youth
2007
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Na...

Fog City Mavericks
2007
as Self
Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco is a compelling exploration of the legendary filmmakers who call the San Francisco Bay Area home i...

Murch: Walter Murch on Editing
2007
as Himself
MURCH is a portrait of Academy Award winning editor and sound designer Walter Murch, whose unique approach to an invisible craft has fueled a visible ...

Emotional History: The Making of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'
2006
as Self
Milan Kundera's rambling novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, though greatly admired, was thought by Hollywood studio executives to be "unfilmable...

Jarhead
2005
Editor
Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit a...

George Lucas: Creating an Empire
2005
as Self
A Biography of George Lucas.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
2004
as Self
Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope
2004
as Self
A fascinating chronicle of the birth and rise of the radically different independent studio founded by director Francis Ford Coppola.
Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138'
2004
as Self
The Making of feature for the George Lucas movie 'THX 1138'.

Cold Mountain
2003
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts ...

K-19: The Widowmaker
2002
Editor
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.

The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U...

The Making of 'American Graffiti'
1998
as Self
Documentary that features many interviews and other footage of the cast and crew for the film American Graffiti (1973)

The Apostle
1997
Thanks
After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.

The English Patient
1996
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along w...

First Knight
1995
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
The timeless tale of King Arthur and the legend of Camelot are retold in this passionate period drama. Arthur is reluctant to hand the crown to Lancel...

Crumb
1994
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a maj...

I Love Trouble
1994
Editor
Rival Chicago reporters Sabrina Peterson and Peter Brackett join forces to uncover a train wreck conspiracy.

Romeo Is Bleeding
1993
Editor
A corrupt cop gets in over his head when he tries to assassinate a beautiful Russian hit-woman.

House of Cards
1993
Editor
When Ruth Matthews's husband is killed in a fall at an archaeological dig, her daughter Sally handles her father's death in a very odd manner. As Sall...

The Godfather Part III
1990
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sin...

Ghost
1990
Editor, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
1990
as Self
A documentary on the making of the three Godfather films, with interviews and recollections from the film makers and cast. This feature also includes ...

Call from Space
1989
Editor
A movie director and his wanna-be actor/eccentric inventor nephew are filming a low-budget sci-fi movie. Things get interesting when the nephews' biza...

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
1988
Editor
Successful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to...

Return to Oz
1985
Director, Screenplay
Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams, and makes delightful new friends, and...

Dragonslayer
1981
Sound Recordist
A sorcerer and his apprentice are on a mission to kill an evil dragon to save the King’s daughter from being sacrificed according to a pact that the K...

The Black Stallion
1979
Screenplay
While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is...

Apocalypse Now
1979
Editor, Sound Designer, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." ...

Julia
1977
Editor
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

The Godfather Part II
1974
Sound Re-Recording Mixer, Sound Editor
In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone at...

The Conversation
1974
Sound Designer, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

American Graffiti
1973
Sound Re-Recording Mixer, Sound Editor
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

The Godfather
1972
Post Production Consulting
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corl...

THX 1138
1971
Screenplay, Sound Editor
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption...

Bald: The Making of 'THX 1138'
1971
as Self
The film features a conversation between Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, producer of THX 1138. They discuss Lucas' vision for the film, including his ...

Gimme Shelter
1970
Sound
A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous an...

The Rain People
1969
Sound Editor
When a housewife finds out she is pregnant, she runs out of town looking for freedom to reevaluate her life decisions.
Master Sessions with Walter Murch
N/A
as Self
Docupod gallery showcasing Murch's pioneering work on THX 1138
Vivien’s Wild Ride
N/A
as Himself
When veteran film editor Vivien Hillgrove discovers that she is losing her sight, she embarks on an unconventional documentary memoir.