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Topic: Nightmare Alley (1947 film)

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	Noir of the Week: Nightmare Alley (1947)
		Without words, it sets the proper mood for the true essence of this fascinating film, which in my mind, is to examine the human predatory condition through both the hunter and the hunted in a variety of levels.
		But Nightmare Alley is quintessential film noir not only because it so powerfully presents the dark and decadent world of the carnival and its con artists, but some of the flest, bleakest characteristics of the human spirit.
		Blondell, a veteran of the gangster films who deserved more noir roles, is the embodiment of a woman who claims to be "as reliable as a two-dollar cornet." Mazurki is his usual gruff self as the big galoot whose strength is no match for Stanâs guile.
	noiroftheweek.blogspot.com /2005/05/nightmare-alley-1947.html (1252 words)

	Coleen Gray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Born 'Doris Jensen,' Colleen Gray was a genuine farmer's daughter from the cornfields of Nebraska, first scoring critical notice in Kiss of Death (1947), and the first occasion on which she would use her doe eyes to implore a crooked mug to sample the straight and narrow.
		Later that year, she starred in Nightmare Alley, a landmark film of noir cynicism as Molly, a carny lifer who hits the big time with scam mentalist, Tyrone Power.
		She also provided solid performances in Kansas City Confidential (1952), an under-rated film (and an early prelude to Reservoir Dogs) and The Killing (1956), the latter in which she plays a lonely woman desperate for love in noir city.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Coleen_Gray (205 words)

	village voice > film > Nightmare Alley ; Negative Space ; The Cup by J. Hoberman (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		Nightmare Alley, opening Friday at Cinema Village in a brand-new 35mm print, was one such wannabe Kane.
		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.
		Nightmare Alley is a grim morality tale in which gum-chewing smoothie Stanton Carlisle (Power, who appears in virtually every scene) graduates from barker to mind-reading mentalist to big-time spiritualist, while stringing along a succession of female costars—notably Joan Blondell as a warmhearted soothsayer and Colleen Gray as a winsome circus girl.
	www.villagevoice.com /film/0004,hoberman,12030,20.html (1024 words)

	Nightmare Alley (1947) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		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.
		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.
		He sometimes could appear rigid (though not in this film) but someone I knew saw him in a Broadway play and said it was like being alone in a room with him, he had such magnetism.
	us.imdb.com /title/tt0039661 (515 words)

	sfweekly.com \| News \| House Of Tudor
		Despite a somewhat sympathetic, padded ending, the film closely follows Gresham's misanthropic tale of a two-bit carnival mentalist, turned rich man's spiritualist, whose ill fate is laid out in a gruesome, though unseen, opening scene involving a chicken-eating geek and hard-boiled discussion of carny code.
		Gresham's nihilistic vision of the world was accompanied by acute alcoholism and abusive rages that eventually ended with suicide in a Skid Row hotel room some time after his wife fled to England to eventually marry the evangelical C.S. Lewis.
		The CD release party promises to be nothing short of cinematic as Custer invokes passion, foolishness, terror, joy, and a slew of guest players at Bruno's on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m.
	www.sfweekly.com /issues/1999-10-06/tudor.html (791 words)

	Nightmare Alley DVD Review from iofilm.co.uk (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		The extras comprise a filmed Introduction (9min) by writer and noir specialist Woody Haut, who declares Nightmare Alley to be "one of the darkest films of an already dark genre," in which "everyone...is either corrupt, venal, obsessive or gullible" (although this is not strictly true of many of Stanton's carnival colleagues).
		Haut also contributes a further 25 minutes of background on the film, including director Goulding's notoriety for bisexual orgies and "casting couch activity", and the fame of writer Gresham's wife for her subsequent relationship with C S Lewis (the inspiration for Shadowlands).
		Film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini provide the full length audio commentary, which is not only well informed, but also, owing to a definite prickliness in their interactions, unexpectedly entertaining - it is the film academics' equivalent of a cockfight.
	www.iofilm.co.uk /dvd/n/nightmare_alley_1947.shtml (325 words)

