John Alton the maestro of the Film Noir atmosphere

John Alton was an American cinematographer. He made is feature film debut in 1927 with The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. Alton won an Academy Award for cinematography of An American in Paris, becoming the first Hungarian-born person to win it. Alton is most famous for films noir style of the classic period.

"But when I'd take most any director aside and ask him to sit down with me, he'd look at me as if I were crazy. He'd say, 'I've never sat down with a cameraman to talk about these things. What do you mean? You just pump a lot of light in!' I'd say 'You don't 'pump' light into a scene. That light has to tell something. There's a meaning, and it establishes a mood.' That was the difference between my pictures and some of the others: [in mine], each mood was different. The mood had to be done with lighting. That's my profession — not the lighting and how to light, but bringing out the mood." 

A promotional shot of Mary Meade and Dennis O'Keefe in T-Men (1947).

After T-Men, Alton lent his touch to a dozen more pictures which, as a body of work, formed the apotheosis of the film noir style.

Read this article to learn more about John Alton.