Bernard Knowles (20 February 1900 – 12 February 1975) was an English film director, producer,

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

and screenwriter. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Knowles worked with

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

on numerous occasions before the director emigrated to Hollywood. Knowles later graduated as a director and screenwriter, directing a number of high-profile films, including the 1946 Gainsborough Melodrama '' The Magic Bow''. He worked a great deal on television shows, including ''

Fabian of the Yard ''Fabian of Scotland Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, produced by Trinity Productions, with episodes purchase by the BBC and broadcast between Novemb ...

'', '' Dial 999'', ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' and ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

''.

Career

Cinematographer

Knowle's credits include '' Mumsie'' (1927) and ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' (1928) for ''

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

'', '' Love's Option'' (1928), '' The Broken Melody'' (1929), '' The Silver King'' (1929), ''

Auld Lang Syne "Auld Lang Syne" () is a Scottish song. In the English-speaking world, it is traditionally sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay/New Year's Eve. It is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a far ...

'' (1929), '' Rookery Nook'' (1930), '' The Nipper'' (1930), '' French Leave'' (1930), ''

School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' (1930), '' Canaries Sometimes Sing'' (1930), '' The Calendar'' (1931), ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' (1931), and '' White Face'' (1932'',

The Good Companions ''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley. Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a Concert Party (entertainment), concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established hi ...

'' (1933), '' Falling for You'' (1933). He workes on the lighting for '' Jew Süss'' (1934). He shot '' Jack Ahoy'' (1934) and '' The Camels Are Coming'' (1934).

Alfred Hitchcock

Knowles combined with

on '' The 39 Steps'' (1935). He shot '' Forever England'' (1935), '' King of the Damned'' (1935) and '' Rhodes of Africa'' (1936). Knowles and Hitchcock were reunited on ''

Secret Agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

'' (1936) and ''

Sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

'' (1936). In between Knowles filmed '' East Meets West'' (1936). Knowles then shot '' Take My Tip'', (1937), then was back for Hitchcock on '' Young and Innocent'' (1937). He did some uncredited camera work on ''

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' is an 1885 popular fiction, popular novel by the English Victorian literature, Victorian adventure writer and fable, fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. Published by Cassell and Company, it tells of an expedition through an ...

'' (1937). Knowles then filmed ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'' (1939), and was back with Hitchcock for '' Jamaica Inn'' (1939), the last movie the director made before moving to the US. Others were ''

French Without Tears ''French Without Tears'' is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936. Setting It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and sc ...

'' (1940) for

Anthony Asquith Anthony Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among other adaptations ...

; '' Spy for a Day'' (1940); '' Gaslight'' (1940), for

Thorold Dickinson Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow direct ...

; '' Freedom Radio'' (1941) and '' Quiet Wedding'' (1941) for Asquith; '' The Saint's Vacation'' (1941); '' Jeannie'' (1941), ''

The Day Will Dawn ''The Day Will Dawn'', released in the USA as ''The Avengers'', is a 1942 British war film set in Norway during World War II. It stars Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr, Hugh Williams and Griffith Jones, and was directed by Harold French from a ...

'' (1942), '' Unpublished Story'' (1942), ''

Secret Mission ''Secret Mission'' is a 1942 British war film directed by Harold French and starring Hugh Williams, James Mason, Nancy Price, Carla Lehmann and Roland Culver. Plot British Army Major Peter Garnett assembles a team consisting of Captain ‘ ...

'' (1942) and '' Talk About Jacqueline'' (1942) for

Harold French Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography After training at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a produ ...

; '' The Demi-Paradise'' (1943) for Asquith; and ''

English Without Tears ''English Without Tears'' is a 1944 British romantic comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Michael Wilding, Penelope Dudley-Ward and Lilli Palmer. The screenplay was by Terrance Rattigan and Anatole de Grunwald. It was release ...

'' (1944) for French.

Director

Knowles went to

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, east London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The co ...

to shoot '' Love Story'' (1944). It was a huge hit and the studio gave him the chance to direct with '' A Place of One's Own'' (1945) starring their two biggest stars, James Mason and Margaret Lockwood. It was not a financial success. However Knowles' next film as director, '' The Magic Bow'' (1946), a biopic of

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

starring

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

, was better received. So too was the drama '' The Man Within'' (1947) with

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English actor and filmmaker. Beginning his career in theatre, he first appeared in the West End in 1937. He made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' ...

. Knowles had a big hit with '' Jassy'' (1947) starring Lockwood. He left Gainsborough to direct '' The White Unicorn'' (1947) for producer John Corfeld. He then directed two popular comedies, '' Easy Money'' (1948), and '' The Perfect Woman'' (1949), co-writing the latter. Knowles directed '' The Lost People'' (1949) with

Muriel Box Violette Muriel Box, Baroness Gardiner, (22 September 1905 – 18 May 1991) was an English screenwriter and director, Britain's most prolific female director, having directed 12 feature films and one featurette. Her screenplay for '' The Sevent ...

. Knowles did '' The Reluctant Widow'' (1950) with Jean Kent, an attempt to reprise the success of the Gainsborough melodramas.

Television

Later films as director included some B Pictures, '' Park Plaza 605'' (1953) and '' Barbados Quest'' (1955) with

Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three h ...

. He began to work in television, directing episodes of '' Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Presents'' (1953), ''

'' (1953), '' Colonel March of Scotland Yard'' (1956), '' The New Adventures of Martin Kane'' (1957), '' Sword of Freedom'' (1957), '' The Adventures of Sir Lancelot'' (1956–57), ''

The Buccaneers ''The Buccaneers'' is the last novel written by Edith Wharton. The story is set in the 1870s, around the time Wharton was a young girl. It was unfinished work, unfinished at the time of her death in 1937 and published in that form in 1938. Whar ...

'' (1956–57), ''

'' (1958–59), ''

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

'' (1958), '' Dial 999'' (1958), and ''

'' (1960).

Later career

Knowles' later directing credits include '' Frozen Alive'' (1964), and '' Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space'' (1965). He co-directed '' Hell Is Empty'' (1967) and was the director on '' Magical Mystery Tour'' (1967), starring

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

.See old-time Britain on the Beatles' bus Finkelstein, DanielAuthor InformationView Profile. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. anberra, A.C.T9 Oct 2012: 17. He died shortly before his 75th birthday in

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is th ...

, Buckinghamshire in 1975.

Selected filmography

As cinematographer

''With Alfred Hitchcock'' *'' The 39 Steps'' (1935) *''

'' (1936) *''

'' (1936) *'' Young and Innocent'' (1937) *'' Jamaica Inn'' (1939)

Others

* ''

'' (1928) * '' Love's Option'' (1928) * '' The Broken Melody'' (1929) * '' The Silver King'' (1929) * ''

'' (1929) * '' Canaries Sometimes Sing'' (1930) * '' French Leave'' (1930) * '' The Calendar'' (1931) * ''

'' (1933) * '' East Meets West'' (1936) * '' Take My Tip'' (1937) * '' Gaslight'' (1940) * '' The Saint's Vacation'' (1941) * '' Quiet Wedding'' (1941) * '' Freedom Radio'' (1941) * '' Jeannie'' (1941) * '' Unpublished Story'' (1942) * '' Talk About Jacqueline '' (1942) * '' The Demi-Paradise'' (1942) * '' Love Story'' (1944)

As director

*'' A Place of One's Own'' (1945) *'' The Magic Bow'' (1946) * '' The White Unicorn'' (1947) *'' Easy Money'' (1948) *'' The Perfect Woman'' (1949) *'' The Reluctant Widow'' (1950) *'' Park Plaza 605'' (1953) *'' Barbados Quest'' (1955) *'' Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space'' (1965) *'' Hell is Empty'' (1967) – co-director *'' Magical Mystery Tour'' (TV) (1967)

References

External links

*
Bernard Knowles
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Bernard 1900 births 1975 deaths English cinematographers English film directors English film producers English male screenwriters Mass media people from Manchester 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople