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Tryone Power gave one of his finest performances in "Nightmare Alley." His off-beat role highlighted a strange and intriguing tale, and was a role which he reportedly fought hard to get, upon his return to film work following military duty.

Power proved he was capable of much more demanding parts than those normally given him. On screen most of the time, he displayed a flair for sound characterization and nuance, being endowed with an unusually fine speaking voice and diction.

Lee Garmes' cinematography and Thomas Little's set decoration are notable here, and the entire cast works in fine ensemble fashion. Only some plot details may seem a little obvious and predictable. That's probably because "Nightmare Alley" details have been copied numerous times by other film makers and, as a result, we're much more savvy now than 1947 audiences.

It was a particular treat to have an opportunity to see this film last week on a film society series in a beautiful 35mm print. The showing also reminded viewers how beautiful and effective black and white productions are, and how much they're missed.

As other commentators have noted, once you've seen this film it haunts you. The creepy carnival milieu has rarely been better done (well, Tod Browning's "Freaks" of course) but seems more wholesome than the upscale world of nightclub mentalists and corrupt psychiatrists to which Tyrone Power ascends. Joan Blondell is carnally blowzy but she's almost upstaged by the ill-starred actress Helen Walker (the duplicitous wife in Impact) as that double-crossing shrink. No one soon forgets Power's slippery climb to the top followed by his horrifying fall. This film is a true, dark classic.

Nightmare Alley is forever known in Hollywood as the film in which Tyrone Power made a total break with his typecast image, playing a completely evil and ultimately weak individual. Post World War II, Power made it clear to Darryl Zanuck that he was looking to expand his range as an actor. Zanuck reluctantly allowed him to do this film. He usually indulged his favorite at the studio. Of course he also had a backup plan just in case Nightmare Alley was a bust.

Well critically it wasn't a bust, Power got deservedly rave reviews for his portrayal of small time hustler and carnival sharpie Stan Carlisle. Power had a variation on his previous roles, he was either a straight out hero as in The Mark Of Zorro, Lloyds Of London, or The Razor's Edge. More often he was a combination hero/heel as in Blood And Sand, The Black Swan or A Yank In The RAF most of all in Rose Of Washington Square, probably the closest part to Stan Carlisle he had played before. Still he was never as unredeemingly evil as in Nightmare Alley on screen until his last completed film, Witness For The Prosecution.

Power is working in a small time carnival where Joan Blondell and Ian Keith have a mind reading act with a good code between them that allows Keith to pull some really strange and good answers out of left field. Power would like to learn it and does after Keith dies when he gets into some wood alcohol. Power then teams with Blondell.

He's forced to marry innocent young Coleen Gray when circus strongman Mike Mazurki thinks he's ruined her reputation. But even with the inconvenience of a wife, Power has his eyes on bigger game. He gets a mind reading act going at a swank Chicago nightclub and then partners with Helen Walker who is a quack psychologist.

Ty Power was great in the role, no question about that, but 1947 must have been a great year for scheming women. Helen Walker never gets the credit she's due for her part. She's every bit as bad as Power and more than up to whatever games he's playing. Her part is very similar to Jane Greer's in Out Of The Past which also came out in 1947.

The critics loved Power in Nightmare Alley, but 20th Century Fox took a big loss from it because the public wouldn't accept Power in so evil a role. Darryl Zanuck absolutely knew this would happen so he hedged his bets a little by withholding from release Captain From Castile, a big budget spectacular where you'll Tyrone Power at his most noble and heroic on screen without a bit of heel shading. That came out within six weeks of Nightmare Alley and Power's fans were appeased.

Power's character was a man essentially out of his depth in going for the big con. But as an actor in Nightmare Alley he expanded his range beyond anything anyone ever expected from him. Now Nightmare Alley is considered a cinema classic and box office bust that it was, it remained a personal favorite among Tyrone Power's films.

Though Darryl Zanuck preferred to forget the experience.

