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Nightmare Alley (1947 film)
Encyclopedia
Nightmare Alley is a 20th Century Fox
film noir
starring Tyrone Power
and Joan Blondell
, and directed by Edmund Goulding
. The movie rights for the 1946 novel of the same name
, written by William Lindsay Gresham
, were bought by Power, who planned on starring in the film. Power wanted to expand his limited range, playing romantic swashbuckler
types, by taking the unsavory lead, "The Great Stanton". It premiered in the US on October 9, 1947, then met with wide release on October 28, 1947, later having six more European releases between November 1947 to May 1954.
To make the film more believable, the producers built a full working carnival on ten acres (40,000 m²) of the 20th Century Fox back lot. They also hired over 100 sideshow
attractions and carnival people to add further authenticity.
The movie follows the rise and fall of a con man — a story that begins and ends at a seedy traveling carnival
. Stanton "Stan" Carlisle (Tyrone Power
) joins the carnival, working with "Mademoiselle Zeena" (Joan Blondell
) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith
). They were once a top-billed act, using an ingenious code to make it appear that she had extraordinary mental powers, until her (unspecified) misdeeds drove Pete to drink and reduced them to working in a third-rate outfit. Stanton learns that many people want to buy the code from Zeena for a lot of money, but she won't sell; she is saving it as a nest egg. He tries to romance Zeena into teaching it to him, but she remains faithful to her husband. One night in Texas, Stanton accidentally gives Pete the wrong bottle; he dies from drinking wood alcohol instead of moonshine
. To keep her act going, she is forced to train Stanton to be her assistant.
Stanton however, prefers the company of the younger Molly (Coleen Gray
). When this is found out, they are forced into a shotgun marriage by the rest of the carnies
. No longer welcome, Stanton realizes this is actually a golden opportunity for him. He and his wife leave the carnival. He becomes "The Great Stanton", performing with great success in expensive nightclubs. However, he has higher ambitions. With crooked Chicago psychologist Lilith Ritter (Helen Walker
) providing him with information about her patients, Stan passes himself off as someone who can actually communicate with the dead. It almost works. But when he tries to swindle skeptical Ezra Grindle (Taylor Holmes
), it all comes crashing down when Molly is unable to force herself to continue the masquerade as Grindle's long-lost love. The couple leave town hurriedly; Stanton tells Molly to return to the carnival world, while he gradually sinks into alcoholism.
Finally, the fallen carny tries to get a job at another carnival, only to suffer the ultimate degradation: the only job he can get is playing the geek
in a sideshow
. Unable to stand his life any further, he goes berserk, but fortunately, Molly happens to work in the same carnival. Stan regains hope when he sees her again.
review commented, "If one can take any moral value out of Nightmare Alley it would seem to be that a terrible retribution is the inevitable consequence for he who would mockingly attempt to play God. Otherwise, the experience would not be very rewarding for, despite some fine and intense acting by Mr. Power and others, this film traverses distasteful dramatic ground and only rarely does it achieve any substance as entertainment."
The Variety
magazine review complimented the film's acting, noting that "Nightmare Alley is a harsh, brutal story [based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham] told with the sharp clarity of an etching ... Most vivid of these is Joan Blondell as the girl he works for the secrets of the mind-reading act. Coleen Gray is sympathetic and convincing as his steadfast wife and partner in his act and Helen Walker comes through successfully as the calculating femme who topples Power from the heights of fortune back to degradation as the geek in the carney. Ian Keith is outstanding as Blondell's drunken husband."
In a 2000 review of the film in The Village Voice
, writer J. Hoberman
commented, "This 1947 account of an archetypal American's rise and fall is neither a great movie nor even a classic noir but it has a great ambition to be daring and, once seen, is not easily forgotten. The movie suggested far more than it showed but what it showed, including the climactic degradation of 20th Century Fox's then-major star Tyrone Power, was remarkably sordid for so high-profile a release."
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
starring Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
and Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
, and directed by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
. The movie rights for the 1946 novel of the same name
Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley is a novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It is a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants- the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival filled with hustlers, scheming grifters, and Machiavellian femme fatales....
, written by William Lindsay Gresham
William Lindsay Gresham
William Lindsay Gresham was an American novelist and non-fiction author particularly regarded among readers of noir. His best-known work is Nightmare Alley , which was adapted into a 1947 film starring Tyrone Power.- Biography :Gresham was born in Baltimore, Maryland...
, were bought by Power, who planned on starring in the film. Power wanted to expand his limited range, playing romantic swashbuckler
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
types, by taking the unsavory lead, "The Great Stanton". It premiered in the US on October 9, 1947, then met with wide release on October 28, 1947, later having six more European releases between November 1947 to May 1954.
To make the film more believable, the producers built a full working carnival on ten acres (40,000 m²) of the 20th Century Fox back lot. They also hired over 100 sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
attractions and carnival people to add further authenticity.
Plot
Traveling carnival
A traveling carnival is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, animal acts or sideshow curiosities. A traveling carnival is not set up at a permanent location, like an amusement park, but is moved from...
