Byron Haskin

Directing

Byron Haskin

Born 1899-04-22 · Portland, Oregon, USA

Byron Conrad Haskin was an American film and television director. He was born in Portland, Oregon. He is remembered today for directing 1953's The War of the Worlds, one of many films where he teamed with producer George Pal. In his early career, he was a special effects artist, with a number of credits on Warner Bros. films, an asset when directing the killer ants film The Naked Jungle and the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Haskin also worked as a cinematographer and producer. His career in television included directing six episodes of the original The Outer Limits, including two highly regarded episodes, "The Architects of Fear" and "Demon with a Glass Hand". He also co-produced the original Star Trek pilot episode, "The Cage". Haskin appeared as an interviewee on-screen in the 1980 documentary Hollywood series by Kevin Brownlow. Haskin died in Montecito, California six days before his 85th birthday.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The War of the Worlds poster
6.8

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

The War of the Worlds

1953

Treasure Island poster
6.6

Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.

Treasure Island

1950

His Majesty O'Keefe poster
6.4

Men steal for it. Nations go to war for it. The it is oil - and it grows on trees. Coconut oil is the precious lifeblood of 1870s South Seas traders. And lots of real blood will be spilled to get it! Screen royalty Burt Lancaster is His Majesty O'Keefe in this last of three adventures that (along with The Flame and the Arrow and The Crimson Pirate) blew a revitalizing wind into the sails of the swashbuckler genre. Action, cunning and derring-do are watchwords of the title seafarer as he befriends, defends and ultimately rules the islanders of exotic Yap. Lensed on gorgeus Fiji locations, grandly scored by Robert Farnon and rousingly directed by Byron Haskin, His Majesty O'Keefe delivers heroics of regal proportions.

His Majesty O'Keefe

1954

The Naked Jungle poster
6.6

The Leiningen South American cocoa plantation is threatened by a 2-mile-wide, 20-mile-long column of army ants.

The Naked Jungle

1954

The Power poster
6.3

One by one members of a special project team are being killed by telekinesis - the ability to move things with the power of the mind alone. The race is on to determine which of the remaining team members is the murderer and to stop them.

The Power

1968

I Walk Alone poster
6.6

Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.

I Walk Alone

1947

Robinson Crusoe on Mars poster
6.3

Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food and companionship on the lifeless planet.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

1964

Conquest of Space poster
5.6

A team of American astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars, but the captain's religious beliefs may get in the way.

Conquest of Space

1955

Too Late for Tears poster
6.8

Through a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.

Too Late for Tears

1949

Captain Sindbad poster
4.9

After completing his voyages Sindbad the Sailor and his hearty crew have come home to find a palace coup d'etat has occurred and his home city is being run by a brutal dictator played by Pedro Armendariz. He's got designs on the beautiful young princess, Heidi Bruhl both lustful and political.

Captain Sindbad

1963

Tarzan's Peril poster
5.5

Escaped convicts are selling weapons to a warlike native tribe.

Tarzan's Peril

1951

Silver City poster
6.6

Having masterminded the hold up of his company office, a mining engineer is barred from the industry. He then sets up shop as an assayer, scheming to acquire a rich silver mine lease from its operators.

Silver City

1951

Long John Silver poster
5.9

In this sequel to Treasure Island, Long John hopes to rescue his friend Jim from a rival pirate and return for more treasure.

Long John Silver

1954

The First Texan poster
6.7

After arriving in Texas to escape a scandal back east, lawyer Sam Houston just wants to hang out his shingle, keep a low profile, and stay out of any political intrigue. However, when President Jackson personally orders him to lead the fight for Texan independence, he overcomes his reluctance to become involved and leads his compatriots to a string of victories over the Mexican army.

The First Texan

1956

Armored Command poster
5.5

An American Army tank unit is trapped in a small French town in the Ardennes unaware that a spy amongst them is providing the German counterattack with vital battle information.

Armored Command

1961

Denver and Rio Grande poster
5.6

Jim Vesser and his team of railroading men try to build a rail line through a mountain pass, while a group of less scrupulous construction workers sabotages the entire operation in the hopes that they can get their tracks laid first and get the money from the railroad.

Denver and Rio Grande

1952

From the Earth to the Moon poster
5.3

Set just after the American civil war, businessman and inventor Victor Barbicane invents a new source of power called Power X. He plans to use it to power rockets, and to show its potential he plans to send a projectile to the moon. Joining him for the trip are his assistant Ben Sharpe, Barbicane's arch-rival Stuyvesant Nicholl, and Nicholl's daughter Virginia. Nicholl believes that Power X goes against the will of God and sabotages the projectile so that they cannot return to earth, setting up a suspenseful finale as they battle to repair the projectile.

From the Earth to the Moon

1958

Warpath poster
6.0

John Vickers has spent eight years hunting for the three men who murdered the woman he loved. He finds one, Woodson, and kills him in a gunfight, but not before learning that the other two men have joined the U.S. Cavalry.

Warpath

1951

September Storm poster
5.6

American fashion model Anne Traymore, swimming off the isle of Majorca, loses a bracelet, which the handsome Manuel del Rio Montoya returns to her. She believes he owns a beautiful yacht called The Swan, but he merely works on it for the wealthy Rene LeClerc.

September Storm

1960

Man-Eater of Kumaon poster
5.6

A doctor hunts a vicious, man-eating tiger that terrorizes a native jungle village. In time the doctor experiences a personal change when he accepts their native customs and beliefs.

Man-Eater of Kumaon

1948

Affair in Sumatra poster
NR

On a rubber plantation in Sumatra, a woman of mixed Dutch and Indonesian parentage must choose between her people and the doctor she loves.

Affair in Sumatra

1956

The Boss poster
5.9

A crusading politician falls prey to the temptations of power.

The Boss

1956

Ginsberg the Great poster
10.0

Johnny Ginsberg (George Jessel) is a tailor's assistant whose ambition is to become a successful conjurer/magician. He joins a carnival and fails but not before apprehending a gang of jewel thieves and gaining the love of Mary (Audrey Ferris), the girl he adores.

Ginsberg the Great

1927

Jet Over The Atlantic poster
6.0

Director Byron Haskin's 1960 airplane-in jeopardy drama stars Guy Madison, Virginia Mayo, George Raft, Ilona Massey, Margaret Lindsay, George Macready, Brett Halsey, Anna Lee and Mary Anderson.

Jet Over The Atlantic

1959