Roy William Neill
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Roy William Neill (born Roland de Gostrie, 4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American
film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
best known for producing and directing almost all of the
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
films starring
Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...
and
Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was an English character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlo ...
, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
.


Biography

With his father as the captain, Roy William Neill was born on a ship off the coast of
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Neill lived in the United States for most of his career and was an American citizen. He began directing silent films in 1917 and went on to helm 111 films, 55 of them silent. He was also credited in some works as R. William Neill, Roy W. Neill, and Roy Neill. Neill was known for his striking visual style: meticulously lit scenes, careful compositions, and layered shadows that would become the tone of ''
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
'' in the late 1940s (his last film, '' Black Angel'' (1946), is considered a ''film noir''). Neill's imaginative direction and compositions were noticed by then-low-budget
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, which hired him in 1928. Roy William Neill became one of Columbia's dependable directors. His best-known Columbia features are ''
Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
'', a Jack Holt vehicle that introduced one of Columbia's major stars,
Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American film and theater actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...
; and '' The Black Room'' (1935), a costume thriller starring
Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...
in a dual role. Neill also directed additional scenes, without screen credit, for
Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...
's 1932 feature ''
American Madness ''American Madness'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Walter Huston as a New York banker embroiled in scandal. Plot At the Union National Bank, the directors are concerned because they think that ba ...
''. In 1935 Neill left Columbia for a five-year stay in London, where better opportunities existed for American directors. British film producer Edward Black hired Neill to direct ''
The Lady Vanishes ''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British Mystery film, mystery Thriller (genre), thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel '' ...
''. However, due to delays in production, Black engaged
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
to direct instead. In 1942 Neill became a producer-director for
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
. After the studio's first Sherlock Holmes mystery, produced by Howard Benedict and directed by John Rawlins, the studio assigned Roy William Neill to take over the series as both producer and director. Most of Neill's Universal films are atmospheric thrillers, although he did direct one musical, '' Rhythm of the Islands'' (1943). His best-known Universal feature, apart from the Sherlock Holmes pictures, is '' Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' (1943). In 1942, when Universal's major production '' Flesh and Fantasy'' was recut after its preview from four sequences to three, the deleted sequence starring Gloria Jean, Alan Curtis, and Frank Craven was shelved. In August 1944, the studio assigned Roy William Neill to expand the half-hour sequence into a full-length feature called ''The Fugitive''. Neill produced the new material but did not direct; the project was rushed through production in less than two weeks while Gloria Jean was available, so Neill had no time to prepare any original direction. The feature version was ultimately released in December 1944 as ''
Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...
''.
Scott MacGillivray Scott MacGillivray (born June 29, 1957) is an American non-fiction author specializing in motion picture history. His book '' Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward,'' revised and expanded in 2009, chronicles the later films of Stan Laurel and ...
and Jan MacGillivray, ''Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven'', pp. 163-164, iUniverse, 2005.
After ''Destiny'', Neill supervised the Sherlock Holmes series almost exclusively; he remained with Universal through 1946. He died in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, from a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
.


