By Dalton Lee, Baldwin Wallace ’11
In the mid 1960’s a group of young men came the USC School of Cinematic Arts; these men were comprised of promising directors, screenwriters, producers, editors, and cinematographers. An astounding 12 of them would go on to have successful careers in the film industry and would be dubbed with the moniker, “The Dirty Dozen,” after the 1967 Robert Aldrich film of the same name. Among those distinguished men was Alpha Upsilon alumnus, Robert Dalva, Colgate '61. Following his three post-graduate years at USC, Dalva began working with Francis Ford Coppola and fellow classmate, George Lucas, at their innovative production company, American Zoetrope. Dalva and Lucas would rekindle their partnership again on the original Star Wars, where Dalva handled second-unit photography. Two years later Dalva landed the role of Editor for The Black Stallion, which netted him an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing.
As his career progressed, Dalva continued to work on big name films and with prestigious filmmakers. His resume includes Jumanji, Captain America: The First Avenger, October Sky, Jurassic Park III, Raising Cain, Lovelace, Hidalgo, and countless others. Along with his extensive editing resume, Dalva directed the sequel The Black Stallion Returns in 1983. In 2017, he began teaching part-time at the San Francisco Film School. On January 27th, 2023, Robert Dalva entered the chapter eternal. Dalva is survived by his wife, Marcia, whom he married in 1964; sons Matthew, Cory, and Marshall; daughter Jessica; grandchildren Nathan, Zach, Luellen and Calvin; and brother Leon.
In a Hollywood Reporter article, it was shared that, “Dalva ‘felt that movies move through time but are finite,’ Matthew Dalva said. ‘The experience of a movie takes you along second by second, minute-by-minute, shot after shot, until the experience ends. But time is rarely real in a movie, it must be compressed and manipulated. The stories that he helped tell, pace, structure and set the mood entertained and made millions experience different worlds and stories and see new things.’”