Born in Manchester, Knowles worked with Alfred Hitchcock 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, Dial 999, Ivanhoe and The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Knowle's credits include Mumsie (1927) and Dawn (1928) for Herbert Wilcox, Love's Option (1928), The Broken Melody (1929), The Silver King (1929), Auld Lang Syne (1929), Rookery Nook (1930), The Nipper (1930), French Leave (1930), School for Scandal (1930), Canaries Sometimes Sing (1930), The Calendar (1931), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1931), and White Face (1932, The Good Companions (1933), Falling for You (1933).
Knowles then filmed The Mikado (1939), and was back with Hitchcock for Jamaica Inn (1939), the last movie the director made before moving to the US.
However Knowles' next film as director, The Magic Bow (1946), a biopic of Niccolò Paganini starring Stewart Granger, was better received.