	Nightmare Alley (Masters Of Cinema) - DVDs & VHS - MovieMail UK
		Often described as the grimmest of all Hollywood films noir, Nightmare Alley's reputation as a cult classic reached near-mythical status due to a decades-long dispute between the film's producer and Fox, which prevented it being screened anywhere or even released on home video.
		The archetypal film noir with Stanwyck as the femme fatale in this tale of an insurance agent conniving with a b...
		The film performed poorly at the box office, yet he excels in a difficult role as a ruthless lowlife whose façade cracks as he is outsmarted by those around him.
	www.moviemail-online.co.uk /films/15724 (525 words)

	DVD Times - Nightmare Alley
		Nightmare Alley is atypical of film noirs by being made on an A-picture budget: the carnival in which most of the first half of the film takes place, was purpose-built on ten acres of ground.
		The film flopped, as audiences at the time weren’t prepared to take Power as such an unsympathetic, cold-hearted and opportunistic bastard, such a departure for a handsome leading man, and he followed public demand and returned to the more lightweight films with which he'd made his name.
		As you would expect for a film of this vintage, it was shot in Academy Ratio (1.37:1) and is presented on DVD in a full-frame 4:3 transfer.
	www.dvdtimes.co.uk /content.php?contentid=57662 (1289 words)

	NIGHTMARE ALLEY - DVD
		The film is smart enough to lay waste to not just the traditional target of spiritualists, but also the modern voodoo science of psychology--both in their own way valid, but with powers blown so far out of proportion that they become vivid media for drawing the long con.
		But the film smashes into your gut for reasons that have nothing to do with narrative or background noise, for Stanton actually does have a modicum of psychic ability, and his schizophrenic mix of sucker show with the real McCoy has disquieting things to say about the space between the genuine article and creative spin.
		Nightmare Alley is a damn near unmissable film.
	www.filmfreakcentral.net /dvdreviews/nightmarealley.htm (699 words)

	BBC Radio 4 - The Film Programme - Cameron Diaz
		Film historian Jeffrey Richards discusses the rediscovery of 1947 film noir 'Nightmare Alley'.
		'Nightmare Alley', certificate PG, is released on DVD on 14 November 2005 as part of The Masters of Cinema Series.
		The film follows two key members of the US and Canadian quadriplegic rugby squads whose rivalry is of Shakespearean intensity.
	www.bbc.co.uk /radio4/arts/filmprogramme/filmprogramme_20051112.shtml (318 words)

	Amazon.com: Out of the Past (1947) (1947) : Video (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		As the film opens, he is the owner of a small town gas station; he's romancing a beautiful girl (Virginia Huston) and his life seems idyllic.
		It's considered a film noir classic because of the complicated plot developments, the unsavory characters (especially Greer and Douglas), the fatalistic outlook, and the atmospheric photography (lots of night scenes and shadowy overtones).
		This film was filmed in gorgeous fl and white, meticulously framed in each shot whether capturing a closeup of gorgeous Mitchum and Greer, or stunning location shots in San Francisco, the Rockies and Mexico.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6301491920?v=glance (2239 words)

	Combustible Celluloid film review - Nightmare Alley (1947), Edmund Goulding, Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, dvd review
		Nightmare Alley tells the story of Stan (Tyrone Power), a drifter who has worked many jobs before ending up in a carnival.
		But this is film noir, and in the end, everything falls apart in the most vicious and circular way.
		Nightmare Alley is a terrific movie, pulled off with a tremendous amount of skill.
	www.combustiblecelluloid.com /nightalley.shtml (999 words)

	channel4.com/film - Nightmare Alley (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		Nightmare Alley has gained legendary status amongst aficionados of bleak 1940s cinema.
		Fortunately the contractual problems were resolved in time for a cleaned up version of the print to be released in 2005 and it's once again possible to judge the film on its own merits.
		Those who like their films hard, their leading men cynical and their femmes fatal won't be disappointed.
	www.channel4.com /film/reviews/film.jsp?id=106504 (196 words)

	Nightmare Alley (1947) - Directed by Edmund Goulding : Remote Control : Pif No. 37 - June 2000 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		Edmund Goulding’s film of William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel Nightmare Alley may just be the great forgotten American film; it is certainly the darkest film that came from the Hollywood studio system in the '40s.
		From here, the film becomes the kind of cat-and-mouse game between Lilith and Stan that one sees now in the work of David Mamet.
		What ultimately makes the film so unusual and even a bit subversive is that for such a dark vision, the film operates well within the glossy studio sheen of the '40s.
	www.pifmagazine.com /2000/06/v_nightmare_alley.php3 (821 words)