I first saw this film in the late 70's on a Toronto television program devoted to classic cinema. I was joined by friends who always got together on Saturday nights to watch the musicals, comedies, or classic performances offered that week. NIGHTMARE ALLEY came as a surprise. It was a raw, exposed nerve of a film. Instead of the Hollywood diction we had come to expect, this film expressed itself in 1940's carny colloquialisms. And nobody in the cast was soft - they were all hard knocks characters, almost down for the count, but still fighting. After about 15 minutes, nobody in front of that set moved until it was all over, except maybe to look sideways to see if anyone else could believe their eyes. This is a movie clawing your way to the top , and then paying the price for getting there. This is a movie about being careful what you wish for. It is a movie about odd fascinations with people who are actually messengers of your future in disguise. And ultimately, it is a movie about how futile is the love of a good woman if the man is destined for ruin. Needless to say, it was not standard Hollywood fare when made in the 40's, and it is still not standard fare today. It's message is somehow both shocking and familiar. Listen for the last words uttered, as though in offhand comment about our 'hero' by bystanders. Those words haunted me for over 20 years, until I was able to track down another showing of the film on TV (STILL not on VCR or DVD for heaven's sake!). And I remembered them correctly all that time - that's the impact they made. See this film. Surrender to it. It's that good.

It is totally amazing, nearly 60 years later, to realize the lengths that 20th Century Fox went to in order to keep Tyrone Power a handsome leading man rather than letting him show his stuff. It's no wonder Fox came to disgrace during the Cleopatra era. Pity it didn't happen earlier so Power had more opportunities to show his acting range.

Nightmare Alley was a favorite of mine from the time I was a teenager -a film Power fought to make and one that the studio never publicized and released as a B film. Spiteful bunch, considering the money he had made for them!

Power, Blondell, Gray, Helen Walker, and the marvelous Ian Keith turn in great performances in a gritty film somewhat ahead of its time for its unrelenting toughness, its hard view of alcoholism, a look inside the world of mentalists and carnival life, and its theme of the supernatural. It is reminiscent of "Ace in the Hole" and some of the later, cynical Wilder films.

Power was one of those actors whose drop dead gorgeous appearance kept him from some excellent roles, thanks to his studio. SomeoneI knew saw him in a Broadway play and said it was like being alone in a room with him, he had such magnetism.

We have so few examples of his really great work - the recording of John Brown's Body is one, this film is another - it's great that it's now out on DVD and available to the public.

One cannot say that this is Tyrone Power at his most attractive, but you can say this was his most "adventurous" challenge in his career.

It is not a pretty picture - the story of his descent into "geekdom" and he has come through the test quite brilliantly. There is no doubt that the material is disturbing, and such a role would never have been envisaged as going to Power, but he must have fought Fox very hard to get the very different and provocative main part.

He is supported well by Coleen Gray, and particularly Joan Blondell - the rest of the cast shows what the "Carnies" life can be like. The underrated Helen Walker adds to the interest of such an offbeat movie. See it at your own risk of having a feeling of despair.

In Nightmare Alley, Tyrone Power is like the George Clooney of the 1940s, yet in a role with a pathetic side that Clooney has never dared to play. His cool, his eyes, his placid stance and walk, and his immovable self-confidence. Power is however more intense in this role than Clooney has ever been in any of his roles. Colleen Grey, the female lead, is one of the sexiest knockouts I've ever seen. I am sold when she first appears in her circus uniform, the glittery skivvies revealing that she is not skinny, but given to thick curves, especially in her smolderingly pliable and smooth hips. She plays a good-girl role, the role she always hated to play, wishing she had roles like Helen Walker's, who plays a wicked psychologist, and quite well.

The story is an interesting weaving of a con game, a horrific tale of descent, and a rags-to-riches story of luck. It's intriguing. Nightmare Alley is true film noir, whether it has gangs and guns or not, because we follow a main character who is suave and personable to without a conscience and almost a little ashamed of it. There are clever crimes, wicked antagonists, and dark, cutting cinematography. It's a must for noir fans.

Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power) starts as a barker in a traveling carnival. He is dismayed by the geek but is fascinated with coning the everyday sucker audience. He works for Mademoiselle Zeena and her drunken husband Pete in their reading act. He accidentally poisons Pete. Zeena is forced to teach him the act as her new partner. Meanwhile he's romancing younger performer Molly. It's meteoric rise to the top of popularity and a crash to the very bottom.

