Don Chaffey

Donald Chaffey (5 August 1917 – 13 November 1990) was a British film director, writer, producer, and art director.

Chaffey's film career began as an art director in 1947, and his directorial debut was in 1953. He remained active in the industry until his death in 1990 from heart failure. His film ''Charley One-Eye'' (1973) was entered into the 24th Berlin International Film Festival.

He is chiefly remembered for his fantasy films, which include '' Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963), ''The Three Lives of Thomasina'' (1963), ''One Million Years B.C.'' (1966), ''The Viking Queen'' (1967), '' Creatures the World Forgot'' (1971), '' Pete's Dragon'' (1977), and ''C.H.O.M.P.S.'' (1979), his final feature film.

Concurrent with his theatrically released films, Chaffey directed episodes of numerous British television series, including multiple installments of ''Danger Man'', ''The Prisoner'', and '' The Avengers''. From the 1980s until his death, all of his work was in American made-for-TV movies, and in such TV series as ''Fantasy Island'', '' Stingray'', ''MacGyver'', ''Vega$'', ''T. J. Hooker'', '' Matt Houston,'' and '' Charlie's Angels''.

Career

Chaffey began his career in the art department of Gainsborough Productions where he worked as a draftsman on ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945), ''The Rake's Progress'' (1945), and '' Caravan'' (1946). He was art director of '' The Adventures of Dusty Bates'' (1947) and '' The Little Ballerina'' (1948). He directed the documentary shorts ''Thames Tideway'' (1948) and ''Cape Cargoes'' (1948).

Chaffey directed the short features '' The Mysterious Poacher'' (1950) and '' The Case of the Missing Scene'' (1950). He returned to the art department for '' King of the Underworld'' (1950), '' The Stolen Plans'' (1952), '' Murder at the Grange'' (1952), ''Murder at Scotland Yard'' (1952), and '' Black 13'' (1953).

Director

Chaffey resumed his directing career with the family film '' Skid Kids'' (1953). He made the short ''Watch Out'' (1953), then did ''Strange Stories'' (1953), ''Bouncer Breaks Up'' (1953, a short), ''The Mask'' (1952), and ''A Good Pull Up'' (1953).

Chaffey directed ''Time Is My Enemy'' (1954). After the short ''Dead on Time'' (1955) he made '' The Secret Tent'' (1956), ''The Flesh Is Weak'' (1957) and '' The Girl in the Picture'' (1957). He also directed "The Man Upstairs" (1958) starring Richard Attenborough.

He directed episodes of TV series like '' Theatre Royal'', '' The Adventures of the Big Man'', ''Chevron Hall of Stars'', ''The Errol Flynn Theatre'', ''Assignment Foreign Legion'', ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ''Dial 999'', and ''The New Adventures of Charlie Chan''. He interspersed these with features like ''A Question of Adultery'' (1958), '' The Man Upstairs'' (1958), ''Danger Within'' (1959), ''Dentist in the Chair'' (1960), ''Lies My Father Told Me'' (1960), and ''Nearly a Nasty Accident'' (1961).

Disney and Fantasy

He did '' Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog'' (1961) then ''A Matter of WHO'' (1961), a version of ''The Prince and the Pauper'' (1962) for Disney, and '' The Webster Boy'' (1962).

He had a big hit with '' Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963) with Ray Harryhausen. Then it was back to Disney for ''The Three Lives of Thomasina'' (1963).

Chaffey directed '' They All Died Laughing'' (1964), '' The Crooked Road'' (1965), and ''One Million Years B.C.'' (1966) for Hammer. He returned to television to do episodes of ''Danger Man'', '' The Baron'', ''The Prisoner'', ''Man in a Suitcase'', ''Journey to the Unknown