	Amazon.com: Nightmare Alley: DVD: Edmund Goulding,Tyrone Power,Joan Blondell,Coleen Gray,Helen Walker,Taylor ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		The long-awaited emergence of Nightmare Alley into the light of DVD should achieve two things: make a legendary film noir available to a new generation, and restore the horrific charge to the lately watered-down term geek, a concept that once had the power to give people very bad dreams indeed.
		Nightmare Alley is a twisted ride from the start in its depiction of the ugly side of carnival life.
		Nightmare Alley, the sixth in the series, is a B+ film with a D- DVD treatment.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007ZEO8C?v=glance (2463 words)

	Nightmare Alley
		The conflicted nature of his personality is certainly evident in the gloomy patina of Nightmare Alley, especially in the night-shadow sequences of the carnival action that occupy the first half of the film.
		The second half of the film concerns Stan's rise to fame as "The Great Stanton", a slick player who reads the minds of the rich and vulnerable in the Spode Room, a nightclub in Chicago's tony Hotel Sherman.
		The film was a box office failure, despite being a Zanuck response to the austere docu style of the neo-realist films coming out of Italy at the time.
	www.culturecourt.com /F/Noir/NightmareAlley.htm (2181 words)

	REPEAT PERFORMANCE / 1947 Noir Reveals Geeks Within / Tyrone Power creepy in `Nightmare Alley'
		``Nightmare Alley,'' a 1947 film noir that starts a one-week run at the Roxie Cinema today, is about a fellow who looks great from the outside.
		``Nightmare Alley'' is a strange and rather sick movie made by highly talented people.
		``Nightmare Alley,'' which was released 52 years ago tomorrow, has achieved legendary status, and yet it has rarely been seen in theaters.
	www.sfgate.com /cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/10/08/DD17057.DTL (394 words)

	Taylor Holmes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Actor Taylor Holmes (May 16, 1872-September 30, 1959) appeared in over 100 plays in his five decade career as an actor on Broadway.
		However, he's probably best remembered for his film roles, which he began in silent movies in 1917 before working more in films than on stage in the 1940s.
		Holmes played a number of memorable roles including the gulliable millionare conned in Nightmare Alley (1947), a shifty lawyer in Kiss of Death (1947) and the voice of King Steffan in Walt Disney's animated feature Sleeping Beauty (1959) - Holmes last credited screen role.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Taylor_Holmes (127 words)

	Nightmare Alley (1947)
		It was reportedly Power's favourite performance among his films, one that allowed him to shuck handsome leading man roles and get into something that held a real complexity.
		It's a film that seems haunted by a preternatural sense of doom and of the fatalistic inevitability of the fate held by the tarot cards.
		The irony of the final consigning of Power full circle into the same role as Pete, as all outlined by the ambiguous destiny foretold in the tarot cards, is particularly savage.
	www.moria.co.nz /fantasy/nightmarealley.htm (473 words)

	The DVD Journal \| Quick Reviews: Nightmare Alley
		An odd pattern has emerged over the years in cinema: The films usually most revered by each year's end find themselves eventually lost to the ether, while many once reviled or written off find their audience in future generations.
		Look at 1947: the Academy Award winner for Best Picture was Gentleman's Agreement, which is now most notable for being a rather shallow look at anti-Semitism, whereas movies like Out of the Past and The Lady From Shanghai were ignored by the Academy for being genre efforts.
		Of course, those films had their fans at the time (and using the Oscars as an arbiter of quality amounts to little more than swinging at a straw man), but even darker and less renowned pictures — like 1947's Nightmare Alley — were met with confusion and distaste, only to be rediscovered and revered.
	www.dvdjournal.com /quickreviews/n/nightmarealley.q.shtml (818 words)