Tyrone Power is an old Hollywood matinee idol. I wish I like his character more in this movie. He's an ugly character but it's a compelling story arc. I don't find his rise that compelling but the fall is amazing. It is a poetic Greek tragedy. If I like the guy more, his fall would hurt a lot more.

Nightmare Alley is a remarkable film- it hardly blinks in showing a cynical, scheming "preacher" doing his thing.Given the norms of Hollywood at the time, or almost at any time,it does give you a lot to consider.Tyrone Power is brilliant, and the movie is actually quite close to the powerful (hard to find!) novel.In the best tradition of a movie that examines the dark side of society in an effectively muckraking way, it is a rare gem. I found the movie all the more effective for the fact that while Tyrone Power is in a quite uncharacteristic role. It is obvious he is strongly committed to the film and delivers a chilling, scary, thought provoking performance. The glimpses of the brutality of contemporary circus/side show life are in themselves interesting and disquieting. It is a rare film and even rarer book, but really worth the time.

This review of "Nightmare alley" (1947, Edmund Goulding) heavily depends on a comparison with "Nightmare alley" (2021, Guillermo del Toro). This may seem unfair to the film, but the remake by Del Toro was the occasion that put me on the trail of his 1947 predecessor. On top of that the comparison also gives us some insights into the differences between noir and neo noir.

Both films are based on a novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham (1946). For a (neo) noir the story has little fysical violence, but the cynicism of the main character is no less.

Of the differences between the movies the difference between black and white (1947) and color (2021) is most visible but least important.

More important is the fact that the characters of the 1947 version are more clear cut. This is true for Zeena (the teacher in mentalism of the main character, Joan Blondell in 1947, Toni Collette in 2021), Pete (the alcoholic man of Zeena, Ian Keith in 1947, David Strathairn in 2021) and above all for main character Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power in 1947, Bradley Cooper in 2021). In 1947 Stanton is not only cynical but also a hypocrite. Does he realy believe that he is helping members of his audience with their psychological problems?

You can assert that the 2021 characters are more nuanced, but all in all the more clear cut ones of 1947 do help in telling the story.

The single exception to the rule given above is femme fatale psychologist Lilith Ritter. Cate Blancett is a much more convincing femme fatale in the 2021 version than Helen Walker in the 1947 version.

Central element in the film is the hubris of Stanton Carlisle making a transition from mentalism to spiritualism. In the 1947 version the tarot cards of Zeena are used as a more prominent warning sign against this hubris. The relation between Zeena and Stanton made me think of the relation between the German officer Hermann and the grandmother of Tomsky in Alexander Pushkin's "Queen of spades".

Of course hubris can't go on without a punishment. In the 2021 version the dark ending (in line with the novel) contains a convincing punishment, thus coming to full circle with the beginning of the film. The half hearted happy end of the 1947 version shows all signs of interference on the part of the production company.

All in all both films have their strength and weaknesses. I conclude to a draw.

It's odd that I'd never heard of this film--I pride myself in my knowledge of movies from that era. Now, after seeing it, I really wonder why it's not among the more famous films of the later 1940s, as it's very slickly and intelligently written.

The DVD box advertises it as part of Twentieth Century Fox's "Film Noir" collection, and this is a tad deceiving. While it does have some elements of Noir, to me this isn't a noir film. Yes, there's some of the snappy and gritty Noir dialog, but only a bit. And while there is some crime in the film, it's not murder or robbery (the usual Noir themes), but fraud. But, I still think lovers of that genre will appreciate the film. What stands out most in my mind was the wonderful and well thought-out plot as well as the acting of Tyrone Power. The writers made this movie with a complex and engaging plot as well as a lot of terrific symbolism. Power, instead of his usual "nice guy" image, plays a despicable man--almost as rotten as the guy he played in the wonderful WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. Tyrone is a sociopathic con man who has no compunction about using those around him to get rich. Lying, stealing and conning are not usually the sort of behaviors I'd expect to see from the man--he did a much better job than I expected playing such a despicable rogue.

