Cinematographer John Alton

Born Johann Altmann in 1901 in what is now Hungary, John Alton started out in 1924 working in the lab at MGM studios.  After a few years, he left MGM and traveled abroad to Europe and South America, returning to Hollywood in 1937 with many credits as both a cinematographer and director of Argentine feature films.  When he started his career as a shooter in Hollywood, he quickly became one of the most respected cinematographers, photographing films like the noir classics He Walked By Night, Witness To Murder, and The Big Combo. Alton also photographed classics from other genres, like Father Of The Bride, Elmer Gantry and he won an Academy Award for his first color movie, An American In Paris.  He shot the pilot episode of the classic TV series Mission: Impossible, setting a visual tone that stood for the entire series.  He was a strong personality, and eventually tiring of the Hollywood early morning grind and constant fighting with producers, Alton gave up the business and traveled the world with his wife, eventually passing away in Santa Monica, CA at age 94 in 1996.  John Alton is one of my personal favorites, and many of his shots and set-ups could even stand alone as brilliant still photography.  He was never one for needless camera movement, and his photography and lighting set the mood as few other cinematographers ever did.  My favorite quote of his is "It's not what you light – it's what you DON'T light."

Here's some of his classics:

He Walked By Night (1948)
Border Incident (1949)
Father of the Bride (1950)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Witness to Murder (1954)
The Big Combo (1955)
The Catered Affair (1956)
The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
Elmer Gantry (1960)

Other Alton films worth seeing are: Slightly Scarlet (1956), Count The Hours (1953), Father's Little Dividend (1951).  He's honored in Todd McCarthy's award-winning documentary, Visions of Light, and his work still stands as some of the best of what Hollywood offers, noir or not...

Film Noir's leading man: Edmond O'Brien

I can't think of one actor who's been in more classic film noirs than Edmond O'Brien, who infused every role with a believability and desperation that few of that (or any) era can match.  Eddie O'Brien was a go-to guy for the studios, both big and small, during the forties and fifties.  He was in a lot of fine movies, but I think that he was most well known for his film noir work.  Many of these were considered almost "B" movies at the time, but they live on as some of the best from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I would say without reservation that every one of these four films is great.  Edmond O'Brien made other noir-style movies, but these four are the best from that category and comprise some of the best film noirs ever made...

The Killers (1946)
White Heat (1949)
D.O.A. (1950)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Some other movies that Edmond O'Brien made that are in this same vein, though not as successfully done but still worth seeing, are:

A Double Life (1947)
Man in the Dark (1953)
Backfire (1950)
An Act of Murder (1948)

This leaves out a lot of his other great movies, such as Seven Days in May (1964), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Wild Bunch (1969), etc. etc.  Edmond O'Brien was one of the most respected character actors in the history of Hollywood, and his body of work during his heyday was second to none...

Modern noir: Betty Blue and Chinatown

 Laced with graphic intimacy that seems real rather than staged or stylized, Betty Blue (original title: 37º2 le matin), released in 1986 and directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, is the story of the tormented, passionate life and love between a handyman who's also a writer, and his young, beautiful, but wild and unpredictable girlfriend Betty. This is a highly intelligent, beautifully photographed, and very smartly directed film, and though not intentionally "noir" in any way, and follows few, if any, noir conventions, it strikes a lot of the same notes.  If frank sexuality bothers you, avoid this film, but otherwise, sit back and enjoy a stylish, hard look at love handicapped by mental illness, and a relationship that slowly dissolves in spite of its passion.  And, as we know, in noir-land losing is a way of life...

Chinatown (1974) starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, is one of the best of modern film noir.  Nicholson, as private detective Jake Gittes uncovers a web of dirty dealing, incestuous lust and corrupt politicians, while Faye Dunaway, who is  forever chewing the scenery, is good.   The script, which won writer Robert Towne the Academy Award, moves throughout the myriad plot points without getting bogged down or self-conscious, and director Roman Polanski, who's made some other great movies in his career, is at his very best, even doing a cameo as a criminal who teaches Gittes a painful lesson.  This is a sprawling story of an emerging L.A. during the time when the early 20th century power grab was on.  If you've missed this one you've been in the cultural cave...