Sylvia Cummins Betts
Sylvia Cummins Betts was an American film editor, primarily of documentary, educational, and industrial and sponsored films. She was one of the few women editors in this field from the 1940s through the 1970s and was responsible for editing dozens of films with non-theatrical releases.
Betts was originally from England and had worked in the film industry there as an editor on both feature films and World War II newsreels. She directed, produced, and edited a number of short documentaries sponsored during and after the war effort and in involving Britain's colonies. She came to the US after World War II and settled in Georgia, where she worked as a staff editor at the Center for Communicable Disease Control. She later relocated to the Washington, D.C. area and performed editing work under the company name Cummins-Betts located in Glen Echo, Maryland.
Betts collaborated frequently with notable documentary director George Stoney as well as her husband, screenwriter Bill Betts. The collaborations with Stoney included a number of films on medical and public health topics, urbanization, social issues, the military, and religion.
Filmography
A New Wind produced for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i Faith in the U.S.A, directed by George StoneyBold New Approach about community mental health center, directed by Irving JacobyHow to Look at a City produced by National Educational Television, as part of the series Metropolis: Creator of Destroyer?, directed by George Stoney, featuring Eugene RaskinHow Things Get Done produced by National Educational Television, as part of the series Metropolis: Creator of Destroyer?, directed by George StoneyBolivian Boy about a 10-year-old Aymara boyThe Fur Lined Foxhole produced by National Educational Television for Nationwide Insurance Co, directed by George StoneyAffairs of State: Food and the Future produced for North Carolina Film Board about the state's food processing industryThe Newcomers produced for the General Board of the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church about Appalachia, directed by George StoneyHeart Research News produced by the Heart Information about the Center of the National Heart InstituteThe ''Cry for Help produced for Louisiana Association for Mental Health and National Institute for Mental Health, directed by George StoneyThe Devil to Pay produced for the National Association of Wholesalers, starring Buster KeatonTo Speak with Friends produced for the United States Office of EducationBooked for Safekeeping made with the Chicago Police Department, directed by George StoneyIstala Mashi produced for UNICEF on combatting typhus in PakistanSecond Chance produced for American Heart Association, directed by George StoneyMission in Bolivia for United Methodist National Council of ChurchesHeart of a Stranger for Christian Children's FundFrom Jack Tars to White Hats for the Office of Armed Forces on the history of the US Navy uniform, directed by George StoneyNavy Uniform for the Office of Armed Forces on the history of the US Navy uniform, directed by George StoneyPAL Club produced for BR DeutschlandYung-Cha, Child of Korea for Christian Children's Fund Proud Years about the Home for the Aged and Infirm Hebrews of New York, directed by George Stoney From 5 to 7:30 produced for the American Temperance Society, directed by Nicholas Reed, cameraman Bert Spielvogel The Invader produced for the Georgia Department of Public Health, directed by George StoneyAll My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story produced for Georgia Department of Public Health and the Audio·Visual Division of the Association of American Medical Colleges, directed by George Stoney- A