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      Nightmare Alley

      Released Oct 9, 1947 1 hr. 51 min. Crime Drama List
      88% 64 Reviews Tomatometer 86% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score 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. Read More Read Less
      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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      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 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 Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Nightmare Alley

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (64) Critics Reviews
      Pauline Kael 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 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 Edwin F. Melvin Christian Science Monitor [Nightmare Alley] is a grim drama about the rise and fall of a completely unscrupulous carnival barker, set forth with dramatic power under the direction of Edmund Goulding and acted with vigor by Tyrone Power. Aug 17, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

      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
      Production Co
      Twentieth Century Fox
      Genre
      Crime, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Oct 9, 1947, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 1, 2016