
Victor Saville
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1895-09-25
Day of Death
1979-05-08 (83 years old)
Place of Birth
Birmingham, England, UK
Victor Saville
Biography
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 Balcon's 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 Gaumont-British, 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 Korda's London Films at Denham studios.
As an independent producer he had purchased the film rights to A. J. Cronin's novel The Citadel. He was persuaded to sell them to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in return for the chance to produce the film and another big-budget 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 Spillane's 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).
Crew
(2004)
(1962)
Mix Me a Person
Producer
(1961)
The Greengage Summer
Producer
(1957)
My Gun Is Quick
Director
(1955)
Kiss Me Deadly
Executive Producer
(1954)
The Long Wait
Director
(1954)
The Silver Chalice
Director, Producer
(1954)
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer!
Executive Producer
(1953)
I, the Jury
Producer
(1952)
24 Hours of a Woman's Life
Director
(1951)
Calling Bulldog Drummond
Director
(1950)
Kim
Director
(1949)
Conspirator
Director
(1947)
Green Dolphin Street
Director
(1947)
If Winter Comes
Director
(1947)
Desire Me
Director
(1946)
The Green Years
Director
(1945)
Tonight and Every Night
Director, Producer
(1943)
Forever and a Day
Director
(1943)
Keeper of the Flame
Producer
(1943)
Above Suspicion
Producer
(1942)
White Cargo
Producer
(1941)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Producer
(1941)
A Woman's Face
Producer
(1941)
Smilin' Through
Producer
(1940)
The Mortal Storm
Producer
(1940)
The Earl of Chicago
Director, Producer
(1940)
Bitter Sweet
Producer
(1939)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Producer
(1938)
South Riding
Director
(1938)
The Citadel
Producer
(1937)
Dark Journey
Director, Producer
(1937)
Storm in a Teacup
Director, Producer
(1937)
Action for Slander
Producer
(1936)
It's Love Again
Director
(1935)
First a Girl
Director
(1935)
The Dictator
Director
(1935)
Me and Marlborough
Director
(1934)
Evergreen
Director
(1934)
Evensong
Director
(1934)
The Iron Duke
Director
(1933)
Friday the Thirteenth
Director
(1933)
The Good Companions
Director
(1933)
I Was a Spy
Director
(1932)
The Faithful Heart
Director, Adaptation
(1932)
Love on Wheels
Director, Screenplay
(1931)
Hindle Wakes
Director, Writer
(1931)
Sunshine Susie
Director
(1931)
Michael and Mary
Director
(1931)
The Sport of Kings
Director, Producer
(1930)
A Warm Corner
Director, Adaptation, Writer
(1930)
The W Plan
Director, Writer, Producer
(1929)
Woman to Woman
Director, Writer
(1929)
Kitty
Producer, Director
(1929)
Armistice
Director
(1929)
Me and the Boys
Director
(1928)
Tesha
Adaptation, Director, Producer
(1927)
Hindle Wakes
Writer, Producer
(1927)
A Sister to Assist 'Er
Producer
(1927)
The Arcadians
Director, Producer, Scenario Writer
(1927)
A Woman in Pawn
Producer
(1927)
The Glad Eye
Producer
(1924)
The White Shadow
Producer
(1923)
Woman to Woman
Producer