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Nightmare Alley

Play trailer Poster for Nightmare Alley Released Oct 9, 1947 1h 51m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer 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.
Nightmare Alley

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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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Critics Reviews

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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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film A hidden gem in the film noir genre... Mar 6, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Full Review 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 Full Review Steve D Well made but too dark to be enjoyed. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/09/23 Full Review 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 Full Review steve p Superb film noir. Tyrone Power is excellent Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The 1947 Nightmare Alley has a good story and an imposing protagonist (made by Tyrone Power), but it never hooked me. The atmosphere isn't inviting, the pace is slower than it should be (the film made me lazy to watch it) and Coleen Gray's performance as Molly didn't age well. Also, besides the slower pace, I felt there were some missing parts, the transitions from one scene to another aren't organic. I recognize the qualities of "old" movies, but it doesn't mean I have to appreciate them. I feel that nowadays there's a culture of hyper-romanticization of these old movies, like the cinephile society puts in our head that we are obliged to watch them. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Nightmare Alley

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Nightmare Alley

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Movie Info

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