Nightmare Alley

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Nightmare Alley

Released Oct 9, 1947

1h 51m

Crime

Drama

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Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Roustabout Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith). But when Pete dies, Zeena is forced to take on Stanton as a partner, and he quickly proves more gifted than his predecessor. Ambitious to a fault, Carlisle abandons Zeena and the carny to reinvent himself as The Great Stanton, wowing high-class audiences in a Chicago hotel.

Critics Consensus

Playing against type with Nightmare Alley, Tyrone Power and Edmund Goulding deliver some of their best work in a carnival-set noir unafraid to showcase true despair.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

The material... is unusual and the cast first-rate.

Jul 6, 2022

Full Review

Mildred Martin

Philadelphia Inquirer

If Nightmare Alley isn't precisely tasty entertainment, at least it has been colorfully and harshly set forth with better than average character sketches lending it a certain unsavory interest and morbid fascination.

Dec 7, 2021

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Helen Bower

Detroit Free Press

All together the film has a great deal of accumulative impact. It is a thoroughly unpleasant, but salutary picture. It should pull both potential dupes and the potentially ruthless up good and short.

Dec 7, 2021

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

The 1947 film surpasses del Toro’s with the possibility of multiple bleak endings. While Dr. Ritter’s motives are inscrutable, her psychoanalysis cover story explicitly alludes to the title and makes a credible argument for Stanton being delusional.

Jun 9, 2024

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It’s a disreputable pulp noir with an A budget and it straddles the chasm between sleaze and class, thanks to the vivid cinematography by Lee Garmes and the oddly interesting miscasting of studio stalwart Edmund Goulding as director.

Nov 18, 2023

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Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

A hidden gem in the film noir genre...

Mar 6, 2023

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Alec B

A great use of the Noir style and Power should have played more villains.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

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Joan K

So much better than the remake. Gripping, original and well acted. It's dark but not gross.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/17/23

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Steve D

Well made but too dark to be enjoyed.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/09/23

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felix w

Way better than the new one by Del Toro. A fantastic NOIR, as noir gets.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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steve p

Superb film noir. Tyrone Power is excellent

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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james g

GREAT Cast! Helen Walker as the evil psychiatrist is sensational. This film tightens the sprawling novel... then tacks on a bizarre happy ending that ruins it all. Just stop watching at the point where Tyrone Power smiles at his new employer.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Edmund Goulding

Director

Tyrone Power

Stanton Carlisle

Joan Blondell

Zeena Krumbein

Coleen Gray

Molly

Ian Keith

Pete Krumbein

Helen Walker

Dr. Lilith Ritter

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Synopsis

Roustabout Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith). But when Pete dies, Zeena is forced to take on Stanton as a partner, and he quickly proves more gifted than his predecessor. Ambitious to a fault, Carlisle abandons Zeena and the carny to reinvent himself as The Great Stanton, wowing high-class audiences in a Chicago hotel.

Director: Edmund Goulding
Producer: George Jessel
Screenwriter: Jules Furthman
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 9, 1947, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 51m