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Nightmare Alley ()

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The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.
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Stars:
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Photos and Videos

121 photos | 1 video

Cast verified as complete

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Stanton Carlisle
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Zeena Krumbein
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Molly
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Dr. Lilith Ritter
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Ezra Grindle
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Bruno
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Pete Krumbein
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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Jane (uncredited)
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Knife Thrower's Assistant (uncredited)
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The Geek (uncredited)
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Hobo (uncredited)
June Bolyn ...
Maid in Grindle House (uncredited)
Paul Bradley ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
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Carnival Patron (uncredited)
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Rural Marshal (uncredited)
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Hobo at Stan's Left Hand (uncredited)
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Mr. Prescott (uncredited)
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J.E. Giles (uncredited)
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Stage Manager (uncredited)
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Waiter (uncredited)
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Addie Peabody (uncredited)
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Night Club Patron (uncredited)
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Hoatley (uncredited)
Charles Flickinger ...
Bellboy (uncredited)
Bill Free ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
Rudy Germane ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
Nina Gilbert ...
Worried Mother in Spode Room (uncredited)
Leo Gray ...
Detective (uncredited)
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Lilith's Friend in Spode Room (uncredited)
Al Herman ...
Cab Driver (uncredited)
Hollis Jewell ...
Delivery Boy with Records (uncredited)
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Joe (uncredited)
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Night Club Patron (uncredited)
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Charlie (uncredited)
Nellie Lane ...
Fat Woman (uncredited)
Max Linder ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
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Hobo (uncredited)
King Lockwood ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
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Knife Thrower's Assistant (uncredited)
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Hobo by Stan's Right Hand (uncredited)
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Husband in Spode Room (uncredited)
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Sideshow Spectator Wearing Straw Hat (uncredited)
George Matthews ...
Knife Thrower (uncredited)
Pat McKee ...
Roustabout (uncredited)
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Friend in Spode Room (uncredited)
Harry Hays Morgan ...
Headwaiter (uncredited)
Maurice Navarro ...
Fire Eater (uncredited)
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Carnival Customer (uncredited)
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Roustabout (uncredited)
Jack Raymond ...
Hobo (uncredited)
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Roustabout at Final Carnival (uncredited)
Albin Robeling ...
Captain (uncredited)
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McGraw (uncredited)
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Masseur (uncredited)
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Roustabout at Final Carnival (uncredited)
Cy Schindell ...
Roustabout (uncredited)
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Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
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Night Club Patron (uncredited)
John Wald ...
Radio Announcer (uncredited)
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Farmer Friend of J.E. Giles (uncredited)
Gilbert Wilson ...
Man in Spode Room (uncredited)
Marjorie Wood ...
Mrs. Peabody (uncredited)

Directed by

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Edmund Goulding

Written by

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Jules Furthman ... (screen play)
 
William Lindsay Gresham ... (novel)

Produced by

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George Jessel ... producer
Darryl F. Zanuck ... executive producer (uncredited)

Music by

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Cyril J. Mockridge ... (as Cyril Mockridge)

Cinematography by

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Lee Garmes ... director of photography

Editing by

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Barbara McLean

Art Direction by

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J. Russell Spencer
Lyle R. Wheeler ... (as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by

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Thomas Little

Costume Design by

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Bonnie Cashin

Makeup Department

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Ben Nye ... makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Gaston Glass ... assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department

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Stuart A. Reiss ... assistant set decorator (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Roger Heman Sr. ... sound (as Roger Heman)
E. Clayton Ward ... sound

Visual Effects by

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Fred Sersen ... special photographic effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Charles Le Maire ... wardrobe director (as Charles LeMaire)
Sam Benson ... wardrobe (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff ... costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department

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Maurice De Packh ... orchestrator (as Maurice de Packh)
Lionel Newman ... conductor
Earle Hagen ... orchestrator (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Mink De Ronda ... technical advisor (uncredited)
John C. Eagan ... technical advisor (uncredited)
Louise Germaine ... hat maker (uncredited)
Edward Mundy ... technical advisor (uncredited)
Jimmy Woods ... technical advisor (uncredited)
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

Mesmerised by the dark allure of the carnival world, rapaciously ambitious opportunist Stanton clings to supposed prophetess Mademoiselle Zeena to learn the tricks of the trade. And then, a catastrophic accident and pure chance favour Stanton. As a result, the unscrupulous, fake mind-reader starts using and abusing every woman who crosses paths with him, bent on greasing his path to stardom as a spiritual advisor. Now, Chicago's gullible rich swear by the Great Stanton's unsurpassed psychic powers. However, when deceit, lies, and hubris pave the way to success, who can deny that there's no place to go but down? Written by Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords
Taglines He was all things to all men ... but only one thing to all women! See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Le Charlatan (France)
  • El callejón de las almas perdidas (Spain)
  • O Beco das Almas Perdidas (Portugal)
  • Sharlatan (Iran, Persian title)
  • A sarlatán (Hungary)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 110 min
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Language
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Aspect Ratio
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Filming Locations

Did You Know?

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Trivia According to Eddie Muller of the Film Noir Foundation, charlatans and grifters in the new age/mystic con would use the phrase "Are you a friend of Stan Carlisle?", or a variation of it, to confirm that the person they were talking to was in the same line of business. See more »
Goofs The recording machine that creates a major plot point is a Wilcox-Gay disc cutter that could record at 78 or 33 rpm on a maximum disk size of ten inches. It cut at a fixed 96 lines per inch. Unfortunatly those specs limited recording time to about 3 minutes at 78 rpm and only a bit more at 33. A real professional would have used something like a Presto which cut 12-inch discs or a broadcasting machine like a Scully that could cut 16-inch disks. Even the FBI used disk cutters in pairs so one could begin recording when the others had used up all their blank disk surface. A much more likely device would have been a wire recorder which despite its limited fidelity could record speech for an hour. These units were not cheap but Dr. Ritter was obviously wealthy. Her Wilcox-Gay recorder had a retail price at that time of about $100.00 and was among the lowest-priced recorders sold. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997). See more »
Soundtracks Sobre las olas (Over the Waves) See more »
Quotes McGraw: Wait. I just happened to think of something. I might have a job you can take a crack at. Course it isn't much and I'm not begging you to take it, but it's a job.
Stanton Carlisle: That's all I want.
McGraw: And we'll keep you in coffee and cake. Bottle every day, place to sleep it off in. What do you say? Anyway, it's only temporary, just until we can get a real geek.
Stanton Carlisle: Geek?
McGraw: You know what a geek is, don't you?
Stanton Carlisle: Yeah. Sure, I... I know what a geek is.
McGraw: Do you think you can handle it?
Stanton Carlisle: Mister, I was made for it.
See more »
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