	DVDFILE.COM: Fox Film Noir vols. 5, 6: The Street With No Name / Nightmare Alley Review
		And the fifth and sixth volumes of the series - The Street With No Name and Nightmare Alley - may not be the most recognizable titles in the Fox noir pantheon, but watching them still brings a cigar-haze glee to anyone who gets off on fedoras and dark, gunplay-laden nighttime activity.
		The Street With No Name edges out Nightmare Alley to be the truly exemplary title here, and mostly because it comes out of nowhere to pack a mean, gutsy punch.
		But that's what continues to be so fresh and exciting about Fox Film Noir as a DVD release group: All six of their releases have been fantastic.
	www.dvdfile.com /software/review/dvd-video_11/fox_film_noir.html (600 words)

	Film Review: Nightmare Alley (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		Even if its A-picture budget and the complete absence of cops, gangsters or guns, make it a somewhat deviant member of the genre, there is no denying Edmund Gould's Nightmare Alley its status as a film noir, thanks to the chiaroscuro lighting of Lee Garmes, the lowlife characters and a determinedly bleak worldview.
		Ultimately, his attempts to be taken seriously as an actor failed and he returned to playing romantic leads, but his performance in Nightmare Alley is unquestionably the best of his career.
		Before Nightmare Alley, Freud-loving cinema had treated the profession of psychology with reverence, but here for the first time it is depicted as an elaborate scam, more sophisticated, if no less manipulative, than carnival showmanship.
	www.iofilm.co.uk /fm/n/nightmare_alley_1947.shtml (612 words)

	Tyrone Power (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-12)
		During a grueling fight scene for the film, "Soloman and Sheba", he suffered heart failure and died at a nearby Madrid hospital.
		He played an outright rotter in Nightmare Alley (1947), one of his best parts, as a manipulative mindreader at a successful carnival.
		Captain From Castile (also 1947), a sober adventure film, was one of his biggest successes of the postwar period.
	www.movietreasures.com /main/Tyrone_Power/tyrone_power.html (1248 words)

	Hour.ca - Film - Movie details - Nightmare Alley
		A newly restored print of this much-neglected gem from 1947 treats audiences to a wacky trip down noir memory lane.
		The film is a bleak, psychologically sinister voyage into the dark corners of carnival life, with Power starring as a hubristic ladies' man-cum-charlatan determined to make the big time, no matter what.
		The film is beautifully shot, gorgeous-looking shadows, very 'noir' in appreance.
	www.hour.ca /film/movie.aspx?iIDFilm=1018&v=vo (511 words)

	Home Theater Forum - HTF REVIEW: Nightmare Alley
		The theatrical trailer for Nightmare Alley is included on here but something seems wrong: the narration is missing.
		A noir not based on crime but rather a tragic set of events, Nightmare Alley is a different addition to the noir titles since Panic in the Streets.
		The whole film reeks of tragedy; you know the characters are in for a rough ride.
	www.hometheaterforum.com /htforum/printpost.php?postid=2698162 (996 words)

	dOc DVD Review: Nightmare Alley (1947)
		The film of the book would pop up at a revival house every now and again, and no home video release ever happened—until now.
		This isn't a classic film, a story for the ages, but it's dark and murky and freakish, exploring the worst aspects of our nature—it's just what you want in a film noir, and this one is a dilly.
		Tyrone Power stars as Stanton Carlisle, who is coasting along in a ratty bow tie as part of a cut-rate carny—but of course he dreams of grander things, and he's looking for his ticket to the big time.
	www.digitallyobsessed.com /showreview.php3?ID=7418 (861 words)

	A Pool of Primal Fear - June 14, 2005 - The New York Sun
		The 1947 film "Nightmare Alley" is not as compelling, convincing, or original as William Lindsay Gresham's novel, a best seller of the previous year, but its own virtues cannot be denied.
		Considering the material - degradation, adultery, alcoholism, murder, larceny, spiritualism, high-stakes cons, and child abuse, set against the Depression scrim of anarchy, racism, desperation, and top-down corruption - we may marvel that the film was made at all.
		We may also assume that the film was made 25 years too soon, in an era when the motion-picture code and a nervous studio chief (Daryl Zanuck) mandated a softer focus, a softened protagonist, and, if you don't look too closely, what passes for a happy ending.
	www.nysun.com /article/15378 (334 words)

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