Philip Saville

Directing

Philip Saville

Born — Died

1930-10-28 — 2016-12-22

Place of birth

London, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

57 titles

Philip Saville (sometimes credited as Philip Savile, born 28 October 1930, London) is a British actor who turned to television direction and screenwriting in the late 1950s. During the 1960s he directed several important television plays, such as Harold Pinter's A Night Out (1960) for ABC's Armchair Theatre anthology series, and the lost Madhouse on Castle Street (1963) for the BBC. The later production became famous as the first acting appearance of the American folk singer Bob Dylan, whom Saville had flown over to the UK specifically to take part in the play. Other notable programmes on which Saville worked included Out of the Unknown (1965) and the Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) for wh…

Known for

The Gospel of John poster
7.5

A word for word depiction of the life of Jesus Christ from the Good News Translation Bible as recorded in the Gospel of John.

The Gospel of John

2003

Count Dracula poster
7.0

Jonathan Harker visits the Count in Transylvania to help him with preparations to move to England. Harker becomes Dracula's prisoner and discovers Dracula's true nature. After Dracula makes his way to England, Harker becomes involved in an effort to track down and destroy the Count, eventually chasing the vampire back to his castle.

Count Dracula

1977

The Best House in London poster
4.0

In Victorian London, the British Government attempts a solution to the problem of street prostitution by establishing the world's most fabulous brothel.

The Best House in London

1969

Metroland poster
5.8

In late-1970s suburban London, Chris and Marion have settled into a comfortable yet all-too-predictable middle-class existence. Chris receives an unexpected visit from his free-spirited friend Toni, a reunion that reminds him of a more carefree time in 1960s Paris. Now, with lingering doubts about his marriage bubbling up, Chris must make the choice between revisiting his youthful abandon with Toni or facing the here and now with Marion.

Metroland

1998

Mandela poster
4.8

Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black President, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in negotiating a bloodless revolution in that country.

Mandela

1987

Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 poster
6.5

Diane and Greg Halstead were once happily married, even deciding to try and have a baby in later years, despite the fact that she had already suffered two miscarriages. She has no luck in becoming pregnant and this leads to an estrangement from her husband. On his latest flight, Greg, a professional pilot, finds out about a bomb threat. The person carrying the bomb supposedly wants to kill another passenger, a politician with an outspoken opinion on abortion. Unknown to the killer, however, the politician has already left the plane because it had an hour and a half delay. Greg decides to make an emergency landing in Dayton, Ohio, but during the heavy weather, the plane crashes, killing almost everyone on board.

Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501

1990

Film credits

1950s · 10 titles

The Mirror and Markheim poster
NR

Based on one of Robert Louis Stevenson's short stories, a young reprobate who visits a jeweler with the intention of killing and robbing him, but has an ugly interview with himself before a mirror and quickly changes his mind.

The Mirror and Markheim

1954

The Great Van Robbery poster
5.2

Interpol detective Caesar Smith tracks robbers of the Royal Mint van. He travels to Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Paris and establishes the guilt of a London coffee importer.

The Great Van Robbery

1959

Contraband Spain poster
6.2

An FBI agent goes to the French-Spanish border to round up some smugglers and counterfeiters after his brother is murdered.

Contraband Spain

1955

The Straw Man poster
6.3

A newly married man is convicted of murdering a former lover in his apartment, and sentenced to hang. With a payout on his life worth 20,000 pounds, the insurance company sends an investigator to find out the truth.

The Straw Man

1953

Bang! You're Dead poster
7.2

Two small boys are playing in a wood. The younger boy has a revolver and, not understanding that the gun differs from his toy pistol, plays 'highwayman' on the road and holds up a cyclist; the gun goes off, killing the cyclist. Both boys are unaware of the tragic consequences of their game. The body and the gun are found by Bob Carter, who had recently quarreled with the victim in the presence of their workmates, and both men had uttered threats. The evidence is strong, and Bob is arrested for murder...

Bang! You're Dead

1954

No artwork available
NR

Story of how American secret agent pursued by enemy agents, hides out at remote English farm

The Night of the Full Moon

1954

Three Crooked Men poster
6.7

Three men arrive in a small town to pull the local bank heist.

Three Crooked Men

1958

The Betrayal poster
6.3

Fourteen years after he was blinded in a WWII concentration camp, a Canadian perfume executive travels to London on business and recognizes the voice of the traitor who betrayed him and his fellow prisoners to the Germans.

The Betrayal

1957

Murder at 3am poster
6.0

A police detective suspects that his sister's boyfriend is a murderer.

Murder at 3am

1953

No artwork available
7.0

An ex-boxer on the run from gangsters for refusing to throw a fight, helps a garage owner and his daughter to improve their business.

On the Run

1958

1940s · 4 titles

Behind the camera

The Gospel of John poster
7.5

A word for word depiction of the life of Jesus Christ from the Good News Translation Bible as recorded in the Gospel of John.

