Nightmare Alley (1947) - Movie Review

#TyronePower #JoanBlondell #ColeenGray
Nightmare Alley from 1947, was a mysterious noir film that tells the story of the rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a carnival performer who eventually makes it big as a mentalist performer, but one who rises to the top through deceit and manipulation. Also starring Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray and Helen Walker, this film was excellent, edgy, and a little bit dark, but I really enjoyed it. Thanks again to my friend Florida Greg for recommending awesome films like this.
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Opening credits taken from The Blob (1958) and Casablanca (1942).
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Now go and enjoy some of these old classics!

[@cree8vision]

Here's a few old films I've discovered in the last few years that are exceptional: This Gun for Hire, Moonrise, Scarlet Street (Joan Bennett), I Wake Up Screaming, The Dark Corner ('46), Whirlpool ('49), The Innocents (1960), Night Visitor (Max Von Sydow)

[@OldMovieRob]

Awesome! Adding these to my list. Thanks!!

[@greg33770]

Excellent Movie !👍

[@aranerem5569]

Hello Rob

[@anon0124]

Hey. Really enjoyed this. This would be so much better if it was “spoiled”. It was compelling hearing this but I can’t imagine actually watching this movie. Hearing you retell it was the interesting part

[@VicenteTorresAliasVits]

NIGHTMARE ALLEY 1947 is an entertaining drama, but it would've been much better had the story taken place entirely at the carnival. Those who work there fool crowds into thinking they have special abilities. A couple of people try and fail to expose them in the middle of a performance. Two of the "carnies" (Stan Carlisle and his wife Molly) go on a journey of moral debates and emotional crisis. Unfortunately, there's so much filler that the plot never comes together as a whole. 6/10 The production values in NIGHTMARE ALLEY 2021 aren't bad, but I can't bring myself to call them anything other than competent, making this the rare Guillermo del Toro movie where the visual style didn't leave me in awe. Even in THE SHAPE OF WATER, where the use of light and colors wasn't as unique as the rest of his filmography, he managed to bring us a lot of memorable shots. The performances are good, except for Rooney Mara's, while the pacing is even worse compared to the previous adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's novel. *Spoilers ahead!* What truly convinced me that this version is inferior is the scene where Stan tries to scam a man named Ezra Grindle. He asks Molly to pose as the ghost of his dead wife. In the previous movie, Stan made sure there was enough distance between Molly and Grindle, so he wouldn't notice that she was an impostor. Molly felt so much guilt that she revealed her true self to Grindle. Here, Grindle doesn't listen to Stan and runs towards Molly. He falls on his knees right before he embraces her, so he doesn't make eye contact. It's not until this moment that Molly's culpability causes her to break down. When he stands up and looks at her, there's no indication that he wouldn't have discovered the truth on his own had she remained silent. That makes her choice less meaningful, doesn't it? 5/10

[@willowbell3756]

I'd love to see this version, I saw the new one and the story is the same, it is very disturbing. In the new version he's charismatic to a fault without being likeable. He turned into a creep around the same time in the film, but was sinister ish from the start. Still you couldn't put your finger on it, he was so troubled. Zena loved Pete but he was lost and dying, and like Zena, Pete warned Stan about his trade and his destiny and you got the feeling they liked each other. The new version is probably more dramatic cos of the time it was made, but dark as night. The bit where he went up to the policeman in the circus to defend Molly and to mesmerise him in the way he learned from Pete, is one of my best horror moments ever, it was so creepy. The 3 contrasting roles of the women was the same in the new film, brilliant. The carnival people were tight but their life was very tough and seedy in lots of ways. Molly's act was busking between the shows to attract people in to the big top.

[@OldMovieRob]

I read the details of the new one and it sounded like they added some strong content to bring it to an R rating, which I didn't think was necessary in retelling this story.

[@harryzlotzlottos5715]

I wonder how the movie would’ve turned out if Don Rickles played the role of Stan….and Percy Kilbride played Pete….why stop there…how about we get Marjorie Main as the shrewd Dr Lilith…Cheers.

[@OldMovieRob]

Well shucks, now you've got me wanting to watch the Ma and Pa Kettle films, haha!

[@harryzlotzlottos5715]

@@OldMovieRob You can see Kilbride in the noir classic ‘Fallen Angel’ 1945…. thanks

[@diego-search]

Very good evaluation of the 3 women characters and how their portrayals contrasts with each other. The studio system ,utilized character and background players very well.