Directing

James Hill

Born — Died

1919-07-09 — 1994-10-07

Place of birth

Eldwick, Yorks, England, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

41 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James ("Jimmy") Hill (1 August 1919 - 7 October 1994) was a British film and television director, screenwriter and producer whose career spanned 52 years between 1937–1989, best remembered for his documentaries and short subjects such as Giuseppina and The Home Made Car, and as director of the internationally acclaimed Born Free. Hill also directed, produced and/or wrote such diverse films as Black Beauty, A Study in Terror, Every Day's a Holiday, The Lion at World's End (aka Christian the Lion), Captain Nemo and the Underwater City, The Man from O.R.G.Y., and the children's television series' Worzel Gummidge and Worzel Gummidge Down Under. Descriptio…

Known for

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City poster
5.6

Survivors of a sinking ship are rescued by Captain Nemo and his submarine crew. They are taken to an underwater city where they may spend the rest of their lives.

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

1969

A Study in Terror poster
6.2

When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.

A Study in Terror

1965

Mr. Selkie poster
6.0

Mr. Selkie is a seal who comes ashore in the shape of a man during full moon. He helps some children in an anti-pollution campaign.

Mr. Selkie

1979

Born Free poster
6.8

At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson and his wife, Joy, care for three orphaned lion cubs. After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.

Born Free

1966

The Man from Nowhere poster
6.7

The Man from Nowhere is a beautifully told Victorian gothic thriller from acclaimed director James Hill. Young orphan Alice has been invited by her rich uncle to live in his country mansion but she soon finds herself persecuted by the apparent visitations of an unsettling stranger. Who is this man from nowhere and just why is he tying to scare her away?

The Man from Nowhere

1975

The Home-Made Car poster
8.0

The Home-Made Car is a 1963 short film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. Made in and around Farnborough, Hampshire, it became a cult success when regularly broadcast as a trade test colour transmission on the run up to the start of BBC2 colour transmissions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

The Home-Made Car

1963

Film credits

Behind the camera

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City poster
5.6

Survivors of a sinking ship are rescued by Captain Nemo and his submarine crew. They are taken to an underwater city where they may spend the rest of their lives.

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City

1969

A Study in Terror poster
6.2

When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.

A Study in Terror

1965

Mr. Selkie poster
6.0

Mr. Selkie is a seal who comes ashore in the shape of a man during full moon. He helps some children in an anti-pollution campaign.

Mr. Selkie

1979

Born Free poster
6.8

At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson and his wife, Joy, care for three orphaned lion cubs. After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.

Born Free

1966

The Man from Nowhere poster
6.7

The Man from Nowhere is a beautifully told Victorian gothic thriller from acclaimed director James Hill. Young orphan Alice has been invited by her rich uncle to live in his country mansion but she soon finds herself persecuted by the apparent visitations of an unsettling stranger. Who is this man from nowhere and just why is he tying to scare her away?

The Man from Nowhere

1975

The Home-Made Car poster
8.0

The Home-Made Car is a 1963 short film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. Made in and around Farnborough, Hampshire, it became a cult success when regularly broadcast as a trade test colour transmission on the run up to the start of BBC2 colour transmissions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

The Home-Made Car

1963

The Home-Made Car poster
8.0

The Home-Made Car is a 1963 short film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. Made in and around Farnborough, Hampshire, it became a cult success when regularly broadcast as a trade test colour transmission on the run up to the start of BBC2 colour transmissions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

The Home-Made Car

1963

The Home-Made Car poster
8.0

The Home-Made Car is a 1963 short film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. Made in and around Farnborough, Hampshire, it became a cult success when regularly broadcast as a trade test colour transmission on the run up to the start of BBC2 colour transmissions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

The Home-Made Car

1963

The Corrupt Ones poster
5.4

Freelance photographer Cliff Wilder (Robert Stack) finds himself the target of various colorful villains in this quest for an ancient Chinese treasure when he accidentally acquires the key to its location, the Peking medallion.

The Corrupt Ones

1967

Black Beauty poster
6.0

Told from the POV of Black Beauty himself, his birth and perception of humans are explored, but his first owner, a boy named Joe, is his most memorable.