Filmography

*''
The Girl, Glory ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'' (1917) *'' The Mother Instinct'' (1917) *'' They're Off'' (1917) *'' The Price Mark'' (1917) *'' Love Letters'' (1917) *'' Flare-Up Sal'' (1918) *'' Love Me'' (1918) *'' Free and Equal'' (1918) *'' Tyrant Fear'' (1918) *'' The Mating of Marcella'' (1918) *'' The Kaiser's Shadow'' (1918) *'' Green Eyes'' (1918) *'' Vive la France!'' (1918) *''
Puppy Love Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an informal term for feelings of romantic love, often felt during childhood and early adolescence. It is an infatuation usually developed by one's looks and attractiveness at first sight. It is named for its r ...
'' (1919) *'' Charge It to Me'' (1919) *'' Trixie from Broadway'' (1919) *'' The Career of Katherine Bush'' (1919) *'' The Bandbox'' (1919) *'' The Woman Gives'' (1920) *'' The Inner Voice'' (1920) *'' Yes or No?'' (1920) *'' Good References'' (1920) *'' Dangerous Business'' (1920) *'' Something Different'' (1920) *'' The Idol of the North'' (1921) *'' The Conquest of Canaan'' (1921) *'' The Iron Trail'' (1921) *'' What's Wrong with the Women?'' (1922) *'' The Man From M.A.R.S.'' (1922) *'' Toilers of the Sea'' (1923) *'' By Divine Right'' (1924) *'' Vanity's Price'' (1924) *'' Broken Laws'' (1924) *'' Percy'' (1925) *'' Marriage in Transit'' (1925) *'' The Kiss Barrier'' (1925) *'' Greater Than a Crown'' (1925) *'' The Cowboy and the Countess'' (1926) *'' The Fighting Buckaroo'' (1926) *'' A Man Four-Square'' (1926) *'' Black Paradise'' (1926) *'' The City'' (1926) *''
Marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
'' (1927) *'' The Arizona Wildcat'' (1927) *'' The Lady of Victories'' (1928) - short *'' The Czarina's Secret'' (1928) - short *'' San Francisco Nights'' (1928) *'' The Virgin Queen'' (1928) - short *'' The Olympic Hero'' (1928) *'' Lady Raffles'' (1928) *''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'' (1928) - short *'' The Heart of General Robert E. Lee'' (1928) - short *'' The Viking'' (1928) *'' Madame DuBarry'' (1928) - short *'' Behind Closed Doors'' (1929) *''
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
'' (1929) *''
The Melody Man ''The Melody Man'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama musical film produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. This film is important historically as being Columbia's first sound feature to feature color. The first reel of the film was photogra ...
'' (1930) *'' Cock 'o the Walk'' (1930) -
lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...
*'' Just Like Heaven'' (1930) *'' Fifty Fathoms Deep'' (1931) *'' The Avenger'' (1931) *'' The Good Bad Girl'' (1931) *'' Fifty Fathoms Deep'' (1931) *'' The Menace'' (1932) *''
American Madness ''American Madness'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Walter Huston as a New York banker embroiled in scandal. Plot At the Union National Bank, the directors are concerned because they think that ba ...
'' (1932) - uncredited *'' That's My Boy'' (1932) *'' The Circus Queen Murder'' (1933) *'' As the Devil Commands'' (1933) *'' Fury of the Jungle'' (1933) * '' Above the Clouds'' (1933) *'' The Ninth Guest'' (1934) *''
Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
'' (1934) *'' Black Moon'' (1934) *''
Blind Date A blind date is a romantic meeting between two people who have never met before. Both parties arrange a date with little to no information about each other, hoping for the possibility of making a lasting impression. Typically, a family member or ...
'' (1934) *'' I'll Fix It'' (1934) *''
Jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of Emotional insecurity, insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, he ...
'' (1934) *'' Mills of the Gods'' (1934) *'' Eight Bells'' (1935) *'' The Black Room'' (1935) *'' The Lone Wolf Returns'' (1935) *''
Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...
'' (1937) *''
Doctor Syn The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, ''Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh'' was published in 1915. The story idea came from legendary coastal smuggling in the ...
'' (1937) *'' Quiet Please'' (1938) *'' The Viper'' (1938) *'' Simply Terrific'' (1938) *'' Double or Quits'' (1938) *'' Thank Evans'' (1938) British *'' Many Tanks Mr. Atkins'' (1938) *'' Everything Happens to Me'' (1938) *'' A Gentleman's Gentleman'' (1939) *'' Murder Will Out'' (1939) *'' His Brother's Keeper'' (1940) *'' Hoots Mon!'' (1940) *'' The Good Old Days'' (1939) *'' Eyes of the Underworld'' (1942) *'' Madame Spy'' (1942) *''
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon ''Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon'' (1942) is the fourth in the Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of 14 Sherlock Holmes films which updated the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the then p ...
'' (1942) *'' Sherlock Holmes in Washington'' (1943) *'' Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' (1943) *'' Rhythm of the Islands'' (1943) *''
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death ''Sherlock Holmes Faces Death'' is the sixth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films. Made in 1943, it is a loose adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1893 Holmes short story " The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritua ...
'' (1943) *'' The Spider Woman'' (1943) *'' The Scarlet Claw'' (1944) *'' The Pearl of Death'' (1944) *'' Gypsy Wildcat'' (1944) *'' The House of Fear'' (1945) *''
The Woman in Green ''The Woman in Green'' is a 1945 American horror film, horror mystery film, the eleventh of the fourteen Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), ''Sherlock Holmes'' films based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doy ...
'' (1945) *'' Pursuit to Algiers'' (1945) *'' Terror by Night'' (1946) *'' Dressed to Kill'' (1946) *'' Black Angel'' (1946)


References


External links

*
Passport portrait of Roy William Neil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, Roy 1887 births 1946 deaths People born at sea Irish film directors Film directors from California American horror film directors Hugo Award winners Irish emigrants to the United States