Kick-Back Friday: #145

By bmartin on December 3, 2010 8:37 PM |

Nightmare_Alley.jpgNightmare Alley
(1947): Tyrone Power, as an apprentice carny and then headlining mentalist, can't escape his destiny in this dark tale of ambition and sociopathy. In the ever-winding story (so typical of noir), Power's con is only seriously challenged by a woman psychologist (Helen Walker), who appears to be—consciously or unconsciously—the inspiration for David Mamet's Dr. Margaret Ford of his most excellent House of Games (1987).

Disregard the slapped-on sappy ending of Nightmare. The movie, based on the dystopian novel by William Lindsey Gresham, should have ended with the line, "Mister, I was born for it."

The DVD features reasonably informative commentary from noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini.

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