person

John Alton

Personal Info

Known For

Camera

Gender

Male

Birthday

1901-10-05

Place of Birth

Sopron, Austria-Hungary

John Alton

Biography

​John Alton A.S.C. (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), born Johann Altmann, in Sopron/Ödenburg, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary, was an American cinematographer. Alton won an Academy Award for the cinematography of An American in Paris (1951), becoming the first Hungarian-born person to do so. He photographed some of the most famous film noirs of the classic period. He started out in Los Angeles as a lab technician in the 1920s, later becoming a cameraman within four years. He moved to France with Ernst Lubitsch to film backgrounds for The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) and ended up staying for one year heading the camera department of Paramount Pictures's Joinville Studios. In 1932 he moved to Argentina where he shot many Spanish-language films and designed the country's first sound film studio for Lumiton and Argentina Sono Film. He returned to Hollywood in the late 1930s, with two dozen film credits, and became one of the most sought after cinematographers in American cinema. Alton was known for unconventional camera angles—especially low camera shots. His style is most notable in the film noirs: He Walked by Night, The Big Combo, The Amazing Mr. X, T-Men, and Raw Deal. Alton also photographed many color movies including Slightly Scarlet (a color film noir).

Also Known For

poster

67

Glorious Technicolor

Dec 07, 1998

poster

NA

Dark and Deadly: Fifty Years of Film Noir

Jun 01, 1995

poster

71

Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light

Jul 18, 2006

poster

70

'S Wonderful: Creating An American in Paris

Sep 16, 2008

poster

NA

Mystery Street: Murder at Harvard

Jul 31, 2007