As far as describing the plot goes, it was rather reminiscent of Claude Rains' film THE CLAIRVOYANT as a starting point, but then morphs into a film highly reminiscent of ELMER GANTRY. A fine, fine film that I heartily recommend to all.

This was okay, but not as good as I had been led to believe it was, so it wound up being a disappointment. It just was one of the those film noirs that was a bit too seedy for my tastes. However, perhaps a second look with lower expectations might make me change my mind because it is an interesting story with good characters.....and a few memorable scenes.

Perhaps I got turned off too early, with all the tarot cards and occult baloney, featured mostly with Joan Blondell's character. For much of the film, Tyrone Power plays a fake evangelist of sorts, really more of a mind-reader but putting a slight religious twist on the routine.

To the movie's credit, Colleen Gray's character lectures him big-time about getting in trouble with God for what he is doing, which you wouldn't hear in today's movies.

The most interesting character in the film, to me, was the psychiatrist-turned- crook "Lillith Ritter," played by Helen Walker. She was fascinating as she goes into business with Power and then is involved in a neat "twist" at the end.

Power does a terrific job as the con man. Some say it was the best acting performance in his career. I have no trouble with that. Also, there's the usual nice film noir cinematography with a lot of dark shots. Gee, the more I write the more I regret getting rid of the DVD.

A dull, disappointing film that starts out as an intriguing noir and turns into a bloodless drama.

Tyrone Power plays a member of a tawdry, traveling carnival who capitalizes on his accidental murder of a member of a mentalist act by taking the man's place and learning his tricks. Cool set up. But then he leaves the carnival and sets out for the big city (Chicago, in this case, and as I'm from Chicago, it was admittedly fun to hear the name dropping of landmarks and neighborhoods that I know). He involves himself with a trio of women, first the wife of the man he killed (Joan Blondell), then a fellow carny performer who he marries (Coleen Gray) and lastly a head doctor who doesn't let professional pride get in the way of a good scheme (Helen Walker). But the movie is long and directed like sludge by Edmund Goulding. The carnival atmosphere at the film's opening is satisfyingly creepy, but once the story moved from there, my attention moved with it.

Blondell and Walker are kind of fun and inject some life into the movie, but not enough to save it.

Grade: C

One of the most obscure films produced by classic Hollywood. It's Tyrone Power in the role of his life and the tragedy of an ambitious circus apprentice becoming a con artist and gradually turning into a pseudo-religious guru. Both director Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel, Dark Victory) and writer W.L. Gresham committed suicide, and one can smell suicide in this gem of a film, that is the story of the embezzlement of a gift. That circus operates as a good metaphor of the B-system Hollywood of the 40's, where geeks worked side by sided with geniuses. The tarot cards foresee the worst: there's a geek in every man's soul, no matter how big one can be, a downfall no imposed `happy ending' can hide. In this nightmare populated by fun-fairs, alcoholism and eccentric millionaires obsessed with the deceased, the film version makes use of the essential from the source novel and provides the best invention: an unscrupulous psychiatrist who records her patients on tape and then blackmails them, a device that Brian de Palma himself would have be proud of.

Roll up, roll up for this most unusual film noir set in and around a travelling fun-fair. For one thing it stars erstwhile matinee idol Tyrone Power playing a gritty role as a low-level carnival worker con man determined to get on and for another it has no gun-play or violent deaths in its story. And yet its depiction of naked ambition, ruthlessness, lust and greed ticks all the black boxes making this a real rollercoaster of a movie.

Directed by Edmund Goulding of all people ( "Grand Hotel", "Dark Victory"), this is a fast moving, ever-changing movie which shows Power's Stanton, a lowly carny just one ring above the crazed freak in the show that the public come to see, called a geek in an earlier use of the well-known modern word, but who uses his silver tongue and good looks to step on people, starting with Joan Blundell's established and popular mind-reader, by stealing her act, accidentally widowing her, running away with the show strong-man's pretty young assistant and making it big on the Chicago dinner party circuit as a charismatic but charlatan fortune teller.

