John W. Noble

This article is about American film director. For U.S. Secretary of the Interior, see John Willock Noble.

John Winthrop Noble (born Winfield Fernley Kutz; June 24, 1880 – September 10, 1946) was an American film director and screenwriter during the silent era.

John W. Noble
Noble in 1917
Born	Winfield Fernley Kutz (1880-06-24)June 24, 1880 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, US
Died	September 10, 1946(1946-09-10) (aged 66) Pottstown, Pennsylvania, US
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	1910–1927
Spouse	Iva Barbour

Career

John Winthrop Noble was the professional name of Winfield Fernley Kutz (sometimes given as Fernley Winfield Kutz), born June 24, 1880, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.^{[1][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]} He worked in various capacities with the Thanhouser Company from 1910 to 1912, assisting director Lucius J. Henderson and appearing in films including The Baseball Bug (1911) and The Poacher (1912). He worked briefly for Solax Studios, formed the short-lived Ryno Film Company with Clarkson Potter Ryttenberg in 1913, and directed films for the Ramo Company. In December 1913 he joined the staff of D. W. Griffith and became a director for the Mutual Film Corporation. Noble also worked for studios including the B. A. Rolfe Company (1914–16), Biograph Studios, Universal Pictures, Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures.^[2]

Called and later credited as Jack Noble,^[3][4] he was known as Fernley Kutz at the time of his death September 10, 1946, at his home in Pottstown.^[5]

Filmography

Ad for The Right of Way (1915)

Niles Welch and Zena Keefe in Shame (1917)

Ad for Footlights and Shadows (1920)

Year	Title	Notes
1911	The Baseball Bug
1914	The Three of Us	[6]
1915	Black Fear	Also screenwriter[6]
1915	The High Road	[6]
1915	Fighting Bob	[6]
1915	One Million Dollars	[6]
1916	The Bigger Man	[6]
1916	The Right of Way	[6]
1916	The Brand of Cowardice	[6]
1916	Man and His Soul	[6]
1916	The Red Mouse	[6]
1916	A Million a Minute	[6]
1916	Romeo and Juliet	Also screenwriter[6]
1916	The Awakening of Helena Richie	Also screenwriter[6]
1916	The Wall Between	[6]
1917	The Call of Her People	[6]
1917	Shame	Also screenwriter[6]
1917	The Power of Decision	[6]
1917	A Magdalene of the Hills	[6]
1917	Sunshine Alley	[6]
1917	The Beautiful Lie	[6]
1918	The Birth of a Race	Also producer, screenwriter[6]
1918	My Own United States	[6]
1919	The Gray Towers Mystery	Also screenwriter[6]
1919	The Golden Shower	[6]
1920	The Song of the Soul	Also screenwriter[6]
1920	Footlights and Shadows	[6]
1922	Cardigan	[6]
1924	His Darker Self	[6]
1926	Lightning Reporter	Also screenwriter[3]
1927	Burning Gold	[3]

Notes

1. Noble's December 1924 passport application states that "Fernley Winfield Kutz [is] professionally known as John Winthrop Noble". His birthplace is given as Pottstown, Pennsylvania.^[1]
2. Some sources state that John W. Noble was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, and omit his birth name—information derived from Noble's biography on page 194 of the 1919 Motion Picture Studio Directory.^[2]

References

1. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series; Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll # 2688; Volume #: Roll 2688 – Certificates: 501350–501899, 29 Dec 1924 – 31 Dec 1924. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
2. Bowers, Q. David (1995). "John W. Noble". Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
3. "Jack Noble". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
4. "Jack Noble Goes Mutual". The Moving Picture World. December 27, 1913. p. 1556. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
5. "Final Curtain". Billboard. September 21, 1946. p. 43. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
6. "John W. Noble". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-12-22.

External links

• Media related to John W. Noble at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or about John Winthrop Noble at Wikisource
• John W. Noble at IMDb
• W. Fernley Kutz at Find a Grave