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Roy William Neill is a Director, Scriptwriter, Producer and Cinematography American born on 4 september 1887

Roy William Neill

Roy William Neill
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Birth name Roland de Gostrie
Nationality USA
Birth 4 september 1887
Death 14 december 1946 (at 59 years) at London (United-kingdom)

Roy William Neill (4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was a film director best known today for directing several of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by Universal Studios.

With his father as the captain, Neill was born on a ship off the coast of Ireland. His birth name was Roland de Gostrie. Neill began directing silent movies in 1917 and went on to helm 107 films, 40 of them silent. Although most of Neill's films were low-budget B-movies, he was known for directing films with meticulously lit scenes with carefully layered shadows that would become the style of film noir in the late 1940s. In fact, his last film, Black Angel (1946), is considered a film noir.

He was also credited in some works as R. William Neill, Roy W. Neill, and Roy Neill. Neill lived in the United States for most of his career and was a U.S. citizen. He did go to London from 1935 until 1940 where better opportunities existed for American directors. During this period, British film producer Edward Black hired Neill to direct The Lady Vanishes. However, due to delays in production, Black hired Alfred Hitchcock to direct instead.

Neill died in London, England, from a heart attack.

Biography

Roy William Neill entre dans l'industrie du film en 1915 comme assistant de Thomas H. Ince et un an plus tard en tant qu'acteur dans un coin dans Colleens (A corner in Colleens) dirigé par Charles Miller (1916). Par la suite, il prend plaisir à participer en tant qu'acteur à plus de 40 films muets en noir et blanc.

Il devient l'un des plus importants réalisateur au début des années 1930. Puis après quelques difficultés à Hollywood, il se rend en Angleterre en 1935 et passe trois années à travailler pour les studios Gainsborough et plus tard pour le national de Warner-Bros-First.

Neill revint aux États-Unis pendant la guerre. À partir de 1941, il travaille pour Universal, où il est remarqué pour son film policier à petit budget Les Yeux des bas-fonds (Eyes of the Underworld). Il se consacre ensuite à la réalisation des adaptations de Sherlock Holmes et notamment Sherlock Holmes et l'Arme secrète.

Il a réalisé plus de 100 films au cours de sa carrière.

Usually with

Nigel Bruce
Nigel Bruce
(12 films)
Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
(11 films)
Vera West
Vera West
(13 films)
Russel Gausman
Russel Gausman
(13 films)
John B. Goodman
John B. Goodman
(10 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Roy William Neill (63 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