The Gospel of John

2003

Count Dracula poster
7.0

Jonathan Harker visits the Count in Transylvania to help him with preparations to move to England. Harker becomes Dracula's prisoner and discovers Dracula's true nature. After Dracula makes his way to England, Harker becomes involved in an effort to track down and destroy the Count, eventually chasing the vampire back to his castle.

Count Dracula

1977

The Best House in London poster
4.0

In Victorian London, the British Government attempts a solution to the problem of street prostitution by establishing the world's most fabulous brothel.

The Best House in London

1969

Metroland poster
5.8

In late-1970s suburban London, Chris and Marion have settled into a comfortable yet all-too-predictable middle-class existence. Chris receives an unexpected visit from his free-spirited friend Toni, a reunion that reminds him of a more carefree time in 1960s Paris. Now, with lingering doubts about his marriage bubbling up, Chris must make the choice between revisiting his youthful abandon with Toni or facing the here and now with Marion.

Metroland

1998

Mandela poster
4.8

Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black President, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in negotiating a bloodless revolution in that country.

Mandela

1987

Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 poster
6.5

Diane and Greg Halstead were once happily married, even deciding to try and have a baby in later years, despite the fact that she had already suffered two miscarriages. She has no luck in becoming pregnant and this leads to an estrangement from her husband. On his latest flight, Greg, a professional pilot, finds out about a bomb threat. The person carrying the bomb supposedly wants to kill another passenger, a politician with an outspoken opinion on abortion. Unknown to the killer, however, the politician has already left the plane because it had an hour and a half delay. Greg decides to make an emergency landing in Dayton, Ohio, but during the heavy weather, the plane crashes, killing almost everyone on board.

Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501

1990

The Fruit Machine poster
6.0

Eddie and Michael are two 16-year-old gay friends from Liverpool. Berated by his father for his camp behavior, Eddie runs away from his Liverpool home and joins Michael, a streetwise hustler, who is also on the run.

The Fruit Machine

1988

Night Conspirators poster
NR

An old man is rescued from Iceland. Why would you need rescuing from Iceland - unless you're Adolf Hitler...

Night Conspirators

1962

Oedipus the King poster
6.0

This classic Greek tale tells how a noble youth accidentally marries his own mother, kills his own father and ends up paying a terrible price for invoking the wrath of the Gods.

Oedipus the King

1968

Oedipus the King poster
6.0

This classic Greek tale tells how a noble youth accidentally marries his own mother, kills his own father and ends up paying a terrible price for invoking the wrath of the Gods.

Oedipus the King

1968

The Biographer poster
9.0

Dramatisation of the events leading to Andrew Morton writing his biography of Princess Diana.

The Biographer

2002

Max and Helen poster
7.0

In trying to bring a former concentration camp commandant to justice, Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal uncovers the tragic story of two lovers separated by the war.

Max and Helen

1990

Afternoon of a Nymph poster
10.0

An agent invites his young starlet to a party, to meet all the right people. A chance to move on from the commercials she has been doing, to bigger roles and maybe stardom. However while she is there, she realizes there is a price to pay...

Afternoon of a Nymph

1962

Those Glory Glory Days poster
5.3

Girls growing up in 1960-61 London develop a passion for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, the first British team in the 20th century to win the English league and FA Cup "double". Twenty years later, one of the girls tracks down players of the '60-'61 Spurs for a documentary.

Those Glory Glory Days

1983

Shuttlecock poster
NR

Sam likes his children to be grown-up chaps. So nine-year-old Harry is at a disadvantage in the battle of wits that develops...

Shuttlecock

1976

Discovering Hamlet poster
7.5

Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors and directors who have brought Shakespeare's great tragedy to life. Christopher Plummer, David Tennant, John Nettles, John Simm, Sir Trevor Nunn, Franco Zeffirelli, Philip Saville, and others explore the enduring appeal of the Prince of Denmark more than 400 years after his stage debut.

Discovering Hamlet

2011

The Journal of Bridget Hitler poster
NR

An Irishwoman married to a German in pre-First World War Liverpool prepares to meet her brother-in-law – a young man named Adolf Hitler. Years later she is interviewed on television about her life. Part of the BBC2 Playhouse strand.

The Journal of Bridget Hitler

1981

The Journal of Bridget Hitler poster
NR

An Irishwoman married to a German in pre-First World War Liverpool prepares to meet her brother-in-law – a young man named Adolf Hitler. Years later she is interviewed on television about her life. Part of the BBC2 Playhouse strand.

The Journal of Bridget Hitler

1981

In the Beautiful Caribbean poster
NR

Play set in the Caribbean showing how life is hard and a struggle, with problems of unemployment and lack of money.

In the Beautiful Caribbean

1972

Meriel the Ghost Girl poster
8.0

Livingston, a psychic investigator, is asked to attend a seance. Can it be that he has finally discovered a genuine supernatural phenomenon!?