. Stanton "Stan" Carlisle (Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
) joins the carnival, working with "Mademoiselle Zeena" (Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith
Ian Keith
-Life and career:Born Keith Ross in Boston, Massachusetts, Ian Keith was a veteran character actor of the legitimate theater, and appeared in a variety of colorful roles in silent features of the 1920s. His stage training made him a natural choice for the new "talking pictures"; he played John...
). They were once a top-billed act, using an ingenious code to make it appear that she had extraordinary mental powers, until her (unspecified) misdeeds drove Pete to drink and reduced them to working in a third-rate outfit. Stanton learns that many people want to buy the code from Zeena for a lot of money, but she won't sell; she is saving it as a nest egg. He tries to romance Zeena into teaching it to him, but she remains faithful to her husband. One night in Texas, Stanton accidentally gives Pete the wrong bottle; he dies from drinking wood alcohol instead of moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
. To keep her act going, she is forced to train Stanton to be her assistant.
Stanton however, prefers the company of the younger Molly (Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. She is known for her roles in the films Nightmare Alley , Red River , in which she played John Wayne's fiancée, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing .-Early career:Born Doris Jensen, Gray was a farmer's daughter...
). When this is found out, they are forced into a shotgun marriage by the rest of the carnies
Carny
Carny or carnie is a slang term used in North America and, along with showie, in Australia for a carnival employee, as well as the language they employ...
. No longer welcome, Stanton realizes this is actually a golden opportunity for him. He and his wife leave the carnival. He becomes "The Great Stanton", performing with great success in expensive nightclubs. However, he has higher ambitions. With crooked Chicago psychologist Lilith Ritter (Helen Walker
Helen Walker
Not to be confused with the singer-actress Helen Roberts WalkerHelen Walker was an American movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s....
) providing him with information about her patients, Stan passes himself off as someone who can actually communicate with the dead. It almost works. But when he tries to swindle skeptical Ezra Grindle (Taylor Holmes
Taylor Holmes
Taylor Holmes was an actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his film roles, which he began in silent movies in 1917. By the 1940s, he was working more on film than on stage...
), it all comes crashing down when Molly is unable to force herself to continue the masquerade as Grindle's long-lost love. The couple leave town hurriedly; Stanton tells Molly to return to the carnival world, while he gradually sinks into alcoholism.
Finally, the fallen carny tries to get a job at another carnival, only to suffer the ultimate degradation: the only job he can get is playing the geek
Geek show
Geek Shows were an act in traveling circuses of early America and were often part of a larger sideshow. The billed performer's act consisted of a single geek, who stood in center ring to chase live chickens. It ended with the performer biting the chickens' heads off and swallowing them...
in a sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
. Unable to stand his life any further, he goes berserk, but fortunately, Molly happens to work in the same carnival. Stan regains hope when he sees her again.
Cast
- Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
as Stanton "Stan" Carlisle - Joan BlondellJoan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
as Zeena Krumbein - Coleen GrayColeen GrayColeen Gray is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. She is known for her roles in the films Nightmare Alley , Red River , in which she played John Wayne's fiancée, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing .-Early career:Born Doris Jensen, Gray was a farmer's daughter...
as Molly Carlisle - Helen WalkerHelen WalkerNot to be confused with the singer-actress Helen Roberts WalkerHelen Walker was an American movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s....
as Lilith Ritter - Taylor HolmesTaylor HolmesTaylor Holmes was an actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his film roles, which he began in silent movies in 1917. By the 1940s, he was working more on film than on stage...
as Ezra Grindle - Mike MazurkiMike MazurkiMike Mazurki was an Austrian-born American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in over 100 movies. His towering 6' 5" presence and intimidating face usually got him roles playing tough guys, thugs, strong men, and gangsters.Mazurki was born as Mikhail Mazurkevych in Tarnopol, Galicia,...
as Bruno - Ian KeithIan Keith-Life and career:Born Keith Ross in Boston, Massachusetts, Ian Keith was a veteran character actor of the legitimate theater, and appeared in a variety of colorful roles in silent features of the 1920s. His stage training made him a natural choice for the new "talking pictures"; he played John...
as Pete Krumbein
Critical reaction
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review commented, "If one can take any moral value out of Nightmare Alley it would seem to be that a terrible retribution is the inevitable consequence for he who would mockingly attempt to play God. Otherwise, the experience would not be very rewarding for, despite some fine and intense acting by Mr. Power and others, this film traverses distasteful dramatic ground and only rarely does it achieve any substance as entertainment."
The Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine review complimented the film's acting, noting that "Nightmare Alley is a harsh, brutal story [based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham] told with the sharp clarity of an etching ... Most vivid of these is Joan Blondell as the girl he works for the secrets of the mind-reading act. Coleen Gray is sympathetic and convincing as his steadfast wife and partner in his act and Helen Walker comes through successfully as the calculating femme who topples Power from the heights of fortune back to degradation as the geek in the carney. Ian Keith is outstanding as Blondell's drunken husband."
In a 2000 review of the film in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, writer J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
James Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
commented, "This 1947 account of an archetypal American's rise and fall is neither a great movie nor even a classic noir but it has a great ambition to be daring and, once seen, is not easily forgotten. The movie suggested far more than it showed but what it showed, including the climactic degradation of 20th Century Fox's then-major star Tyrone Power, was remarkably sordid for so high-profile a release."
External links
- Nightmare Alley film trailer at You Tube