A Reel Retro Review: NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947)

Reel Speak’s Retro Reviews will randomly review a classic film with the intention of introducing some overlooked and perhaps forgotten gems of the past.  

Director Guillermo del Toro’s psychological thriller film NIGHTMARE ALLEY is currently in theaters (read Reel Speak’s review HERE), which was based on the 1946 novel of the same name. That novel was also adapted for the screen in 1947. 

 

Stanton (Tyrone Power), is a carnival worker learning the trade of mentalism, or mind-reading. He and fellow “carnie” Molly (Coleen Grey), eventually leave the roadshow life and take their act to expensive nightclubs in Chicago, where they fall into a scheme with a psychologist (Helen Walker), to con a rich man into thinking he is contact with his long-dead, lost love. 

 

Directed by Edmund Goulding and based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a true film noir; shot in glorious black-and-white and carrying dark themes. Stanton is the driving force behind it all; eager to make his riches by conning the social elite by way of his fake mind-reading tricks. With the exception of Molly, the characters are mostly despicable people…with Stanton leading the way and the psychologist giving up vital information about her clients which is then used in the mind-reading trick. 

 

NIGHTMARE ALLEY feels like two different movies, with the early carnival settings and then the rich, swanky nightclubs of Chicago. Director Edmund Goulding uses this division as a rags-to-riches tale, even with Stanton using not-so-honorable methods to get his riches. It’s a surface-level film, with not much else going on underneath after the conning. The film looks gorgeous, the script sharp and to-the-point, and paces along nicely. 

 

Acting is excellent. Tyrone Power, who had spent his career in romance in swashbuckling films, captures the darkness of his character convincingly. Coleen Grey, who was only 25 at the time of filming, is an absolute delight. 

 

Everyone wants to know how it compares to the new version currently in theatres. The 1947 version is simple, almost to a fault…while the new remake tends to get bogged down in the psychology of the characters. The 2021 version uses a backstory for the main character and weaves it in through the full runtime, while the 1947 version has no such thing. Still, the first try at NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a fine example of film noir, and is no bad dream. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

 

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Reel Facts: Director Edmund Goulding, along with Jack Conway, holds the distinction of having the most films nominated for Best Picture without ever earning a nomination for Best Director; GRAND HOTEL (which won in 1932), along with DARK VICTORY (1939), and THE RAZOR’S EDGE (1946). Coleen Grey’s other notable film appearances were alongside John Wayne in RED RIVER (1948), and Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING (1956).