Synopsis
Stanton Carlisle joins a seedy carnival, working with "Mademoiselle Zeena" and her alcoholic husband, Pete.
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Cast
- Tyrone PowerStanton 'Stan' Carlisle
- Helen WalkerLilith Ritter
- Coleen GrayMolly Carlisle
- Joan BlondellZeena Krumbein
- Taylor HolmesEzra Grindle
- Mike MazurkiBruno
- Ian KeithPete Krumbein
- Roy RobertsMcGraw - Final Carnival Owner (uncredited)
- Florence AuerJane (uncredited)
- Bonnie BannonKnife Thrower's Assistant (uncredited)
- 88
Slant Magazine
Edmund Goulding’s Nightmare Alley viscerally understands the lurid appeal of carnivals and acts of illusion. - 80
Time
Scripter Jules Furthman and Director Edmund Goulding have steered a middle course, now & then crudely but on the whole with tact, skill and power. - 80
Time Out
Though perhaps it tries too hard to be 'respectable' and downplays its tawdry trash vulgarity a little too much (the film is tough, but William Lindsay Gresham's superb novel is even tougher), this is still a mean, moody, and well-nigh magnificent melodrama. - 80
The Guardian
It's an authentically bilious look at the world and its morals as Tyrone Power, taking decisive strides from the standard romantic hero roles he had been typecast in, rises from a travelling carnival mind-reading act to a high society shown to be even more corrupt. - 80
Variety
Nightmare Alley is a harsh, brutal story [based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham] told with the sharp clarity of an etching. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
It's a one-of-a-kind experience -- dark, bleak, twisted carnival noir. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
As much EC comic as noir, Nightmare Alley is strong on atmosphere (thanks to Lee Garmes’ shadowy cinematography) and performances (particularly Joan Blondell, as fellow mind reader Zeena), but doesn’t quite deliver on its lurid pulp premise. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Carefully constructing Power's rise and fall, director Goulding is merciless in his inspection of a character who is rotten through and through