John Hoffman (29 August 1904, in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

– 6 January 1980, in

Altadena, California Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, California, Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtow ...

), was an American editor of montage sequences for several Hollywood studio features. He also directed a number of films, including ''

The Wreck of the Hesperus "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in ''Ballads and Other Poems'' in 1842. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyag ...

'' and ''

Strange Confession ''Strange Confession'' is a 1945 noir- mystery horror film, and is the fifth installment in '' The Inner Sanctum Mysteries'' anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. Released by Universal Pictu ...

''. With his colleague, the Serbian montagist Slavko Vorkapich, Hoffman made two striking visual tone poems, '' Moods of the Sea'' (a.k.a. ''

Fingal's Cave Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, known for its natural acoustics. The National Trust for Scotland owns the cave as part of a national nature reserve (Scotland), national nature ...

'', 1941) and '' Forest Murmurs'' (1947). The former film is set to

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

's ''

Hebrides Overture ''The Hebrides'' (; ) is a concert overture that was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1830, revised in 1832, and published the next year as Mendelssohn's Op. 26. Some consider it an early tone poem. It was inspired by one of Mendelssohn's trips ...

'' and was restored in 2004 by film preservation expert David Shepard.

Selected filmography

* '' The Crimson Canary'' (1945) * ''

The Fabulous Suzanne ''The Fabulous Suzanne'' is a 1946 American romantic comedy film directed by Steve Sekely and starring Barbara Britton, Rudy Vallee and Otto Kruger. A waitress inherits a fortune from one of her customers. Plot The young and beautiful Suzanne O' ...

'' (1946) * ''

Storm Over Tibet ''Storm Over Tibet'' is a 1952 American adventure film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Rex Reason and Diana Douglas. Plot During World War II, David Simms pilots supplies between India and China over the Himalaya Mountains. Cast * Rex Rea ...

'' (1952)

External links

* American experimental filmmakers Filmmakers from California 1904 births 1980 deaths People from Altadena, California Hungarian emigrants to the United States {{US-film-bio-stub