John Alton(1901-1996)

In 1960, following his work on Elmer Gantry (1960), he quit the movie business. He returned briefly in 1966 to direct photography for the pilot episode of the TV series Mission: Impossible (1966). Afterwards, he virtually disappeared. For years, even his closest friends did not know his whereabouts. In 1984, his work was honored at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, with a tribute entitled, "Where is John Alton?" In 1993, at the age of 92, Alton heard about Visions of Light (1992), a documentary about cinematographers that included some of his movie work. He contacted the film's producer, Todd McCarthy, and asked to attend the premiere. McCarthy, who had hoped to include an interview with Alton in the film, was astonished to hear from him. Afterwards, Alton insisted that there was nothing mysterious in his disappearance, that he and his wife had simply decided to give up the movie business and travel a bit. They had lived in France, Germany, and Argentina, and had a great time. He died in 1996 at the age of 95.

I stopped because I wanted to live. That was no life, to work at the studio, get up at six every morning and fight the producers. I had enough. I looked at my bank book and I said, 'That's it!'