Nightmare Alley

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Han R Apr 27, 2019 Best performance ever by the late Tyrone Power. Great story and acting by all of the characters in the movie. Definitely one hidden gem that doesn't get enough recognition See more

Luke R Sep 4, 2018 A CLASSIC EVERYONE MUST SEE! This is definitively one of my favorite movies. Although it may be a little confusing and monotonous at first, it gets better with every time you watch it. Summary: Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power) worked for a woman named Zeena and her husband Pete as part of their act. Stan always had a crush on Zeena but was forever faithful to her husband Pete, a drunkie. One day, Zeena was using tarot cards to reveal what the future will bring and stumbles across something that changes everything, that Pete will be killed and in the end (SPOILER!) Stan will be hung. Zeena goes on to warn Stan that: 1. Stay away from Pete 2. He will be hung. Stan of course thinks of this as bogus and goes on to live life. Unfortunately, Stan accidentally gives Pete a bottle of wood alcohol instead of moonshine, and the poor man dies the next morning. Stan soon becomes paranoid over this incident, but hides it. Zeena then starts to fall for him but Stan already had his eyes on Molly, a trapeze artist. After when Zeena teaches Stan and Molly the code, the couple get married and run away to perform in nightclubs leaving poor Zeena upset. Now this is when Stan starts to become paranoid, and meets a psychiatrist named Lilith Ritter. After eavesdropping and finding out that she had hundreds of different files on people he began to start up the act that he could talk to ghosts. He soon becomes so obsessed in his acts, that he makes a bold and daring move to bring an old man's lost love "back to life". He forces Molly to play the deceased woman and the old man believes it and begins to bawl. Molly felt guilty and decided that it wasn't right to pose as a ghost, so she shows herself. Upsetting the man, Stan quickly knocks out the poor guy so then he could keep the money he gave him and get a head start from the police. Once he got into the getaway car (the taxi) he saw that he was cheated out of the money he was given and knew that there was only one other person who could be keeping it, Lilith. Quickly he goes over to Lilith's home to redeem the money but he is defeated when Lilith shows him that she has evidence against him that he's mentally disturbed. Furious, he keeps the $150 and quickly becomes a drunkie just like Pete. Soon enough, the paranoid drunkie returns to the carnival to get a job, but the only one available is the position of the Geek (Pretty much a crazy person that eats live chickens for the entertainment of others). Stan accepts, but in the night he goes insane and tries to hurt others with a wooden baseball bat. Just when a bunch of men get prepared to hang the insane Stan, Molly comes to save the day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I love the lesson that we learn from this movie that you can't choose your consequences in life. And Tyrone Power's acting is absolutely phenomenal! It's too bad that people these days have no clue what this movie is. Some Facts: -The director of this movie actually didn't want Power to star because he was worried that he'd want to perform in these kinds of movies and he didn't like the idea of everyone's favorite hero becoming a low-life drunkie. -The book actually had a more darker ending of Stan being the Geek forever and eventually drinking himself to death but the studio thought that it'd be too dark to be put into a movie -This was Tyrone Power's favorite movie he's starred in (Sorry if I made any mistakes in this review) See more

Theodore S Apr 6, 2017 one of my favorite films, with a top performance by Tyrone Power

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Nightmare Alley

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