The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
13K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Jules Furthman(screen play)
- William Lindsay Gresham(novel)
- Stars
- Director
- Writers
- Jules Furthman(screen play)
- William Lindsay Gresham(novel)
- Stars
Florence Auer
- Jane
- (uncredited)
Bonnie Bannon
- Knife Thrower's Assistant
- (uncredited)
George Beranger
- The Geek
- (uncredited)
Oliver Blake
- Hobo
- (uncredited)
June Bolyn
- Maid in Grindle House
- (uncredited)
Paul Bradley
- Man in Spode Room
- (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
- Carnival Patron
- (uncredited)
James Burke
- Rural Marshal
- (uncredited)
George Chandler
- Hobo at Stan's Left Hand
- (uncredited)
Harry Cheshire
- Mr. Prescott
- (uncredited)
Edward Clark
- J.E. Giles
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Jules Furthman(screen play)
- William Lindsay Gresham(novel)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording 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.
- GoofsThe 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.
- 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
- SoundtracksSobre las olas (Over the Waves)
(uncredited)
Music by Juventino Rosas
Played during the opening carnival scene
Featured review
A film that will truly haunt your memory...
I first saw this film in the late 70's on a Toronto television program devoted to classic cinema. I was joined by friends who always got together on Saturday nights to watch the musicals, comedies, or classic performances offered that week. NIGHTMARE ALLEY came as a surprise. It was a raw, exposed nerve of a film. Instead of the Hollywood diction we had come to expect, this film expressed itself in 1940's carny colloquialisms. And nobody in the cast was soft - they were all hard knocks characters, almost down for the count, but still fighting. After about 15 minutes, nobody in front of that set moved until it was all over, except maybe to look sideways to see if anyone else could believe their eyes. This is a movie clawing your way to the top , and then paying the price for getting there. This is a movie about being careful what you wish for. It is a movie about odd fascinations with people who are actually messengers of your future in disguise. And ultimately, it is a movie about how futile is the love of a good woman if the man is destined for ruin. Needless to say, it was not standard Hollywood fare when made in the 40's, and it is still not standard fare today. It's message is somehow both shocking and familiar. Listen for the last words uttered, as though in offhand comment about our 'hero' by bystanders. Those words haunted me for over 20 years, until I was able to track down another showing of the film on TV (STILL not on VCR or DVD for heaven's sake!). And I remembered them correctly all that time - that's the impact they made. See this film. Surrender to it. It's that good.
helpful•13613
- frosty6
- Jul 6, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Der Scharlatan
- Filming locations
- State Street, Chicago, Illinois, USA(exterior shots B roll)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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