Fergus McDonell
Born(1910-10-06)6 October 1910
Ticehurst, East Sussex
Died3 January 1984(1984-01-03) (aged 73)
Norwich, Norfolk
Occupation(s)Film editor and director
Years active1937-1974

Fergus McDonell (6 October 1910 – 3 January 1984) was an English film editor and director.[1] He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Odd Man Out (1947),[2] and his film The Hideout (aka The Small Voice) received a nomination for Best British Film at the 1949 BAFTA Awards.

Early life

Fergus McDonell was one of five children born to Angus MacDonnell, Judge of Trichonopoly, Madras and his wife Elsie Murdoch. His grandfather was Lord Aeneas Ranald MacDonell, 19th Chief of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry. Members of this family variously spell their surname 'MacDonnell', 'Macdonnell' and 'McDonell'; Fergus used the latter spelling throughout his life.

As was the custom among members of the Indian Civil Service during the Raj, it is likely that McDonell spent his early childhood in India and was sent back to England for his education.[3] His brother Angus died at age two; he and his three other brothers attended Sedbergh School in Cumbria.

Career

In 1937, McDonell entered the film world as an editor on The Claydon Treasure Mystery, one of a series of B movies or 'Quota Quickies' which he would make between 1937 and 1950. Quota Quickies were a response to the protectionist Cinematograph Films Act 1927, which was intended to limit Hollywood imports and ensure that a healthy percentage of films screened in British cinemas were of British origin. American producers got around it by setting up shell companies in the UK to make low-budget films, often shot on two-week schedules. Their quality was so poor that it was not unusual for theatre owners to apologize to their customers, in advance. These 'B' films did not intend to be serious but they offered a springboard for talent, and a way for filmmakers to hone their craft.[4]

The films that McDonnel worked on, however, were of a better quality; his last B movie, Private Information (1952), was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in their book The British 'B' Film, as among the most meritorious of the British B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. Chibnall and McFarlane praise McDonell's "sensitive regard for human relationships and for the ways in which the pressure of circumstance highlights aspects of character", and they note that he "had a knack for obtaining striking performances from his leading ladies".[5]

Private Information was the third film McDonell directed; by now, he was accomplished enough as an editor that Carol Reed's 1947 film Odd Man Out garnered McDonell an Academy Award nomination for the Best Film Editing. The first film he directed, 1948's The Hideout (also released as The Small Voice) received a nomination for Best British Film at the 1949 BAFTA Awards.

McDonell's achievements caught the attention of the National Film Board of Canada and he was offered a job. In 1951, he moved to Ottawa and became an NFB editor. As an editor, he worked on 84 documentaries and short films; he became an NFB director in 1956 and made 38 films.

In 1959, McDonell left the NFB to take the job of directing some of the episodes of the CBC series R.C.M.P.. He was simultaneously working on four episodes of a 12-film psychiatric series by his NFB colleague Robert Anderson called The Disordered Mind, which would also air on the CBC. He made two additional psychiatric films for Anderson and Geigy Pharmaceuticals, returned to the NFB as editor on two documentaries and, in 1961, moved back to England.

McDonell would not direct again, but he would act as editor of another 17 films, including the wildly popular What's New Pussycat? (1962). That was followed by, among others, The Caretaker, 1965's Four in the Morning (which would win Judi Dench the 1966 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer), Stephen Frears first film Gumshoe (1971) and the critically acclaimed Khartoum (1966). His last film was Terence Donovan's Yellow Dog; he retired in 1974.

Personal life and death

In 1931, McDonell married Wendy Hamblin. They had three children, including the producer and editor Robin Murdoch McDonell.[citation needed] Fergus McDonnel died in Norfolk in 1984, at age 74.[6][7]

Filmography

National Film Board of Canada

Editor,[19] Director[20]

References

  1. ^ Fergus McDonell at the British Film Institute[better source needed]
  2. ^ "The 20th Academy Awards | 1948". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  3. ^ Mason, Michael; Allen, Charles (1975). Plain Tales from the Raj. ISBN 9780233967103. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  4. ^ Chibnall, Steve. "Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film". screeningthepast.com. Screening the Past. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  5. ^ Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, p. 267–68.
  6. ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006 | findmypast.co.uk". www.findmypast.co.uk.
  7. ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007 | findmypast.co.uk". www.findmypast.co.uk.
  8. ^ "The Medial Use of Hypnosis". screenculture.org. CESIF. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Voices in Space". screenculture.org. CESIF. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  10. ^ "New North : Part 2. New Patterns in Flight". screenculture.org. CESIF. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Man's Adaptability to Cold (Polar People)". screenculture.org. CESIF. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  12. ^ "The Faces of Depression : A Phenomenological Approach to the Depression Syndrome". screenculture.org. CESIF. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Pathological Anxiety". archive.org. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  14. ^ "A Coronary". worldcat.org. Worldcat. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Pathological Anxiety". archive.org. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  16. ^ "A Depression". screenculture.org. CECIC. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Psychopath". archive.org. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Emotional Factors in General Practice". psychiatryonline.org. Psychiatry Online. doi:10.1176/ps.13.3.181. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Fergus McDonell, Editor". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Fergus McDonell, Director". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

External links

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