Film director Roy William Neill was born on 4 September 1887. He died before he reached 60. But Neill directed over 50 feature films during the sound era and even more during the silent era.

We remember Neill today because he directed 11 of the 14 Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. But these are the Sherlock Holmes films. While I may like other films more, Rathbone will always be Homes to me and Bruce will always be Watson.

Roy William Neill didn’t direct the first three films. Sidney Lanfield directed the first, The Hound of the Baskervilles. But I’m not fond of it because I’m not fond of the novel. The story makes no sense. On the other hand, I love the scandalous (if appropriate) final line, “Watson! The needle!”

But Lanfield did not direct the second film, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It wasn’t really his kind of film. So Alfred L Werker directed it and he was clearly a better fit. Universal Pictures took over the film rights from 20th Century Fox for the third film. They chose John Rawlins to direct who was an even better choice for the third film, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror.

Neill directed the fourth installment of the series. Universal never looked back. So let’s have a film festival for Roy William Neill’s 138th birthday! And I’ll embed the first film, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, and provide links to all the other films below:

Here are links to all the films in the series, including the three before Neill took over:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
3. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
4. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
5. Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
6. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
7. The Spider Woman (1944)
8. The Scarlet Claw (1944)
9. The Pearl of Death (1944)
10. The House of Fear (1945)
11. The Woman in Green (1945)
12. Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
13. Terror by Night (1946)
14. Dressed to Kill (1946)

I continue to find it amazing that all these great films are available for free if you just look around a bit. But I understand. Everyone wants to watch the newest stuff that everyone is talking about. It makes sense. We are a social species. But I wish people would recognize this and not just assume that new is better. Because it isn’t.

Happy birthday Roy William Neill!

---

Roy William Neill via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.