This film begins with a young man by the name of "Stanton Carlisle" (Tyrone Power) working in a traveling carnival as an assistant in a mysticism act featuring a married couple by the names of "Pete Krumbein" (Ian Keith) and "Zeena Krumbein" (Joan Blondell). Being quite ambitious Stanton often thinks about replacing Pete who has been experiencing severe drinking problems which has affected the act. Although Zeena has thought about this switch as a temporary measure so that Pete can get help for his alcoholism she remains steadfast in her resolve to continue as a duo with him. However, all options are taken away from her one night when Stanton accidentally gives Pete a bottle of wood alcohol instead of some moonshine he recently acquired and Pete dies because of it. Upon learning as much as he can from Zeena, Stanton ditches her and leaves the carnival with another woman by the name of "Molly" (Coleen Gray) to start his own show in Chicago. What he doesn't understand, however, is that selfishness and greed eventually have a way to catch up to people and he is no exception. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a decent movie which benefited from an interesting plot and some fine acting by Tyrone Power. Admittedly, I thought the scenes involving "Addie Peabody" (Julia Dean) and "Ezra Grindle" (Taylor Holmes) could have used some improvement but even so I enjoyed this film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Nightmare Alley