Meriel the Ghost Girl

1976

First Born poster
7.0

Edward Forester is a genetic researcher, intent on breeding primate hybrids. But his experiments take a strange turn when he succeeds in breeding a human/gorilla hybrid. He hides the results of the experiment, adopting the child, and helps Gor to speak and blend into society. But Gor can't help being what he is, and tragedy and revelations are the ultimate result.

First Born

1988

The Long Distance Piano Player poster
7.0

The first Play for Today is the story of one man's obsession (to win the world long distance piano playing record) and the battle for good (his wife) and evil (his agent) that rages around him.

The Long Distance Piano Player

1970

Wall of Silence poster
8.0

A corpse is fished out of a north London canal with stab wounds through the eyes. The victim was a prominent member of the Hasidic Jewish community, and the cause of death one reserved by the Hasidim to punish "moysers" or informers.

Wall of Silence

1993

Stop the World — I Want to Get Off poster
5.0

The Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse London and Broadway musical hit Stop the World, I Want to Get Off is given literal treatment in this filmization. Newley stars as Littlechap, whose allegorical rise to success is countered by the instability of his private life. Like the play, the film is staged impressionistically, with Newley decked out in mime makeup and periodically stopping the action to address the audience, and with all the women in his life -- German, American and "Typically English" -- played by a single actress (Millicent Martin, taking over from the stage version's Anna Quayle). In Wizard of Oz fashion, the play itself is lensed in color, while the brief prologue, showing the actors preparing for their performance, is in black-and-white. The production includes such standards (and perennial audition pieces) as What Kind of Fool Am I? and Gonna Build a Mountain.

Stop the World — I Want to Get Off

1966

Hamlet at Elsinore poster
8.0

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. An historic BBC production taped on location in and around Kronborg castle in Elsinore (Denmark), in which the play is set.

Hamlet at Elsinore

1964

No artwork available
NR

American horror television movie from 1956.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1956

No artwork available
NR

American horror television movie from 1956.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1956

Fellow Traveller poster
4.2

In the Golden Age of Hollywood, two men had it all; one was a top screenwriter, the other a film idol. But when the witch hunts of McCarthyism swept into Tinseltown, it drove one out of the country and the other to suicide.

Fellow Traveller

1989

The Madhouse on Castle Street poster
10.0

A man mysteriously locks himself in a room in a boarding house leaving only a note saying he has decided to "retire from the world". His worried sister and the other boarders then try to discover why. This TV play is missing believed wiped from the BBC archives.

The Madhouse on Castle Street

1963

The Madhouse on Castle Street poster
10.0

A man mysteriously locks himself in a room in a boarding house leaving only a note saying he has decided to "retire from the world". His worried sister and the other boarders then try to discover why. This TV play is missing believed wiped from the BBC archives.

The Madhouse on Castle Street

1963

O Fat White Woman poster
9.0

The wife of a public school head becomes gradually aware that her husband has been physically abusing his pupils. Written by the master of late-middle-age morality plays, William Trevor.

O Fat White Woman

1971

Little White Lies poster
4.0

The tragic, unexpected death of David in a car-crash causes the cozy, safe life of gardener Beth to be thrown into complete chaos. In the aftermath, as Beth begins to pick up the pieces, worrying facts come to light about David's illegal deals with Oliver, the family solicitor, and his apparent long-running, illicit affair with Julia, Oliver's wife. In her distress and disbelief Beth digs deeper into her husband's private affairs and uncovers another layer of lies and deceit concerning Julia's mental stability and her friends' hollow, loveless marriage. Beth's anger and desperation for the truth about the husband she loved drives her ever on toward the truth behind tragic events of the past which lead inevitably towards further tragedy to come.

Little White Lies

1998

The Creditors poster
4.0

Gustave meets Adolph who tries to show him that Gustave’s fiancée doesn’t love him.

The Creditors

1972

The Creditors poster
4.0

Gustave meets Adolph who tries to show him that Gustave’s fiancée doesn’t love him.

The Creditors

1972

The Actual Woman poster
NR

A winter's day out is a treat for all, but it isnt' quite what Uncle Alec wanted.

The Actual Woman

1974

Secrets poster
4.5

A woman's unfulfilling marriage leads her into a passionate affair with a wealthy extramarital lover.

Secrets

1971

The Rainbirds poster
10.0

After a suicide attempt, John Rainbird is in a coma. Whilst in this state his mind experiences fantasies involving nightmare creatures and his relatives.

The Rainbirds

1971

No artwork available
NR

Sam and Ingrid start out with dreams of marrying someone rich who will make life easy. When they find they do not match up to each other's dreams however, they decide to set about making another dream come true. Buying their own home.

Sam's Song

1979

Pinter's Progress poster
4.0

A personal take on working with Harold Pinter via intimate conversations with actors, directors and writers who share their experiences of the man and his work.

Pinter's Progress

2009

Angels poster
5.5

Three guardian angels help three souls evaluate their past lives.

Angels

1992