Nightmare Alley (Masters of Cinema)

Star Review

Even by film noir standards, Nightmare Alley is an unusually dark film. Long unavailable on any format (a legal wrangle between Fox studios and the producer meant it could not be shown on any format until recently), it follows the rise and fall of a carnival worker (Tyrone Power) who steals the act of a mind reader (Joan Blondell) and runs off with a fellow performer to make his fortune. Soon, however, he overreaches himself.
One of the film's greatest strengths is the central performance from Power. Desperate to break free of being typecast as a matinee idol, he undertook this unflattering role to shatter audience preconceptions. The film performed poorly at the box office, yet he excels in a difficult role as a ruthless lowlife whose façade cracks as he is outsmarted by those around him. As in the best film noirs, it's not just the femmes who are fatale - everyone in the film has suspicious motives, heightening the anti-hero's paranoia. Lee Garmes' haunting camerawork often evokes a horror film, and the closing moments of this outstanding film are unbearably tense.

Alex Davidson on 21st October 2005

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Film Description

Often described as the grimmest of all Hollywood films noir, Nightmare Alley's reputation as a cult classic reached near-mythical status due to a decades-long dispute between the film's producer and Fox, which prevented it being screened anywhere or even released on home video. With the conflict now resolved, Nightmare Alley can finally be re-discovered in this stunning new transfer as one of the most darkly sophisticated noirs of the period.

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DVD Extras

• Newly restored high definition transfer
• Woody Haut introduces Nightmare Alley - a 10-minute video introduction to the film by celebrated noir historian and author Woody Haut
• Woody Haut on Nightmare Alley - Woody goes into more detail (25 minutes)
• Full-length audio commentary by film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini
• Original theatrical trailer
• Continuity and dialogue script and musical score (both in pdf format)
• 24-page booklet with a new essay by Woody Haut, and rare production stills.

Film Details

Cast

Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Tyrone Power

Technical Details