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Nightmare Alley (1947)

 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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TVTItem
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Nightmare Alley (1947)
 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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NightmareAlley1947
 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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Nightmare Alley is a 1947 Film Noir directed by Edmund Goulding, based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsey Gresham.Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins a seedy carnival as the assistant to Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell). She and her alcoholic husband had a great, convincing system at "telling fortunes" until some misfortune caused them to come to the seedy carnival and work. Zeena hasn't told anyone their ingenious code. Stanton wants to know it and tries to seduce her, but she stays faithful to her husband.Stanton eventually gets his way and learns the code, but later gets greedy and after living the high life with his innocent wife Molly (Coleen Gray) for a while. It all comes crashing down on him through his association with a mysterious and manipulative psychologist called Lilith Ritter (Helen Walker).In 2019 it was announced that Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro would direct a new adaptation of the novel starring Bradley Cooper as Stan, Toni Collette as Zeena, Rooney Mara as Molly and Cate Blanchett as Lilith. The film is set for wide release December 17, 2021, and had its premiere December 1 of that same year.
 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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2023-05-10T15:02:57Z
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2023-05-10T15:02:57Z
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DBTropes
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_13eea985
type
Arbitrary Skepticism
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_13eea985
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Arbitrary Skepticism: A discussed inverted example. Stanton points to Zeena that her believe that Tarot is genuine seems weird considering that she is in the bushiness of selling illusions and hokey tales for cash.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_2764d432
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Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_2764d432
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Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Stanton, when dealing with cops and customers.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_32ec6393
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Shotgun Wedding
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_32ec6393
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Shotgun Wedding: In the novel, Stan and Molly live together without marrying, which film censorship rules wouldn't allow, so in the movie, after realizing that Stan and Molly have slept together, Bruno forces Stan to marry her by threatening to beat him up, with Zeena cheering on the threatened beating.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_362bdb30
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Out-Gambitted
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_362bdb30
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Out-Gambitted: Stanton finds out that Lilith has tricked him by swapping his money for 1-dollar bills, but when he confronts her about it and tries blackmailing her with the fact that she was an accomplice to his con, she tells him that not only is her knowledge of his involvement in Pete's death much worse than anything he has on her, she will also testify that he is mentally disturbed if he should try anything, making it crystal clear to him that would it be a bad idea for him to go the police.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_3dcc914f
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Took a Level in Kindness
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_3dcc914f
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Took a Level in Kindness: After the rug is pulled out from under him, Stanton comes off as humbled from his experiences. At the very least, he acts a lot more caring toward Molly.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_40cc0c7e
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Bittersweet Ending
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_40cc0c7e
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Bittersweet Ending: Stanton's life ends up in shambles after he gets outplayed by Lilith, and he ends up becoming an alcoholic shell of his former self, to the point of becoming the geek of a new carnival (essentially the lowest tier performer out there). However, at the end, Molly finds him and gains some recognition from him, with the implication that they'll at least end up together and stick together out of love. Then again, given how this is destined to mirror Zeena and Pete's relationship from the beginning of the film, it could very well edge toward a Downer Ending.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_437511de
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Crappy Carnival
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_437511de
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Crappy Carnival: The carnies work in a fairly standard creepy-looking place.
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Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_4782e60f
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Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Stanton, when dealing with fellow carnies and Molly.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_4b316d47
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Break the Cutie
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Break the Cutie: A bit of this with Molly.
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_4b316d47
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_5c219298
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Phony Psychic
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_5c219298
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Phony Psychic: Stanton's main hustle.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_6269a4b3
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Psycho Psychologist
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_6269a4b3
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Psycho Psychologist: Lilith Ritter is an amoral psychologist who uses confidential information on her clients to con them out of money, and does not hesitate to ruin her ally Stanton.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_7eebe99c
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The Alcoholic
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_7eebe99c
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The Alcoholic: Pete, and then Stanton later on.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_90e31482
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Laser-Guided Karma
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_90e31482
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Laser-Guided Karma: Stanton spends the film swindling everyone. He is ultimately double-crossed by his accomplice, loses his money and lover, and is forced to become a carnival geek.
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Con Man
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_9919369d
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Con Man: Stanton's MO for the entire film until he gets his comeuppance.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_a70223
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Karma Houdini
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_a70223
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Karma Houdini: Lilith blackmails Stanton into not going to the police and gets away with it all, keeping the 150,000 dollars they made from their scams.. This is a rare example of Karma Houdini during The Hays Code, which usually demanded that evildoers be punished.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_ce6555f0
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Lighter and Softer
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_ce6555f0
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Lighter and Softer: The novel and remake end with Stanton losing absolutely everything and being reduced to a carnival geek. This film at least gives him a reunion with Molly.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_d73e0f7f
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"Ray of Hope" Ending
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_d73e0f7f
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"Ray of Hope" Ending: Stan has tumbled all the way from the top of his profession to being a shattered alcoholic wreck and carnival geek—but he's been reunited with Molly, who says she'll take care of him. This was added to the story at the invokedinsistence of producer Darryl F. Zanuck; the novel ends with Stan becoming a geek.
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 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_fd497706
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Accidental Murder
 Nightmare Alley (1947) / int_fd497706
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Accidental Murder: Stanton hands Pete a bottle of wood alcohol, having mistaken it for the bottle of moonshine he acquired earlier. Pete proceeds to drink himself to death.
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Nightmare Alley (1947)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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Digital Destruction / int_d86d2f1b
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Film Noir Index / int_d86d2f1b
 Nightmare Alley (1947)
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The Place / int_d86d2f1b