But even this isn't enough for Stan as he taps into spiritualism as a get-rich-quick way to con the elderly and susceptible rich of high society into parting with their wealth for shared "sightings" of past loved ones. However along the way he's crossed an equally ambitious and duplicitous young female lawyer who plays the biter-bit with him and in so doing knocks down his whole house of cards existence as we see him reduced to the lowest rung imaginable which indeed was set up in the film's opening scenes.

Power is remarkable, cast against type as the slick but heartless go-getter but there's worthy support everywhere in the cast from Blundell's blowsy but gullible swami, Coleen Gray as Power's devoted but in the end religious and honourable young lover, later his wife, Taylor Holmes as the old city gent he looks to take for a packet and especially Helen Walker as the ice-cool lawyer who gives her prey enough rope with which to step into the noose.

Sure, the story's far fetched in the extreme with some hard-to-believe narrative jumps along the way but it's so convincingly played and indeed directed that you willingly go all the way with Power on his spectacular rise and fall.

This carnival entertainment takes all the best rides in the show and serves them up in a compulsive, bleak manner that will have you queuing up back at the start to see it again.

This anomalous drama, light years ahead of its time in 1947, is set in a rustic time and place of American history. This is the Carnivals that once traveled from town to town where for a couple of hours the tedious routine of hard working people of the small towns and farms across the land could be shattered as a result of having their minds stretched by bizarre sideshows and their pockets emptied with fixed games of chance favoring the establishment.

By 1947 Tyrone Power, once considered one of the handsomest young men in the picture business, had established himself as one of Hollywood's leading stars. However his career was now on the downhill side of the climb. Thus, he needed a shot-in-the-arm powerful role. In this extraordinary concept and novel to movie story of human karma he found it. The nomenclature of Geek had a far different denotation than it does today. Here we get a front seat look at the full impact of its original meaning. Nightmare Alley is the true career showcase for Power's range as an actor. He is superb in this unforgettable portrayal.

The stage curtains open ...

Based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, "Nightmare Alley", starring Tyrone Power, caused quite the buzz upon its release back in 1947, and not all of it was good. Even so, Power lobbied for the movie to be made so that he could star in it - and it became his personal favorite film in which he had been involved with. It wasn't your typical film noir, but has since become to be regarded as a classic.

It is the story of the rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle (Power), who has humble beginnings as a carnival showman, or "barker", as they were called back in those days. He has a flirtatious relationship with Mademoiselle Zeena, a self-proclaimed mystery woman with mental powers - a ruse that her and her husband had worked up using a special code which allowed her to seem clairvoyant. But when her husband dies, she teaches Stanton how it works until they have a falling out, and he uses it to become "The Great Stanton", where he enamors audiences of great numbers in night clubs with his astounding mental powers. However, everything comes at a price.

This was an interesting film. It certainly wasn't what I expected. I went into it envisioning another "Night and the City" type of fare, but instead was given this. I can understand why it performed poorly at the box office, and where the criticisms came from. It seemed to infer, that if you "reach too high" and try to become godlike, then you are doomed to become lower than human - a "geek", as it were. I had to laugh at the use of this caricature. Today, a geek is typically associated with being nerdy or tech savvy. Back then, it meant you were an abomination - an eye sore of society.

For my part, I did enjoy "Nightmare Alley". It was different, well acted, and enjoyable. I don't necessarily agree with the underlying tones or suggestive biblical subtleties, but as a story, it was engaging. I would recommend this one at 7 stars out of 10 - and I am very interested in seeing what direction the upcoming new remake will take us.

A near perfect noir and yet, at the time of release, spurned by the studio themselves. Well, that's Hollywood! Anyway, we now have a superb DVD release and can all enjoy this wonderful film. From the great opening to the very end , this is all good, if very downbeat storytelling. Actually, a 'happy ending' has been tacked on at the very end, but I wouldn't imagine after all that has happened by then anyone would be taken in by it. there is a solid performance from Joan Blondell as the slightly, going to seed, 'mind act' performer and tarot enthusiast, Coleen Gray as the innocent would be femme fatale and a brilliant turn by Helen walker as the real thing with bells on. Wow, it is such a great performance, sexy, lovable but pure steel beneath the skin, a performance all the more impressive seeing as she was still recovering from a car crash and had limited movement. Mind you with such looks to kill, she had she didn't need to move very much. Tyrone Power turns in the performance of his career and it is a tragedy for him and for cinema that the studio should have so made certain that he did not get the re-launch he so wanted with this. This film is an absolute must see and you can be sure that whatever you are expecting you will be pleasantly surprised.

