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 Neills films were for the most part lowbudget Bmovies 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 US 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