Starting out in 1924 as a lab technician at MGM, John Alton left there
for Paramount to become a cameraman. He traveled to France and then to
South America, where he wrote, photographed and directed several
Spanish-language films. Returning to Hollywood in 1937, he soon
achieved a reputation as one of the industry's most accomplished
cinematographers. In 1951, he and Alfred Gilks won an Academy Award for
color photography for Ein Amerikaner in Paris (1951).