Black Beauty

1971

Giuseppina poster
7.4

Oscar winning short in which a young girl observes the array of quirky characters who pass her father's rural petrol station.

Giuseppina

1960

Giuseppina poster
7.4

Oscar winning short in which a young girl observes the array of quirky characters who pass her father's rural petrol station.

Giuseppina

1960

Every Day's a Holiday poster
7.0

A group of teenagers take jobs at a holiday camp for the summer and enter a TV talent show

Every Day's a Holiday

1965

Every Day's a Holiday poster
7.0

A group of teenagers take jobs at a holiday camp for the summer and enter a TV talent show

Every Day's a Holiday

1965

A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special poster
10.0

Christmas is coming to Ten Acre Field and Worzel Gummidge (Jon Pertwee) is determined to enjoy it in style. He goes searching for Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs), hoping to invite her to the Scarecrow Ball, but before he can find her he runs into his old friend Saucy Nancy (Barbara Windsor), herself heading for a spell in panto. Then, before he gets much further, our multi-headed hero gets sidetracked again when he runs into angry Scots scarecrow Bogle McNeep (Billy Connolly) and his anti-Christmas brigade. Will Worzel ever get to enjoy the season with his beloved?

A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special

1980

A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special poster
10.0

Christmas is coming to Ten Acre Field and Worzel Gummidge (Jon Pertwee) is determined to enjoy it in style. He goes searching for Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs), hoping to invite her to the Scarecrow Ball, but before he can find her he runs into his old friend Saucy Nancy (Barbara Windsor), herself heading for a spell in panto. Then, before he gets much further, our multi-headed hero gets sidetracked again when he runs into angry Scots scarecrow Bogle McNeep (Billy Connolly) and his anti-Christmas brigade. Will Worzel ever get to enjoy the season with his beloved?

A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special

1980

The Clue of the Missing Ape poster
7.3

Story of how two youngsters round up crooks planning to blow up the British fleet off Gibraltar.

The Clue of the Missing Ape

1953

The Clue of the Missing Ape poster
7.3

Story of how two youngsters round up crooks planning to blow up the British fleet off Gibraltar.

The Clue of the Missing Ape

1953

An Elephant Called Slowly poster
7.0

Bill and Ginny are invited by a naturalist friend to take care of his home in Africa while he is away, and they find themselves adopted by three orphan elephants.

An Elephant Called Slowly

1969

An Elephant Called Slowly poster
7.0

Bill and Ginny are invited by a naturalist friend to take care of his home in Africa while he is away, and they find themselves adopted by three orphan elephants.

An Elephant Called Slowly

1969

An Elephant Called Slowly poster
7.0

Bill and Ginny are invited by a naturalist friend to take care of his home in Africa while he is away, and they find themselves adopted by three orphan elephants.

An Elephant Called Slowly

1969

The Hoodlum Saint poster
5.6

A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding attended by many of the city's rich and powerful, meets a beautiful girl named Kay who turns out to be his ticket to meeting those rich and powerful people, and he soon manages to land a job on a newspaper. He gets caught up in the "make money at all costs" game but receives a rude awakening when the stock market crashes in 1929.

The Hoodlum Saint

1946

Peril for the Guy poster
7.7

Story of a group of children's successful efforts to bring to book a gang of oil men intent on stealing valuable invention.

Peril for the Guy

1956

Peril for the Guy poster
7.7

Story of a group of children's successful efforts to bring to book a gang of oil men intent on stealing valuable invention.

Peril for the Guy

1956

Journey Into Darkness poster
7.0

"Journey Into Darkness" is a television movie which consists of two episodes from the UK TV series "Journey to the Unknown 1968)": 'The New People (1968)" (Episode 1.1) and "Paper Dolls (1968)" (Episode 1.16).

Journey Into Darkness

1968

The Wild and the Free poster
6.5

Two scientists involved in chimpanzee research -- one maintaining that the animals should be kept in their native habitat in Africa without human interference, the other trying to train them in sign language in a domesticated atmosphere -- join forces when they learn that the government plans to cut off the language grant and use the chimps for radiation research.

