Reville was born in Nottingham (one day after her future husband), the second daughter of Matthew Edward and Lucy (née Owen) Reville. The family moved to London when Reville was young, as her father gained a job at Twickenham Film Studios. Reville often visited her father at work and eventually obtained a job there as a tea girl. At 16, she was promoted to the position of cutter, which involved assisting directors in editing the motion pictures. Of editing, she wrote "the art of cutting is Art indeed, with a capital A, and is of far greater importance than is generally acknowledged". She continued to work there as a script writer and director's assistant. These roles enabled her to become involved in areas of film-making a woman would then rarely have access.