Edmund Goulding directed this melodrama that stars Tyrone power as Stan Carlisle, an ambitious carnival worker who is determined to learn the code used by Zeena(played by Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband Pete. After Pete dies, Stan moves in and takes over Pete's part, and they become a big hit, though he really loves fellow carny worker Molly(played by Coleen Gray). He tosses Zeena aside and starts his own act as "The Great Stanton" in high society and fancy nightclubs, but his past comes back to haunt him, not to mention his greedy nature will prove to be his undoing... Wild film has fine performances and atmosphere, but not especially high on credibility, though features an ending that will certainly leave an impression on viewer, and most distinct look at this kind of life since "Freaks"(1932).

Usually when one has read about a film for many years without having the opportunity to actually see it, one is disappointed when the viewing actually happens -- not so with Fox's "Nightmare Alley". Boasting an excellent script(Jules Furthman) and direction (Edmund Goulding)it also showcases actors Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray and Helen Walker to great advantage. Seldom, if ever have they given such fine performances as they do in this classic film. It is surprising that 20th Century Fox would have put so much money and talent into a film that must have been very difficult to sell -- but this is major production in every department. The large cast and excellent sets are all well used. The dialog is far above average and the performers each make it come to life. Power is excellent and Blondell comes through with one the strongest performances of her career. If you want something a little different and done well enough to invite additional viewings, then you will want to pick up a copy of "Nightmare Alley". P.S.: The Commentary track is well worth a listen.

There's no way to fully explain why Nightmare Alley was Tyrone Power's favorite of all his movies without completely spoiling it, since watching it is an experience and an insight into his soul. Whether or not you like him as an actor, you should watch this movie to see him pulling out all the stops. His role is as against type as he had played up until that point in his career, equaled perhaps only by The Sun Also Rises, ten years later when he played someone physically incapable of being a heartthrob. He puts his heart into Nightmare Alley, and it shows.

I went into this movie not know the supporting cast or the synopsis, and I recommend you do the same. The plot isn't a necessary point, and if you're immersed in it, it unfolds with much more intensity. Joan Blondell is given a few meaty scenes to show off her talent, and Helen Walker plays an evil, eerie villain. The black-and-white cinematography creates a creepy atmosphere and highlights the highs and lows of Ty's character, showing his raggedness and ruthlessness in a way that Technicolor wouldn't have. This movie needed to be in black-and-white because it's gritty and seedy and powerful.

I just learned, coincidentally the morning after I watched this movie, that there's a remake in the works. I'll never watch it because director Giullermo del Toro is guaranteed to make the film disgusting and graphic, as he did to his Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. The 1947 original lacked nothing, and the allusions to violence, sex, and grotesque graphics were even more powerful than showing the audience what was happening. There's an enormous amount of effectiveness in showing someone's reaction to something awful rather than the awfulness itself, and if you agree, stick with the original.

Earnest but callow carnival drama stars Tyrone Power as a muscular, ambitious stagehand who uses various women in his life to get ahead, discarding them once more lucrative opportunities come along. Screenwriter Jules Furthman, adapting William Lindsay Gresham's novel, is a bit lofty setting up this story, with an opening conversation that telegraphs the audience of the tragedies forthcoming. Power's performance is a real puzzler: he's on the mark and doesn't do anything out of character, but neither does he invest this anti-hero with any dimensions (indeed, labeling his Stanton Carlisle a 'cad' might seem harsh, as Carlisle appears oblivious to his own actions). Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray are both good in support, though too many of the central dramatic scenes (such as Stanton talking a hayseed sheriff out of raiding the carnival) are rote--they don't feel fresh. ** from ****