The Straitjackets: Books Into Films 'Nightmare Alley'

Nightmare Alley

reviewed by Jim Hitt

Nightmare Alley
by William Lindsay Gresham
New York: Rinehart, 1946

Nightmare Alley
20th Century Fox, 1947, b&w, 110m., directed by Edmund Goulding, screenplay by Jules Furthman.
Cast:
Tyrone Power (Stanton Carlisle)
Joan Blondell (Zeena Krumbein)
Coleen Gray (Molly Carlisle)
Helen Walker (Lilith Ritter)
Taylor Holmes (Ezra Grindle)
Mike Mazurki (Bruno),
Ian Keith (Pete Krumbein)
Available on DVD from 20th Century Fox

In the world of noir novels, Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham stands apart as an original and innovative piece of literature. As in most noir works, the protagonist Stan Carlisle is a flawed individual, and the world in which he lives is a dark world where predator and prey become one. But Gresham's world is not that of Cornell Woolrich where the events rush relentlessly toward the climax. On the contrary, the events in Nightmare Alley unfold in at a slower, more deliberate pace, and the construction of the novel falls closer to William Faulkner than Cornell Woolrich.

As the novel opens, Stan Carlisle works at a carny, helping out at the Ten-in-One tent, supplying the geek with his chickens. But Stan is a man with ambition, and soon he moves up in the show, often by using women. He convinces Zeena to teach him the codes to run the mentalist act, and he seduces the virginal Molly, a young girl desperate for love. Later, he teams up with psychiatrist Dr. Lillith Ritter to fleece the wealthy through a fake spiritualist act. In the end, Dr. Ritter betrays him, and Stan winds up back in a carny show, this time as the geek, biting off the heads of chickens and wallowing in his own excrement.

William Lindsay Gresham was born in Baltimore on August 20, 1909. His father moved the family to New York, and on a visit to Coney Island, the young Gresham became fascinated with the freak show. In November 1936, he joined the Communist Party, and in November 1937, Gresham went to Spain where he fought, with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War. In Spain he met Joseph Daniel 'Doc' Halliday, from whom he heard all about carny life. When Gresham returned to New York, he began Nightmare Alley while working as an editor for a "true crime" pulp magazine. Nightmare Alley was published by Rinehart and Company, Inc . in 1946, and the novel met with instant acclaim. He sold the rights to 20th Century Fox for $60,000.

Tired of his image as a pretty boy playing in action films, Tyrone Power convinced Daryl Zanuck to let him do Nightmare Alley . Power believed that this film would showcase his talents as an actor. As it turned out, he garnished the best reviews of his career, even though the film proved a commercial flop.

paperback cover for Nightmare Alley

In the film, roustabout Stan Carlisle joins a sleazy carnival where he makes love to the aging Zeena, a sideshow mentalist who performs the act with her alcoholic husband Pete. Soon Stan finds himself drawn to Molly, the virginal assistant to the strongman Bruno. Molly tells Stan of the word code that Pete and Zeena use in their act, and immediately Stan sees its value. He tries to persuade Zeena to use him in the place of Pete, even suggesting that the two might help Pete with the cure. Just as Zeena is about to agree, she pulls out her Tarot cards and uses them to predict the future. There she sees both the death of Pete as well as Stan's rise and eventual fall. She balks at making Stan her partner.

That night, Stan encounters Pete with a bad case of DT's, and even though he knows Zeena wishes to wean her husband from the sauce, he pulls a

Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell

bottle of whiskey from his trunk and gives it to Pete. The next morning the carny people discover Pete dead from drinking a bottle of wood alcohol, and Stan realizes that he gave the wrong bottle to Pete.

Weeks later, Stan convinces Zeena to share the code with him. When a marshal comes to close down the carnival, Stan uses his knowledge and charisma to convince the lawman to drop the charges. After the marshal departs, Stan, euphoric, kisses Molly, and aroused, he seduces her. The rest of the carnival troupe has gathered at a seedy café, and when Molly and Stan arrive together, Bruno and Zeena realize what has happened. Bruno forces Stan to marry Molly, at which point Stan decides to leave the carnival and launch a new act with Molly.

