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Actors: Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Nightmare Alley |
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NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a movie directed by Edmund Goulding in 1947.
Stanton Carlisle is a promising young man working with Zeena Krumbein, a down-and-out mind reader, in the carnivals and the fairs. When Pete, Zeena's alcoholic husband and former partner, asks him for booze one night, Stanton mistakenly gives him a bottle of industrial alcohol and Pete dies on the same night. Then Stanton asks Zeena to teach him the code that enabled the Krumbeins to become once a top attraction in the mind reading shows.
A few weeks later, Stanton marries Molly and decides to create a mind reading sideshow with her by using Zeena's code. The act is a success and Stanton finally becomes Chicago's number one attraction. However, Stanton starts to have guilty thoughts about Pete Krumbein's death and has to see Lilith Ritter, a psychologist. Together, they will swindle a millionaire by making him believe that Stanton is able to act as a medium between the old man and his deceased beloved daughter.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Nightmare Alley |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Struggle with
- guilt over actions that lead to death/injury
Crime & Scandal
Yes
Story of
- con-artist/white collar crime
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- circus
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- mage/magician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- mind reading
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) muscular
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn curly
Body type
- (woman) ample bosom & buttocks
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Body type
- (woman) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
City?
Yes
City:
- Chicago
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- dumb Rednecks, like Gomer Pyle
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- None
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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