GOTTA SEE IT # 13 - "NIGHTMARE ALLEY"
“NIGHTMARE ALLEY”
Starring: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith.
Written by: William Lindsay Gresham (novel), Jules Furthman (screenplay)
Directed by: Edmond Goulding
B & W – 1947
110 mins.
U.S.A.
Ambition – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen or heard that word used in a positive context. Actually, correction, I can – 1,750,356 times. Okay, I may be off by a few. Judging by those honest to goodness numbers, it’s often assumed that if someone is ambitious they are to be respected. It doesn’t take long to come up with dozens of examples of folks you wished had no desires beyond living a quiet, peaceful, absolutely average life. Talented Carny huckster Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power), plying his trickster trade in this is seedy stunner from 1947, is one such sad case.
Opening in the colourful carnival world of cons, strong men and geeks, Nightmare Alley charts Stanton’s journey from lowly mind-reading act assistant to high society clairvoyant to messianic swindler in stunning dramatic strokes. Ironically, his first act of ambition is accidental – as if he was operating unconsciously or, as is more in keeping with the flavour of the film, mysterious outer forces were at work to assure him of his greedy goal.
Throughout the film, the obvious fakery of Stanton’s con is balanced by some genuine and unexplainable forces – some for which Stanton, himself, is responsible. This apparent contradiction makes the film a much more interesting and complex ride then it otherwise would have been. It becomes a twisted tale of a man practicing a fake version of a very real phenomenon, which, in the end, claims him as a victim. Stanton knows he’s a fake in his craft, but his superstitious nature causes him to believe in the craft nonetheless. That is his true downfall - a clever and deeply ironic one at that.
Although somewhat flawed by what usually plagues a lot of otherwise really fine classic films – overly obvious dialogue, stiff acting and a compromised ending – Nightmare Alley nevertheless amazes with its’ innate understanding of human wants and needs, the beautifully inky blacks of its’ fine chiaroscuro cinematography by Lee Garmes (Forever and a Day, Lady in a Cage), and several stunning set-pieces. One such set-piece is so sad, so soaked with human longing and desperation and casual cruelty that it caught me off guard – as if I was convinced that no movie could so easily and artfully transcend the Hayes Code to present such a wrenching exhibition of human depravity.
One of the top Hollywood film noirs, Nightmare Alley is a cautionary tale, if there ever was one, and a fine example of a typecast Hollywood star, Tyrone Power, stretching his talents to reveal a depth which had previously gone unnoticed.
Starring: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith.
Written by: William Lindsay Gresham (novel), Jules Furthman (screenplay)
Directed by: Edmond Goulding
B & W – 1947
110 mins.
U.S.A.
Ambition – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen or heard that word used in a positive context. Actually, correction, I can – 1,750,356 times. Okay, I may be off by a few. Judging by those honest to goodness numbers, it’s often assumed that if someone is ambitious they are to be respected. It doesn’t take long to come up with dozens of examples of folks you wished had no desires beyond living a quiet, peaceful, absolutely average life. Talented Carny huckster Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power), plying his trickster trade in this is seedy stunner from 1947, is one such sad case.
Opening in the colourful carnival world of cons, strong men and geeks, Nightmare Alley charts Stanton’s journey from lowly mind-reading act assistant to high society clairvoyant to messianic swindler in stunning dramatic strokes. Ironically, his first act of ambition is accidental – as if he was operating unconsciously or, as is more in keeping with the flavour of the film, mysterious outer forces were at work to assure him of his greedy goal.
Throughout the film, the obvious fakery of Stanton’s con is balanced by some genuine and unexplainable forces – some for which Stanton, himself, is responsible. This apparent contradiction makes the film a much more interesting and complex ride then it otherwise would have been. It becomes a twisted tale of a man practicing a fake version of a very real phenomenon, which, in the end, claims him as a victim. Stanton knows he’s a fake in his craft, but his superstitious nature causes him to believe in the craft nonetheless. That is his true downfall - a clever and deeply ironic one at that.
Although somewhat flawed by what usually plagues a lot of otherwise really fine classic films – overly obvious dialogue, stiff acting and a compromised ending – Nightmare Alley nevertheless amazes with its’ innate understanding of human wants and needs, the beautifully inky blacks of its’ fine chiaroscuro cinematography by Lee Garmes (Forever and a Day, Lady in a Cage), and several stunning set-pieces. One such set-piece is so sad, so soaked with human longing and desperation and casual cruelty that it caught me off guard – as if I was convinced that no movie could so easily and artfully transcend the Hayes Code to present such a wrenching exhibition of human depravity.
One of the top Hollywood film noirs, Nightmare Alley is a cautionary tale, if there ever was one, and a fine example of a typecast Hollywood star, Tyrone Power, stretching his talents to reveal a depth which had previously gone unnoticed.
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