Directors

Don Haldane

162

B: December 3, 1914 in Edmonton, Alberta
D: September 21, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario

In the world of film and video, there is a class of production now generally called Corporate Video. Many film directors got their start when these productions were known as “sponsored films.” Don Haldane is one of them. He first studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1936-37 then moved on to the Yale University Drama School and the New School of Social Research before turning to sponsored films in 1947. A career that lasted until 1954 when he joined the National Film Board. Haldane left the NFB to create Westminster Films in 1959, but continued to work as a freelance director on a wide number of projects, including for the National Film Board. For example, his 1963 film, Drylanders, is considered to be the NFB’s first English language feature film. Haldane died at Toronto General Hospital after surgery for colon cancer.

Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release

My Home Town (1953)
Railroad Town (1955)
Ship in Harbour (1955)
Win, Place and Show (1955)
Coal at the Crossroads (1955)
Child Guidance Clinic (1955)
Backstage at Parliament (1955)
Alcoholism (1955)
Win, Place or Show (1956)
Ship in Harbour (1956)
Saskatchewan Traveler (1956)
Railroad Town (1956)
Night Shift (1956)
Is it a Women’s World? (1956)
Fighter Wing (1956)
Embassy (1956)
Elder Citizen (1956)
Curtain at Noon (1956)
Case of Conscience (1956)
Canadians Abroad (1956)
L’ambassadeur reçoit (1956)
The Whole World Over (1957)
Who is Sylvia (1957)
Joe and Roxy (1957)
Howard (1957)
The Ghost That Talked (1957)
Fires of Envy (1957)
Crossroads (1957)
Mystery in the Kitchen (1958)
U.N. in the Classroom (1959)
The Gifted Ones (1959)
Eternal Children (1959)

Nikki: Wild Dog of the North (1961)
Jake and the Kid Political Dynamite (1962)
Drylanders (1963)
Rye on the Rocks (1969)

On a Clear Day You Can Count Forever (1971)
The Reincarnate (1971)
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt (1974)
Rape, The Rebellion of Bertha Mackenzie (1975)
Someday Soon (1977)
Hank (1977)
Dying Hard (1978)

TV Series – at least 1 episode of:
RCMP (1960)
The Forest Rangers (1965)
Drylanders (4 of 4 episodes, 1974)
Swiss Family Robinson (1976)