Nightmare Alley (1947)

Available on several streaming services

Directed by Edmund Goulding

Starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, and Helen Walker

Genre: There is a sense of mystery to the way Goulding directed it, but it’s not a mystery movie. It has all the expected noir elements, but it’s more than just noir.

Plot: Generally, the same as the book. (See above.) But with a few important plot points left out.

Themes: Class is destiny. Life is about hustling. Hubris. Humans are easily corruptible.

What I Liked About It 

* It preserved some of the best elements of the book: the noir style, the key relationships, the carny vernacular, and the basic plot.

* The casting was perfect. (Especially compared to the 2021 version. See below.)

* The acting. All of the main characters lit up their parts.

* The photography – grim, stark, shadowy.

 What I Didn’t Like 

Several of the strongest scenes of the book, including the depiction of the freaks and particularly concerning Stan’s bad treatment of Molly, were left out. But I forgive Goulding for this. This version of the story was made at a time when these scenes would not have been allowed.

Critical Reception  

* “Although Nightmare Alley may have been slightly unsexed to fit it for the screen, there is still enough raw, red meat on its eight reels of ragged bone to satisfy all save those who wallowed deliriously in the book’s more turbulent episodes.” (George Burke, Miami Herald, 10/31/47)

* “To many film-goers Nightmare Alley will be too unpleasant in subject to please as entertainment. However, the acting is first rate, although the photography is too murky for a clear idea of what is going on.” (Marjory Adams, Boston Globe, 11/7/47)

* “The hoodwink-picture genre doesn’t have a whole lot of peaks to choose from, but Nightmare Alley is one of the few.” (Elvis Mitchell, New York Times, 1/28/20)

You can watch the trailer here.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Now playing in theaters; available on several streaming services 2/1/22

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, and Toni Collette

Genre: It’s hard to define the movie exactly. Except for the music, most of the noir elements are absent from this version. I’d say it was a stylized psychological thriller.

Plot: The plot is roughly the same as the 1947 movie, which was roughly the same as the book. But key scenes were missing. And I was disappointed to discover that some scenes that had been omitted from the 1947 movie because they would have been censored were left out of this one.

What I Liked About It 

* The music was good and noir.

* The cinematography was visually arresting throughout.

* The set design was very good.

What I Didn’t Like 

* The casting of all the principals was a huge disappointment compared to the 1947 movie. The idea here seemed to be to go for the draw of big names like Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett, rather than trying to find actors that could match Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.

* The fatalism that was essential to the book and 1947 movie was gone.

* Stan’s character was trivialized by making him more sympathetic, by excusing his bad behavior with contemporary pop victim psychology. The same criticism could be made of some of the other principal actors.

Critical Response 

* “While del Toro’s update adds details from the novel that wouldn’t have passed censors in 1947 and closes with more of a gut-punch, on a bleaker line (while overelaborating much else), the 1947 version is still the definitive one, leaner and meaner.” (New York Times)

* “Hypnotic with its increasingly tense slow-burning plot progression and alluring atmosphere, Nightmare Alley drags the viewer down with its self-destructive lead.” (Carlos Aguilar, Roger Ebert.com)

* “Though it never runs out of gas or even shows signs of sluggishness, del Toro’s Nightmare Alley runs out of importance about a half-hour before the finish. But it’s still an entertaining movie by a distinctive filmmaker.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

You can watch the trailer here.