Continued on next page


reviewed by Jim Hitt
Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham New York: Rinehart, 1946 Nightmare Alley 20th Century Fox, 1947, b&w, 110m., directed by Edmund Goulding, screenplay by Jules Furthman. Cast: Tyrone Power (Stanton Carlisle) Joan Blondell (Zeena Krumbein) Coleen Gray (Molly Carlisle) Helen Walker (Lilith Ritter) Taylor Holmes (Ezra Grindle) Mike Mazurki (Bruno), Ian Keith (Pete Krumbein) Available on DVD from 20th Century Fox In the world of noir novels, Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham stands apart as an original and innovative piece of literature. As in most noir works, the protagonist Stan Carlisle is a flawed individual, and the world in which he lives is a dark world where predator and prey become one. But Gresham's world is not that of Cornell Woolrich where the events rush relentlessly toward the climax. On the contrary, the events in Nightmare Alley unfold in at a slower, more deliberate pace, and the construction of the novel falls closer to William Faulkner than Cornell Woolrich. As the novel opens, Stan Carlisle works at a carny, helping out at the Ten-in-One tent, supplying the geek with his chickens. But Stan is a man with ambition, and soon he moves up in the show, often by using women. He convinces Zeena to teach him the codes to run the mentalist act, and he seduces the virginal Molly, a young girl desperate for love. Later, he teams up with psychiatrist Dr. Lillith Ritter to fleece the wealthy through a fake spiritualist act. In the end, Dr. Ritter betrays him, and Stan winds up back in a carny show, this time as the geek, biting off the heads of chickens and wallowing in his own excrement. William Lindsay Gresham was born in Baltimore on August 20, 1909. His father moved the family to New York, and on a visit to Coney Island, the young Gresham became fascinated with the freak show. In November 1936, he joined the Communist Party, and in November 1937, Gresham went to Spain where he fought, with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War. In Spain he met Joseph Daniel 'Doc' Halliday, from whom he heard all about carny life. When Gresham returned to New York, he began Nightmare Alley while working as an editor for a "true crime" pulp magazine. Nightmare Alley was published by Rinehart and Company, Inc . in 1946, and the novel met with instant acclaim. He sold the rights to 20th Century Fox for $60,000. Tired of his image as a pretty boy playing in action films, Tyrone Power convinced Daryl Zanuck to let him do Nightmare Alley . Power believed that this film would showcase his talents as an actor. As it turned out, he garnished the best reviews of his career, even though the film proved a commercial flop.	In the film, roustabout Stan Carlisle joins a sleazy carnival where he makes love to the aging Zeena, a sideshow mentalist who performs the act with her alcoholic husband Pete. Soon Stan finds himself drawn to Molly, the virginal assistant to the strongman Bruno. Molly tells Stan of the word code that Pete and Zeena use in their act, and immediately Stan sees its value. He tries to persuade Zeena to use him in the place of Pete, even suggesting that the two might help Pete with the cure. Just as Zeena is about to agree, she pulls out her Tarot cards and uses them to predict the future. There she sees both the death of Pete as well as Stan's rise and eventual fall. She balks at making Stan her partner. That night, Stan encounters Pete with a bad case of DT's, and even though he knows Zeena wishes to wean her husband from the sauce, he pulls a Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell bottle of whiskey from his trunk and gives it to Pete. The next morning the carny people discover Pete dead from drinking a bottle of wood alcohol, and Stan realizes that he gave the wrong bottle to Pete. Weeks later, Stan convinces Zeena to share the code with him. When a marshal comes to close down the carnival, Stan uses his knowledge and charisma to convince the lawman to drop the charges. After the marshal departs, Stan, euphoric, kisses Molly, and aroused, he seduces her. The rest of the carnival troupe has gathered at a seedy café, and when Molly and Stan arrive together, Bruno and Zeena realize what has happened. Bruno forces Stan to marry Molly, at which point Stan decides to leave the carnival and launch a new act with Molly. Continued on next page