About
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.
Filmography
Black Angel1946 · Director, Producer
Dressed to Kill1946 · Director, Producer
Terror by Night1946 · Director, Producer
Pursuit to Algiers1945 · Director, Producer
The Woman in Green1945 · Producer, Director
The House of Fear1945 · Director, Producer
Gypsy Wildcat1944 · Director
The Pearl of Death1944 · Director, Producer
The Scarlet Claw1944 · Producer, Director, Screenplay
The Spider Woman1943 · Director, Producer
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death1943 · Director, Producer
Two Tickets to London1943 · Story
Rhythm of the Islands1943 · Director
Sherlock Holmes in Washington1943 · Director, Producer
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man1943 · Director
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon1942 · Director
Madame Spy1942 · Director
Eyes of the Underworld1942 · Director
Hoots Mon1940 · Director, Screenplay
His Brother’s Keeper1940 · Director, Script