*spoilers*
Nightmare Alley is
a 1947 film-noir starring Tyrone Power and Coleen Gray, based on a book by
William Lindsay Gresham. For a black and white film, I found the movie very well-paced
and entertaining throughout. The plot starts at a carny show where Stan Carlile
serves as an assistant to the highly revered mentalist, Zeena—whose husband and
partner happens to also be a raging alcoholic. Two things are evident from
the start: Stanton “Stan” Carlisle is quite the ladies man (he courts Coleen
Gray’s character, Molly, directly in front of her partner, Bruno), and he’s
going to be taking over the big show in no time. One of my favorite scenes is
when the local sheriff threatens to lock away Molly for her bikini-esque
outfit, but then her colleagues strap her to an electric chair to prove that
if she had any clothing on in the first place, she’d surely catch on fire
during her act. A+ for the electricity effect!
Eventually, Stan and Molly leave the carny show behind and
move onto fancier digs at a nightclub in the city. Stan encounters Lilith
Ritter, a psychoanalyst, at one of his shows, and quickly discovers that Ritter’s
profession can be of use to his act. But right away you can tell Ritter’s intentions
are less than sincere (evil eyes), and Helen Walker does a perfect job as the
cunning foil to Stan’s hustler act. Unfortunately for poor ole Stan, he doesn’t
remain in the big leagues for very long and ends up drinking himself back to
carni-land where a manager offers him a gig at the “geek show.” Undoubtedly my
other favorite scene of the movie: Stan haggardly looking up, taking a shot of
rubbing alcohol, and admitting to his boss that he’s found the right type of
guy for the act. Luckily though, Molly
comes in and rescues Stanny boy at the very end.