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 31 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. Fergus McDonnel died in Norfolk in 1984, at age 74. Filmography The Claydon Treasure Mystery - feature, Manning Haynes 1938 - editor I Met a Murderer - feature, Roy Kellino 1939 - editor Asking for Trouble - feature, Oswald Mitchell 1942 - editor The Dummy Talks - feature, Oswald Mitchell 1943 - co-editor with Jack Harris On Approval - feature, Clive Brook 1944 - editor The Way Ahead - feature, Carol Reed 1944 - editor The Way to the Stars, aka Johnny in the Clouds - feature, Anthony Asquith and Charles Saunders 1945 - editor Odd Man Out - feature, Carol Reed 1947 - editor The Small Voice aka The Hideout - feature, 1948 - director Prelude to Fame - feature, 1950 - director Private Information - feature,