October 9, 1947
Nightmare Alley is a 1947 American film noir starring Tyrone Power and featuring Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, and Helen Walker. The film was directed by Edmund Goulding, and based on the 1946 novel of the same title, written by William Lindsay Gresham. Power, wishing to expand beyond the romantic and swashbuckler roles that brought him to fame, requested 20th Century Fox's studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck to buy the rights to the novel so he could star as the unsavory lead, "The Great Stanton", a scheming carnival barker.
The film premiered in the United States on October 9, 1947, then went into wide release on October 28, 1947, later having six more European releases between November 1947 to May 1954.
As noted on the DVD commentary track by Alain Silver and James Ursini, Nightmare Alley was somewhat unusual among film noir in having top stars, production staff and a relatively large budget. Despite a strong promotional campaign, the film was not a financial success upon its original release, due in part to protests against some of the scandalous content. The film has since found acclaim and is regarded as a classic.