Victor Saville

Directing·Sep 25, 1895·Birmingham, England, UK

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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).

Film	Credit
Kim Wilde - Best Of - The Singles Collection 1981-19932004 · Director	Director
Mix Me a Person1962 · Producer	Producer
The Greengage Summer1961 · Producer	Producer
My Gun Is Quick1957 · Director	Director
The Silver Chalice1954 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Long Wait1954 · Director	Director
I, the Jury1953 · Producer	Producer
24 Hours of a Woman's Life1952 · Director	Director
Calling Bulldog Drummond1951 · Director	Director
Kim1950 · Director	Director
Conspirator1949 · Director	Director
If Winter Comes1947 · Director	Director
Desire Me1947 · Director	Director
Green Dolphin Street1947 · Director	Director
The Green Years1946 · Director	Director
Tonight and Every Night1945 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Above Suspicion1943 · Producer	Producer
Keeper of the Flame1943 · Producer	Producer
Forever and a Day1943 · Director	Director
White Cargo1942 · Producer	Producer
Smilin' Through1941 · Producer	Producer
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde1941 · Producer	Producer
A Woman's Face1941 · Producer	Producer
Bitter Sweet1940 · Producer	Producer
The Mortal Storm1940 · Producer	Producer
The Earl of Chicago1940 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Goodbye, Mr. Chips1939 · Producer	Producer
The Citadel1938 · Producer	Producer
South Riding1938 · Director	Director
Action for Slander1937 · Producer	Producer
Dark Journey1937 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Storm in a Teacup1937 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
It's Love Again1936 · Director	Director
First a Girl1935 · Director	Director
Me and Marlborough1935 · Director	Director
The Dictator1935 · Director	Director
The Iron Duke1934 · Director	Director
Evensong1934 · Director	Director
Evergreen1934 · Director	Director
Friday the Thirteenth1933 · Director	Director
I Was a Spy1933 · Director	Director
The Good Companions1933 · Director	Director
Love on Wheels1932 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
The Faithful Heart1932 · Director	Director
Sunshine Susie1931 · Director	Director
Michael and Mary1931 · Director	Director
Hindle Wakes1931 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Sport of Kings1931 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer