News on Screen

George Noble was born in Manchester and began his film career as assistant to the director Frank Grainger. In 1919 Noble got a job as camera assistant to Ernest Schoedsack, who was then filming for the Selznick News. Schoedsack wanted Noble to work on the film ‘Chang,' but instead he and his brother Joe Noble [qv] took jobs on the short-lived Daily Cinema News, a newsreel that survived only from October 1919 to January 1920. When that newsreel folded Noble and his brother were financed by Simon Rowson and Jerry Jackson to make a series of twelve animated cartoons from drawings by Tom Webster [qv]. Noble later gave the date as 1927. Noble and his brother followed these with other cartoons for Pathe and for British Talking Pictures, plus a series called ‘Dismal Desmond’ for the Gaumont Mirror, and one called ‘Sammy and Sausage’ for Eve’s Film Review. They also did some work on feature films. After the introduction of sound Noble and his brother made the first talking advertising cartoon, ‘Mr. York of York, Yorks’ for Rowntrees. Noble may also have been involved with his brother Joe’s cartoons for Eve’s Film Review, including ‘CURVES AND LINES’ in No.536 from 1931, ‘BEAUTY - SKIN DEEP COMMODITY’ in No.577 from 1932, and ‘LEGS’ in No.581 from 1932.

In 1932 Noble became a cameraman with the Empire Marketing Board, working with them and the GPO Film Unit for three years and afterwards specialising in documentary. In January 1936 Noble was credited in the Pathe camera team for ‘THE FUNERAL OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V’ in Super Sound Gazette No.36/9, and provided them with a number of subsequent stories. He is credited with ‘MENACE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN’ in No.37/81 of October 1937, ‘HAWESWATER DAM UNDER CONSTRUCTION’ in No.37/87 of November 1937, and ‘GRETNA GREEN: A New Phase’ in No.38/6 of January 1938. Noble also worked for Strand Films and Spectator Films, and claimed also to have worked with the Crown Film Unit, which was set up in 1939. In 1940 Noble joined the Canadian Film Unit as producer-in-chief with the rank of Lieutenant - a position which he also explained as ‘officer in charge of cameramen.' In February and March 1944 Noble filmed General Montgomery visiting Canadian troops in the UK prior to D-Day. In December 1944 Noble appeared with his camera in ‘OFF TO CANADA’ in Pathe Gazette No.44/101.

Noble was demobilised in 1947, but in February 1947 ‘G. F. Noble’ provided rota footage of the arrival of the King in Cape Town, apparently working for Movietone. A British Movietone News dopesheet survives from that month, showing ‘G. F. Noble’ as cameraman. In 1948 Noble joined the Colonial Film Unit and went out to the Gold Coast as director of photography to the Gold Coast Film Unit. In July 1956, with other Gold Coast Film Unit cameramen, he supplied footage for ‘PREMIER NKRUMAH WINS GOLD COAST ELECTION’ in British Paramount News No.2650. In May 1960 a ‘Noble’ was credited in the Pathe camera team that filmed ‘THE ROYAL WEDDING’ for Pathe News No.60/38, and this may have been George Noble.

Sources

World Film News, August 1936, p.41, ‘George Noble (Number 2 of Cameramen Series)': BUFVC, British Paramount News files, Issue Number 1360 (Canadian Film and Photo Unit dopesheet, February/March 1944), Number 1669 (rota dopesheets, February 1947), 1673 (Noble’s dopesheet, c.February 1947), Number 2650 (Noble’s Gold Coast Film Unit dopesheet, 16/7/1956): P. Noble (ed) ‘British Film Yearbook 1949-50’ (London, 1949), pp.636-7: P. Noble (ed) ‘British Film and Television Year Book 1956/57’ (London, 1956), p.235.