Roy William Neill
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.
Director
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Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Sherlock Holmes must outsmart the Germans and get scientist Dr. Tobel out of Switzerland and back to England with his secret bombsight equipment. The wartime plot of this adventure finds Holmes and Watson once again doing battle with their villainous enemy, the evil Moriarity,...Watch Movie -
Dressed to Kill
DRESSED TO KILL awakened memories of the Holmes of literature. Watson refers to the latest edition of The Strand Magazine and its publication of "Scandal in Bohemia." It didn't matter that the original publication of this story took place in 1891, for producer/director Neill always made sure to...Watch Movie -
The Woman in Green
THE WOMAN IN GREEN reintroduced Holmes' evil alter ego, Professor Moriarty, now played with suave coolness by the London-born Henry Daniell. Years later, reflecting on the Holmes series, Rathbone wrote: "There were other Moriartys but none so delectably dangerous as was that...Watch Movie -
Terror by Night
Sherlock Holmes has been hired to safeguard the valuable Star of Rhodesia diamond belonging to Lady Margaret Carstairs during her train journey from London to Scotland. Holmes and Dr. Watson not only have to foil an attempted robbery but also catch a murderer. TERROR BY NIGHT, with its intricate...Watch Movie
Producer
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Dressed to Kill
DRESSED TO KILL awakened memories of the Holmes of literature. Watson refers to the latest edition of The Strand Magazine and its publication of "Scandal in Bohemia." It didn't matter that the original publication of this story took place in 1891, for producer/director Neill always made sure to...Watch Movie -
The Woman in Green
THE WOMAN IN GREEN reintroduced Holmes' evil alter ego, Professor Moriarty, now played with suave coolness by the London-born Henry Daniell. Years later, reflecting on the Holmes series, Rathbone wrote: "There were other Moriartys but none so delectably dangerous as was that...Watch Movie -
Terror by Night
Sherlock Holmes has been hired to safeguard the valuable Star of Rhodesia diamond belonging to Lady Margaret Carstairs during her train journey from London to Scotland. Holmes and Dr. Watson not only have to foil an attempted robbery but also catch a murderer. TERROR BY NIGHT, with its intricate...Watch Movie

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