John Alton Tribute at Noir City

John Alton must be counted among the top few cinematographers to influence the history of cinema. “I could see in the dark,” he is famously quoted as saying. “He was the Greta Garbo of Hollywood cameramen,” writes Todd McCarthy, explaining his mysterious and elusive career.

“Alton left an indelible mark on his craft as few others have,” writes another admirer, Martin Scorsese. “He did truly paint with light.”

Alton, Hungarian by birth, worked in Hollywood in the 1920s, moved to France, directed films in Argentina, playing an important in the founding of that country’s film industry and ended up putting an indelible mark on film noir in America in a later era.

The greatest noir classics of Anthony Mann are inconceivable without him (Raw Deal, T-Men). His book, Painting with Light is still a classic source for thinking through the problems of the cinematographer: composition, lighting, angles. And, oddly, his greatest recognition came from being awarded an Oscar for the ballet sequence from the 1951 Vincente Minnelli classic An American in Paris.

This titan of cinema will receive a posthumous tribute at the fifth Noir City film noir festival Friday, February 2, in a double feature copresented by the Film Society. SFFS Executive Director Graham Leggat will introduce the 8:00 pm double-feature screening of The Big Combo (restored 35mm print courtesy of the Film Foundation and the UCLA Film & Television Archive) and The Spiritualist (new 35mm print courtesy of Sony Classics).

For complete information on Noir City 5.