Dressed to Kill, 1h16
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Holmes Herbert, Frederick Worlock, Edmund Breon
Rating67% 3.396993.396993.396993.396993.39699
A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison (played by an uncredited Cyril Delevanti) hides the location of stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes (each of which plays a subtly different version of "The Swagman"). The boxes are sold at a local auction house.
Terror by Night, 1h
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Transport films, Rail transport films, Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, Dennis Hoey, Frederick Worlock, Billy Bevan
Rating66% 3.348473.348473.348473.348473.34847
In London, Vivian Vedder (Renee Godfrey) verifies that a carpenter has completed a coffin for her recently deceased mother's body, which she is transporting to Scotland by train. She boards the train that evening, as do Lady Margaret Carstairs (Mary Forbes), who owns and is transporting the famous Star of Rhodesia diamond; Lady Margaret's son Roland (Geoffrey Steele); Holmes, whom Roland has hired to protect the diamond; Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey), who is also worried about the diamond's safety; and Watson and his friend Major Duncan-Bleek (Alan Mowbray). Holmes briefly examines the diamond.
Black Angel, 1h25
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Actors Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Constance Dowling, Wallace Ford
Rating68% 3.443593.443593.443593.443593.44359
A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine (June Vincent), and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin (Dan Duryea), team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling), who had been Martin's wife. Their investigation leads them to face-to-face confrontations with a determined policeman, Captain Flood (Broderick Crawford), and a shifty nightclub owner, Mr. Marko, (Peter Lorre), who Catherine and Martin suspect may be the real killer.
Pursuit to Algiers, 1h5
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Rosalind Ivan, Morton Lowry, Martin Kosleck, John Abbott
Rating67% 3.3977553.3977553.3977553.3977553.397755
About to leave London for a much-needed vacation, Holmes and Watson receive a cryptic invitation. Intrigued, Holmes accepts and is met by the prime minister of the fictional country of Rovinia, who begs him to escort Prince Nikolas home. It turns out that his father has been assassinated, and Nikolas is the heir. Holmes agrees.
The Woman in Green, 1h8
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Serial killer films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Henry Daniell, Hillary Brooke, Matthew Boulton, Paul Cavanagh
Rating65% 3.2976753.2976753.2976753.2976753.297675
When several women are murdered and their forefingers severed, Holmes and Watson are called into action, but Holmes is baffled by the crimes at the start. Widower Sir George Fenwick (Paul Cavanagh), after a romantic night alone with his girlfriend Lydia Marlowe (Hillary Brooke), is hypnotized into believing that he is responsible for the crimes. He is certain that he is guilty after he awakes from a stupor and finds a woman's forefinger in his pocket. His daughter comes to Holmes and Watson without realizing that Moriarty's henchman is following her. She tells Holmes and Watson that she found her father burying a forefinger under a pile of soil. She has dug up the forefinger and shows it to them.
The House of Fear, 1h8
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Aubrey Mather, Paul Cavanagh, Dennis Hoey, Holmes Herbert
Rating71% 3.5951353.5951353.5951353.5951353.595135
Holmes is visited by Mr. Chalmers, an insurance agent with a strange tale. Seven elderly single men, calling themselves "The Good Comrades", live together in the remote Scottish castle of Drearcliffe House, near the village of Inverneill. Recently one of the "Good Comrades" received a strange message, an envelope containing nothing but seven orange pips. That night, he was murdered and his body horribly mutilated. A few days later, the second envelope was delivered, this time containing six pips, and the recipient also died mysteriously soon afterwards, his battered corpse being recovered from the base of the cliffs. Chalmers holds £100,000 of life insurance policies on the seven men, and suspects that one is systematically murdering the others in order to collect the money, and begs Holmes to investigate.
The Scarlet Claw, 1h14
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action, Horror, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Miles Mander, Paul Cavanagh, Ian Wolfe, Arthur Hohl
Rating71% 3.596253.596253.596253.596253.59625
Holmes and Watson are in Canada attending a conference on the occult, when Lord Penrose receives a message that his wife Lady Penrose has been murdered in the small village of La Mort Rouge. Holmes and Watson are about to return to England when Holmes receives a telegram from Lady Penrose, issued before her death, asking for help as she fears for her life. Holmes decides to investigate her death.
The Pearl of Death, 1h8
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey, Evelyn Ankers, Miles Mander, Ian Wolfe
Rating70% 3.547623.547623.547623.547623.54762
Master criminal Giles Conover (Miles Mander) steals the famous "Borgia Pearl" from the Royal Regent Museum under the very nose of Holmes and Watson, but when caught the pearl is not found on him and he is released.
The Spider Woman, 1h3
Directed by Victor Fleming, Roy William Neill
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Dennis Hoey, Mary Gordon, Harry Cording
Rating69% 3.497493.497493.497493.497493.49749
Consulting detective Sherlock Holmes fakes his own death in Scotland in order to investigate a number of bizarre apparent suicides that he is convinced are part of an elaborate plot by "a female Moriarty". Returning to his assistant Watson in secret, Holmes notes that all the victims were wealthy gamblers, so disguised as "Rajni Singh", a distinguished Indian officer, he stalks London's gaming clubs.
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, 1h8
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey, Arthur Margetson, Milburn Stone, Hillary Brooke
Rating68% 3.448313.448313.448313.448313.44831
Dr. Watson is serving as resident doctor at Musgrave Hall in Northumberland, a stately home which is also used as a hospital for a number of servicemen suffering from shell shock.
Sherlock Holmes in Washington, 1h11
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Action, Spy, Crime
Themes Spy films, Sherlock Holmes films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Mary Forbes, Henry Daniell, George Zucco
Rating66% 3.3493353.3493353.3493353.3493353.349335
A British agent carrying a vital document is murdered on his way to deliver it in the USA. Holmes deduces he was carrying the document in the form of microfilm and goes to Washington with Watson to find the killer and retrieve the document before it falls into the hands of an "international spy ring". Before his death, the agent managed to pass the microfilm into the unwitting hands of a Washington debutante and bride-to-be. There are some amusing moments when the microfilm, which has been inserted into a "V for Victory" matchbook, gets passed from hand to hand at a party unknowingly, and at one point is discarded by the chief criminal. Holmes and Watson track down the criminals, rescue the bride-to-be and regain the microfilm.
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, 1h11
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Spy, Crime
Themes Spy films, Transport films, Aviation films, Sherlock Holmes films, Political films, Buddy films
Actors Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, Kaaren Verne, Dennis Hoey, Holmes Herbert
Rating64% 3.2477153.2477153.2477153.2477153.247715
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) pretends to be a Nazi spy to aid scientist Dr. Franz Tobel (William Post Jr.) and his new invention, a bombsight, in escaping a Gestapo trap in Switzerland. Holmes and Franz fly to London, where Holmes places him under the protection of his friend, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce). The scientist slips away against Holmes' instructions for a secret reunion with his fiancee, Charlotte Eberli (Kaaren Verne), and gives her an envelope containing a coded message. He tells Charlotte to give it to Holmes if anything should happen to him. Leaving Charlotte's apartment, an attempt to abduct him by German spies is foiled by a passing London bobby.
Rhythm of the Islands
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Jane Frazee, Allan Jones, Andy Devine, Ernest Truex, Marjorie Gateson, Mary Wickes
Rating51% 2.578692.578692.578692.578692.57869
Two ambitious guys from Brooklyn, Tommy Jones and Eddie Dolan, get the idea of buying a tropical island in the South Pacific to exploit as a tourist paradise. They go there and start rounding up customers on the beach, to bring to native shows they set up with the help of the locals.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, 1h14
Directed by Roy William Neill
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about computing, Films about magic and magicians, Films based on science fiction novels, Wolves in film, Frankenstein films, Werewolves in film, Cyberpunk films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Lon Chaney, Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Rating63% 3.1981753.1981753.1981753.1981753.198175
After the events of The Wolf Man and Ghost of Frankenstein, a duo of graverobbers break into the Talbot family crypt to rob the grave of Larry Talbot (the "Wolf Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.)), of valuables buried with him, on the night of a full moon. During the grave robbery, the graverobbers remove the Wolfsbane buried with him and he is awakened from death by the full moon shining down on his uncovered body, and kills one of them. Seeking a cure for the curse that causes him to transform into a werewolf with every full moon, Talbot leaves Britain and goes to the remains of Frankenstein's castle, as he hopes to find there the notes of Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein so he might learn how to permanently end his own life through scientific means.