Description
Book Synopsis Devoted to his craft--sometimes to the detriment of his reputation--cinematographer John Alton (1901-1996) was sought after by such directors as Vincente Minnelli, Richard Brooks and Anthony Mann but was disdained by others of comparable talent. An auteur in the truest sense, Alton established a landmark body of work described by Variety film critic Todd McCarthy as The essence, and ultimate example, of film noir ... logically created by a cinematographer, not a director. This collection of new essays by filmmakers and film scholars explores the central role Alton''s distinctive style of painting with light played in formulating the aesthetics of noir, as well as his contributions to other genres.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Poetics of the Director of Photography’s Palette
- John Alton: A Filmography
- Argentine Period
- American Period
- Women (Good and Bad) in the Later Films of John Alton
- Mimesis, Mode and Method: John Alton’s Film Noir
- The Observer Observed: John Alton and Vincente Minnelli and the Domestic Domain
- O Master, When Art Thou? The Anemia of Production Memory and the Failed Promise of the Digital Revolution
- Alton and the Western: Re-Mapping the Terrain
- Farm Noir: Agriculture, Empathy and Genre in The Grapes of Wrath and Border Incident
- Light is Life, Darkness Death: Light and Darkness in Raw Deal
- About the Contributors
- Index
