Alton States

If there was any cinematographer that made a difference, that cinematographer was John Alton. The 1901 born Hungarian made many contributions to the noir world. In only nine years time, he delivered quite the optical adventures in the whopping nineteen noir films he photographed with aplomb. In some cases, because the films were B-status, via Eagle Lion films, he would get the job done in only a few weeks time, as he did in Raw Deal (1948), Border Incident (1949)1, T-Men (1947) and He Walked By Night (1948) .

Alton was ever the raconteur and bon vivant and had plenty to speak of, as he was the head honcho of the camera department at the French Joinville studios, he even would play the role of foreman, when two other South American film studios were being constructed. Alton was a rarity in the uptight union controlled studios he would work for. Most directors of photography from the Poverty Row era were gruff, imposing and abrasive in demeanor, not Alton - he was feather-light, and had the physical grace of a ballet dancer.

          Painting With Light


His was a complex character, borderline passive-aggressive and a chore to get on with, if you loved him, you really loved him and if you didn't love him, (well you know the outcome there). Alton was a stickler for details and the consummate workaholic. He made it a mission to reform union -fixed studio lighting techniques. He was met with some serious disconcert by one John Arnold, the grand pupa of MGM's camera department. Sabotaging many a potential partnering for A-status productions. This would soon come to pass, and by the end of his twenty year career he became a director's darling and had a sacrosanct partnership with The Spiritualist (1948) helmer  Bernard Vorhaus, Slightly Scarlett (1955) auteur Allan Dwan, and Vincente Minelli, and they all revered him for his uncanny ability to transform a low budget film into the appearance of an A-status picture.

                From The Spiritualist.



Unfortunately, Alton retired from films far too prematurely, and would be substituted with an absolute nemesis - cinematographer Burnett Guffey (Bird Of Alcatraz, 1962). The man was a proper institution, he taught his contemporaries the art of painting with light, and Paul Schrader himself referred to him as: "the greatest master of noir, an expressionist cinematographer who could relight Times Square at noon if necessary ."


Every picture tells a story, and don't John Alton's tell them twice as nice.