IPhoto Troubleshoot - Lost File Upon Photo Edit

Hello!
I'm having trouble in iPhoto.
Each time I finish editing an image and return to the album or event screen, then click on the photo again, the area that should show the image goes black. When I right click on "Show File" the file is shown with a missing thumbnail and the size is zero bytes. So, it looks like iPhoto loses track of the file contents somewhere during the photo editing or saving process.
iPhoto works normally in all other ways. I have the '09 version (8.1.2). I've though about dropping the 15 bucks to get the new version but the reviews said that it has a reputation for being buggy.
I'm running this on a 2010 MacBook Pro 13" on OSX Lion 10.7.2.
Anyone have any ideas, thoughts, or advice? Thanks in advance!
-Timothy

I tried it, and when the screen would typically go blank, the program crashed. This is what the report said.
It almost seems as though the edit is 'too much' for the processor to handle. The strange part is that this problem is very inconsistent- sometimes the photo will edit and save flawlessly. Other times, iPhoto will attempt to save the edit and fail. You can see the attempt through pixelated and stretched versions of the photo for a brief moment before the image goes blank.
Thanks for your help!
Message was edited by: timothychi

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