John Alton
Camera
Born October 5, 1901 in Sopron, Austria-Hungary
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.
Filmography
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
Self
Glorious Technicolor
Self (archive footage)
Dark and Deadly: Fifty Years of Film Noir
Self
Mission: Impossible
Birdman of Alcatraz
Elmer Gantry
12 to the Moon
Lonelyhearts
The Brothers Karamazov
Designing Woman
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Tea and Sympathy
The Catered Affair
Slightly Scarlet
Tennessee's Partner
Pearl of the South Pacific
Escape to Burma
The Big Combo
The Steel Cage
Cattle Queen of Montana
Passion
Silver Lode
Witness to Murder
Duffy of San Quentin
Take the High Ground!
I, the Jury
Count the Hours!
Battle Circus
Apache War Smoke
Washington Story
Talk About a Stranger
An American in Paris
The People Against O'Hara
Father's Little Dividend
Grounds for Marriage
Devil's Doorway
Mystery Street
Father of the Bride
Captain China
Border Incident
Reign of Terror
Red Stallion In The Rockies
The Crooked Way
He Walked by Night
Hollow Triumph
The Amazing Mr. X
Canon City
Raw Deal
T-Men
Bury Me Dead
Driftwood
The Pretender
The Ghost Goes Wild
Wyoming
The Trespasser
Hit Parade of 1947
Affairs of Geraldine
The Magnificent Rogue
One Exciting Week
The Madonna's Secret
A Guy Could Change
Song of Mexico
Girls of the Big House
Love, Honor and Goodbye
Lake Placid Serenade
Storm Over Lisbon
Atlantic City
The Lady and the Monster
The Sultan's Daughter
Johnny Doughboy
Ice Capades Revue
Moonlight Masquerade
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
Devil Pays Off
Forced Landing
Melody for Three
Power Dive
I Was a Criminal
Remedy for Riches
Dr. Christian Meets the Women
Three Faces West
The Courageous Dr. Christian
Caminito de Gloria
Puerta cerrada
El matrero
Honeysuckle
The Bohemian Life
El pobre Pérez
Cadetes de San Martín
¡Goal!
Amalia
Crimen a las tres
Escala en la ciudad
El hijo de papá
The Three Amateurs