Victor Saville

Victor Saville 25 September 1895 Birmingham England 8 May 1979 London was an English film director producer and screenwriter He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954 He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962 He produced his first film Woman to Woman with Michael Balcon in 1923 and on the back of its success produced pictures for the veteran director Maurice Elvey including the classic British silent Hindle Wakes 1927 His first picture as director was The Arcadians 1927 In 1929 he and Balcon worked together again on a talkie remake of Woman to Woman for Balcons company Gainsborough Pictures This time Saville directed it From 1931 as Gainsborough Pictures and the Gaumont British Picture Corporation joined forces Saville produced a string of comedies musicals and dramas for Gainsborough and GaumontBritish including the popular Jessie Matthews pictures In 1937 he left to set up his own production company Victor Saville Productions and made three pictures for Alexander Kordas London Films at Denham studios As an independent producer he had purchased the film rights to A J Cronins novel The Citadel He was persuaded to sell them to MetroGoldwynMayer in return for the chance to produce the film and another bigbudget adaptation Goodbye Mr Chips 1939 Both films starred Robert Donat and were a great success in the USA as well as in Britain providing Saville with a passport to Hollywood When the war broke out in 1939 Saville was in America and was advised to remain there He produced pictures in support of the war effort such as The Mortal Storm and Forever and a Day 1943 in which he worked for the last time with his former star Jessie Matthews and in 1945 Tonight and Every Night based on the history of the Windmill Theatre in London After the war Saville continued directing films for MGM but eventually returned to Britain Saville acquired production rights for Mickey Spillanes Mike Hammer mysteries and produced a few features though Spillane thought he was interested in doing so only to acquire the money to produce The Silver Chalice He produced two final films in the 1960s The Greengage Summer 1961 adapted from the novel of the same name and Mix Me a Person 1962