Director
Roy William Neill
139 years · Ireland, United Kingdom · 86 films
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 named Roland de Gostrie. He began directing silent movies in 1917 and went on to helm 107 films, 40 of them silent. Although most of Neill's films were for the most part 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.
Best known for
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1943 · Director
Terror by Night
1946 · Director, Producer
On Plex
The Woman in Green
1945 · Producer, Director
On Plex
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
1942 · Director
On Plex
Dressed to Kill
1946 · Director, Producer
On Plex
The House of Fear
1945 · Director, Producer
On Artiflix
Filmography 86
Black Angel
1946 · Director, Producer
Dressed to Kill
1946 · Director, Producer
On Plex
Terror by Night
1946 · Director, Producer
On Plex
Pursuit to Algiers
1945 · Director, Producer
On Plex
The Woman in Green
1945 · Producer, Director
On Plex
The House of Fear
1945 · Director, Producer
On Artiflix
Gypsy Wildcat
1944 · Director
The Pearl of Death
1944 · Director, Producer
On Plex
The Scarlet Claw
1944 · Producer, Director
The Spider Woman
1943 · Director, Producer
On Plex
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
1943 · Director, Producer
On Plex
Rhythm of the Islands
1943 · Director
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
1943 · Director, Producer
On Plex
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1943 · Director
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
1942 · Director
On Plex
Madame Spy
1942 · Director
Eyes of the Underworld
1942 · Director
Hoots Mon
1940 · Director, Screenplay
A Gentleman's Gentleman
1939 · Director
Everything Happens to Me
1938 · Director
Doctor Syn
1937 · Director
On Artiflix
The Lone Wolf Returns
1935 · Director
The Black Room
1935 · Director
Eight Bells
1935 · Director