John Alton ( born John Alton , birth name Johann Jacob Altmann , Hungarian Johann Jacob Altmann ; , - , ) is an American cameraman of Hungarian descent. The first Hungarian to receive an Oscar (for the film " American in Paris " in 1951 ).
| John Alton | |
|---|---|
| John alton | |
 From left to right: Allan Dvon , Arlene Dahl and John Alton on the set of Scarlet Tint ( 1956 ) | |
| Birth name | Johann Jacob Altmann |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship | |
| Profession | cameraman |
| Career | 1927 - 1966 |
| Awards | Oscar ( 1952 ) |
| IMDb | |
Content
Biography
Johann Jacob Altmann was born on October 5, 1901 in Sopron , Austria-Hungary (now Hungary ). In 1919 he moved to New York to study at a college in the USA , lived with his wealthy uncle Emil.
Once, when he was walking along 2nd Avenue ( Second Avenue ), he was hailed by an employee of Hearst's Cosmopolitan Studios and offered to star in a short episode right now with the participation of the famous actress Marion Davis . For this role, John received twelve and a half dollars , and forever "sick" the movie. He immediately dropped out of school, and in early 1924 he arrived in Hollywood , where he got a job as a technician in the newly opened Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio .
He soon got a job as a cameraman and went to France with the famous director Ernst Lubitsch for full-scale shooting for the film "Prince Student in Old Heidelberg", where he stayed for a whole year, leading Paramount Pictures ' s Joinville Studios . After Europe, he went to Argentina , where he cameraman of two dozen films, including in one of these tapes ( El hijo de papá ) he also became a director, producer and screenwriter, and in two more - a director. Also, one of these eighteen paintings is known as the first Argentine sound film. Olton expected to work in South America for about a year, but stayed there for seven years, since he married the local journalist Rosalia Kiss.
In 1939 he returned to Hollywood, but was soon drafted into the army ( Signal Corps troops) in connection with the outbreak of war , rose to the rank of captain. After returning from the war, he continued to make films, mainly in the noir genre, in 1952 he received an Oscar for the film American in Paris , his first color film.
In 1949, the light was seen in his cameraman’s book, Painting with Light .
He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers , but voluntarily left it, which no one had done before, in connection with the following: in 1962, John Alton and director Charles Crichton were suddenly fired while working on the film “Bird Lover of Alcatraz ”, their names did not appear in the credits. After this incident, Olton took up painting and film theory, in 1966 he shot his last work: a pilot (first) episode of the television series "Mission Impossible", after which he disappeared for many years with his wife. In 1993, after seeing the documentary Visions of Light , which spoke a lot about his work, he got in touch with the director and screenwriter of this tape. John Alton, 92, returned to the United States and stated that there was nothing mysterious about his disappearance, he and his wife simply “decided to travel a bit”, and all these years lived in France, Germany and Argentina and “had a great time.”
Died June 2, 1996 in Santa Monica at the 95th year of life.
Selected Filmography
During his 39-year film career, John Alton made more than 100 films, in isolated cases he also acted as a director, screenwriter and producer.
- 1927 - The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
- 1947 - The Pretender
- 1947 - Treasury Agents / T-Men
- 1948 - He walked by night
- 1948 - Raw Deal
- 1948 - Hollow Triumph
- 1948 - The Amazing Mr. X X
- 1948 - Canyon City / Canon City
- 1949 - Border Incident Incident
- 1949 - The Crooked Way
- 1950 - Mysterious Street / Mystery Street
- 1950 - Father of the Bride
- 1951 - Father's Little Dividend
- 1951 - The People Against O'Hara
- 1951 - An American In Paris / An American In Paris (ballet scenes)
- 1953 - Battle Circus
- 1953 - The Court is Me / I, the Jury
- 1954 - Cattle Queen of Montana
- 1954 - Silver Vein / Silver Lode
- 1955 - The Big Ensemble
- 1956 - The Teahouse of the August Moon
- 1956 - Hue Scarlet / Slightly Scarlet
- 1956 - A Wedding Present, or Everything Like People / The Catered Affair
- 1956 - Tea and Sympathy / Tea and Sympathy
- 1957 - Creating a Woman (Fashion Designer) / Designing Woman
- 1958 - The Brothers Karamazov
- 1958 - Lonely Hearts / Lonelyhearts
- 1960 - Elmer Gantry
- 1962 - Bird lover of Alcatraz (uncredited)
- 1966 - Mission: Impossible (pilot episode)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 139815511 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 filmportal.de - 2005.
Links
- John Alton at filmreference.com
- John Alton at cinematographers.nl
- John Alton (Fr.) at cinema.encyclopedie.personnalites.bifi.fr
- Kino Releases Three Anthony Mann Film Noir Classics to Video on imagesjournal.com