The Wild and the Free

1980

Lunch Hour poster
6.8

A young female designer is on the brink of an affair with a married male executive at the company where she works. The film tells the story of their illicit lunch hour rendezvous.

Lunch Hour

1962

The Lion at World's End poster
7.8

The astonishing true story of a zoo-born lion who finds himself in the pet department of Harrods, then the cellar of an antique shop in London and, ultimately the wilds of Africa.

The Lion at World's End

1971

The Lion at World's End poster
7.8

The astonishing true story of a zoo-born lion who finds himself in the pet department of Harrods, then the cellar of an antique shop in London and, ultimately the wilds of Africa.

The Lion at World's End

1971

The Lion at World's End poster
7.8

The astonishing true story of a zoo-born lion who finds himself in the pet department of Harrods, then the cellar of an antique shop in London and, ultimately the wilds of Africa.

The Lion at World's End

1971

The Man from O.R.G.Y. poster
3.5

When the wealthy owner of an upscale brothel dies, our hero Victor, is sent on a wild goose chase to find the three beautiful heiresses. His only clue is that each of the three women have a hamster branded on their buttocks! When the girls are mysteriously murdered, it is up to Victor to solve the murders.

The Man from O.R.G.Y.

1970

No artwork available
NR

The true life sequel to the movie classic Born Free. The actors from the movie Born Free, Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, with the help of their friend legendary conservationist George Adamson, reveal what became of the lions used in the filming of the popular movie classic Born Free.

The Lions Are Free

1969

No artwork available
NR

The true life sequel to the movie classic Born Free. The actors from the movie Born Free, Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, with the help of their friend legendary conservationist George Adamson, reveal what became of the lions used in the filming of the popular movie classic Born Free.

The Lions Are Free

1969

The Belstone Fox poster
7.5

Tag is a clever fox able to elude the dogs as well as the British hunters who pursue him. In his early years, Tag befriends a hound named Merlin, and their bond remains strong, neither willing to attack the other. Although the relentless hunt for Tag leads to tragedy, the fox remains steadfast in his determination to stay alive and live free in the English countryside.

The Belstone Fox

1973

The Belstone Fox poster
7.5

Tag is a clever fox able to elude the dogs as well as the British hunters who pursue him. In his early years, Tag befriends a hound named Merlin, and their bond remains strong, neither willing to attack the other. Although the relentless hunt for Tag leads to tragedy, the fox remains steadfast in his determination to stay alive and live free in the English countryside.

The Belstone Fox

1973

Mystery in the Mine poster
8.0

Jane and Tom set out on an adventure in which they must keep the corrupt Grimblatt from locating the K-13 fuel for his evil space mirror.

Mystery in the Mine

1959

The Kitchen poster
7.2

In the business end of a kitchen, a polyglot staff strives to cope with a superhuman task. A microcosm of the world, the kitchen looms around and encloses its workers; they include Peter, the German cook, who is in love with waitress Monica, and constantly asks her to leave her husband. The pressure of the day becomes unendurable, and when Peter realises that Monica does not mean to divorce her husband his grief and pain cause him to run berserk!

The Kitchen

1961

Skyhook poster
7.5

Use of a helicopter to transport an oil-drilling rig to a prospecting site deep in the New Guinea jungle.

Skyhook

1958

London Conspiracy poster
8.5

Life is never dull where Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde are concerned. But who would expect dire danger, hilarious though it may be, to face them in one of Brett's baronial homes? Even more unexpectedly, murder and black magic take place when Danny decides to own his own little piece of England and buys a tumble down old cottage. The old mansion, Greensleeves, has been in the Sinclair family for generations, but has been unoccupied for a long time except for an aged butler named Moorehead. It is only by chance that Brett discovers that it has been restored without his permission. He and Danny decide to investigate and, entering through a secret tunnel, find a letter addressed to a theatrical agent asking him to an actor who resembles Brett. Brett promptly poses as the actor and gets the job of impersonating himself. Danny and Brett have a lot to overcome before Danny can enjoy his little piece of England!

London Conspiracy

1974

Owain Glyndŵr - Prince of Wales poster
7.0

A biopic of the last Prince of Wales.

Owain Glyndŵr - Prince of Wales

1983