John A. Alonzo Overboard (1987)

John A. Alonzo, ASC (June 12, 1934 – March 13, 2001) shot Overboard (1987) for Garry Marshall — one cinematography credit in a career anchored by Chinatown, Scarface, and Norma Rae.

Alonzo was a Mexican-American DP who broke a Hollywood barrier

Alonzo was born in Dallas to Mexican parents and worked his way up through camera-operating credits in the 1960s before getting his first DP feature on Bloody Mama (1970, Roger Corman). He shot Robert Altman's MASH (uncredited operator), then his first major credit was Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971). Roman Polanski hired him for Chinatown (1974) after Stanley Cortez was fired three weeks in, and Alonzo's bone-dry, sun-bleached photography of 1930s Los Angeles became one of the defining looks of New Hollywood. The Oscar nomination for Chinatown made him the first Mexican-American to be ASC-credentialed and one of the first nominated for Best Cinematography. (wikipedia)

His subsequent DP run includes Conrack (1974), Farewell, My Lovely (1975), The Bad News Bears (1976), Black Sunday (1977), Norma Rae (1979), Scarface (1983), Steel Magnolias (1989), Internal Affairs (1990), Cool World (1992), and Star Trek: Generations (1994).

What Alonzo did with Overboard

The Pacific Northwest setting (Fort Bragg, California standing in for Elk Cove, Oregon — see Pacific Northwest Filming) gave Alonzo three distinct visual environments to handle: the Immaculata yacht (clean, white, high-key, every surface polished), the Proffitt house (warm browns and yellows, kid-clutter, low ceilings), and the harbor and forest exteriors (the gray Pacific light, the rocks, the timber). The film moves between the three repeatedly and the visual contrast is part of how the comedy registers — Joanna in cream silk in the white yacht in the opening, Joanna in Dean's flannel in the brown kitchen in the middle, Joanna in evening dress diving off the white yacht into the gray ocean in the climax.

Alonzo's specific contribution that critics noted at the time was the way he handled Goldie Hawn across the two halves. The yacht photography is high-key and lit for hardness — the imperious Joanna is a brightly-lit object the camera observes from the appropriate respectful distance. The Proffitt-house photography is warm, close, and softer — Annie is a person the camera sits with rather than looks at. The shift across the breakdown sequence (b16–b18) is partly an Alonzo lighting shift and partly a Marshall blocking shift; it is the most invisible and most load-bearing craft choice in the film.

"John could light a comedy without killing the comedy. A lot of cinematographers think they have to make every frame look like Days of Heaven, and the comedy dies in the lighting. John knew when to just turn the lights on and let the actors work." — Garry Marshall, American Cinematographer (Alonzo tribute, 2001)

Alonzo's late career and posthumous reputation

Alonzo directed one feature, FM (1978, the radio-station ensemble comedy), and continued to shoot through the 1990s before his death from cancer in March 2001 at age sixty-six. His ASC tribute placed Chinatown alongside Vittorio Storaro's The Conformist and Sven Nykvist's Cries and Whispers as one of the defining color cinematography achievements of the 1970s.

"Alonzo was a complete craftsman. His range from Chinatown to Norma Rae to Scarface to Overboard shows a man who served the picture rather than imposing a signature on it. That is the highest compliment a cinematographer can earn." — American Cinematographer, Alonzo tribute (April 2001)

The American Society of Cinematographers established the John A. Alonzo Heritage Award in his honor in 2002, given annually to a Latino cinematographer.

Selected filmography

Year Film Director Note
1971 Harold and Maude Hal Ashby Breakthrough
1974 Chinatown Roman Polanski Oscar nomination
1976 The Bad News Bears Michael Ritchie
1979 Norma Rae Martin Ritt
1983 Scarface Brian De Palma
1986 Nothing in Common Garry Marshall First Marshall film
1987 Overboard Garry Marshall Second Marshall film
1989 Steel Magnolias Herbert Ross
1990 Internal Affairs Mike Figgis
1994 Star Trek: Generations David Carson

Cross-Film Connections

Sources