John Alton's final two noirs are excellent examples of the genre: Joseph H. Lewis's 'The Big Combo' and Allan Dwan's 'Slightly Scarlet'. 'The Big Combo' is both brutal and erotic with a sense of pessimistic fatalism reflected in the low-key, high-contrast camerawork. It is literally one of the darkest of Alton's films, with minimal set-dressing. Virtually the entire film takes place at night, with the actors in dimly lit rooms. For the final scene, Lewis told Alton he required an airport set. "Just drape the set in black velvet," said Alton, "and we'll put a revolving light that goes around. You'll have an airport in about 10 minutes." The result was totally convincing and, with some banks of mist added, bleakly atmospheric. [Tom Vallance in The Independent, 25 June 1996]

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'The Big Combo' is all style. It's practically a minimalist epic. There are plenty of 'normal' scenes, but at least half of the settings are in darkened corridors and rooms where little is visible beyond the actors. The genius behind the stunning look of the film is the legendary John Alton. Alton's lighting creates much of the drama. Val Lewton introduced the idea of suggesting monsters instead of showing them, but here [director] Lewis and Alton suggest sets without showing them. Alton has a knack for using highly stylized pools of illumination and weird light sources while still keeping a semi-realistic frame of reference. While fleeing her sinister guardians, blonde moll Susan runs through a series of stark spotlights that emphasize her figure and bare shoulders. When they finally catch up with her in medium-shot, Alton's carefully selective lighting makes the breathless Susan look naked, held between the two hoodlums. Actors had to really hit their marks in this picture. In the darker shots, a human figure can't walk three paces without passing through three different lighting setups. [Glenn Erickson, DVDtalk website]