---
name: "Ralph Dawson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ralph-dawson"
roles: ["Editor"]
born: "18 April 1897"
died: "15 November 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-20T00:36:53.014802+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ralph Dawson

Editor. Born 18 April 1897 in Westboro, Massachusetts, USA. Died 15 November 1962.

## Details

- **Work:** Editor
- **Born:** 18 April 1897, Westboro, Massachusetts, USA
- **Died:** 15 November 1962
- **Active:** 1935–1942
- **Frequently works with:** [Henry Blanke](https://film.one/person/henry-blanke.md), [Anita Louise](https://film.one/person/anita-louise.md), [Claude Rains](https://film.one/person/claude-rains.md), [Donald Woods](https://film.one/person/donald-woods.md), [Hal B. Wallis](https://film.one/person/hal-b-wallis.md), [Michael Curtiz](https://film.one/person/michael-curtiz.md), [Olivia de Havilland](https://film.one/person/olivia-de-havilland.md), [Sheridan Gibney](https://film.one/person/sheridan-gibney.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscars (3 won · 1 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 74 (4), 1940s 70 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Romance 5, Drama 3, Action 1, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $32m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Dawson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q453160, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0206238/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8715

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Adventures of Robin Hood*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md) (90)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ralph Dawson (18 April 1897 – 15 November 1962) was an American film editor. He worked extensively at Warner Bros. from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s and later at other studios including RKO and Universal.

Dawson edited *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. He received two further wins for *Anthony Adverse* (1936) and *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), and a nomination for *The High and the Mighty* (1954). He is also credited as editor on films including *One Way Passage* (1932), *Mr. Skeffington* (1944), *Ride the Pink Horse* (1947), *Harvey* (1950), *The Lusty Men* (1952), *Hondo* (1953), *Island in the Sky* (1953) and *Blood Alley* (1955). He occasionally acted, directed and wrote for the screen.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Kings Row* (1942), Fi1m 70, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/kings-row.md)
- *Four Daughters* (1938), Fi1m 75, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/four-daughters-1938.md)
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Fi1m 90, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md)
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Fi1m 57, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935), Fi1m 74, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/a-midsummer-nights-dream.md)

## Complete filmography (75)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Boss* (1956), Editor
- *Flight to Hong Kong* (1956), Editor
- *Blood Alley* (1955), Editor
- *The High and the Mighty* (1954), Editor
- *Hondo* (1953), Editor
- *Island in the Sky* (1953), Editor
- *Blackbeard, the Pirate* (1952), Editor
- *The Lusty Men* (1952), Editor
- *Sealed Cargo* (1951), Editor
- *Harvey* (1950), Editor
- *Deported* (1950), Editor
- *Soho Conspiracy* (1950), Adaptation
- *Peggy* (1950), Editor
- *Undertow* (1949), Editor
- *Free For All* (1949), Editor
- *Once More, My Darling* (1949), Editor
- *Rogues' Regiment* (1948), Editor
- *An Act of Murder* (1948), Editor
- *All My Sons* (1948), Editor
- *Ride the Pink Horse* (1947), Editor
- *Ivy* (1947), Editor
- *Honeymoon* (1947), Editor
- *The Spanish Main* (1945), Editor
- *Experiment Perilous* (1944), Editor
- *The Adventures of Mark Twain* (1944), Editor
- *Mr. Skeffington* (1944), Editor
- *George Washington Slept Here* (1942), Editor
- *Larceny, Inc.* (1942), Editor
- *Kings Row* (1942), Editor — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/kings-row.md)
- *Manpower* (1941), Editor
- *The Great Lie* (1941), Editor
- *Four Mothers* (1941), Editor
- *Knute Rockne All American* (1940), Editor
- *Four Wives* (1939), Editor
- *Espionage Agent* (1939), Editor
- *Daughters Courageous* (1939), Editor
- *The Dawn Patrol* (1938), Editor
- *Four Daughters* (1938), Editor — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/four-daughters-1938.md)
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Editor — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md)
- *First Lady* (1937), Editor
- *Another Dawn* (1937), Editor
- *The Prince and the Pauper* (1937), Editor
- *Three Men on a Horse* (1936), Editor
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Editor — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *The Story of Louis Pasteur* (1936), Editor
- *Dr. Socrates* (1935), Editor
- *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935), Editor — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/a-midsummer-nights-dream.md)
- *Skybound* (1935), as Plainclothesman
- *Sweet Adeline* (1934), Editor
- *Something Always Happens* (1934), Editor
- *The Firebird* (1934), Editor
- *The Bermondsey Kid* (1933), Director
- *The Silk Express* (1933), Editor
- *Girl Missing* (1933), Editor
- *One Way Passage* (1932), Editor
- *Jewel Robbery* (1932), Editor
- *High Pressure* (1932), Editor
- *Her Majesty, Love* (1931), Editor
- *The Mad Genius* (1931), Editor
- *Blonde Crazy* (1931), Editor
- *My Past* (1931), Editor
- *Outward Bound* (1930), Editor
- *Big Boy* (1930), Editor
- *Under a Texas Moon* (1930), Editor
- *The Girl in the Glass Cage* (1929), Director
- *The Desert Song* (1929), Editor
- *Beware of Bachelors* (1928), Editor
- *The Singing Fool* (1928), Editor
- *Black Butterflies* (1928), Editor
- *Caught in the Fog* (1928), Editor
- *Five and Ten Cent Annie* (1928), Editor
- *Tenderloin* (1928), Editor
- *Beware of Married Men* (1928), Editor
- *If I Were Single* (1927), Editor
- *Lady of the Night* (1925), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 3 won, 1 nominated

- 1955: Best Film Editing (nominated), for *The High and the Mighty*
- 1939: Best Film Editing (won), for *The Adventures of Robin Hood*
- 1937: Best Film Editing (won), for *Anthony Adverse*
- 1936: Best Film Editing (won), for *A Midsummer Night's Dream*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ralph-dawson