While looking into the new Guillermo del Toro movie I discovered that it is far from an original composition. There was a 1947 noir of the same name and both films where based on a 1946 novel, also titled Nightmare Alley written by William Lindsay Gresham. So this week I watched both movies, and am now mildly interested in reading the book.
The basic story concerns Stanton "Stan" Carlisle who goes from being a roustabout at a 1930's carnival, to part of a successful mentalist act, before being tempted into a spiritualist scam with tragic results. The original film is very much of it's time and very much a noir, though an unusual one in that much of the setting is rural, and the plot concerns a hustling scheme that involves faking the supernatural.
The original movie is efficient and satisfying, an out of the box story played straight and kind of minimalist. Tyron Power plays the lead, he was not a great actor but the part is very much suited to his strengths and range. The three love interests he has over the course of the film are played by the great Joan Blondel, then newcomer Coleen Gray, and the forgotten Helen Walker. The film contains a surprisingly good group of epilogue sequences that work rather effectively, and are very fitting with the production code morality constrains of the time.
The original film is a good movie but not a particular stand out in either story or performances, it's done well enough and is obscure enough that there didn't really seem to be a reason to remake it, other then making it more visually interesting which is where del Toro comes in.
Guillermo's version is apparently more true to the original book, whose contents had to be dialed back for a 1940's screen adaptation. The new movie adds a bunch of additional material to the early part of the film, adding around half an hour to forty minutes to it's length, it introduces a couple of characters that were not in the first one, adds a great bit to one of the supporting players earlier on, and ups the menace considerably on one late entrant in the story.
Guillermo is very focused on evoking the era in which the story is set, as well as fleshing out and explaining things that are mostly implied or un addressed in the original film version, which sometimes feels like TMI. 2021's Nightmare Alley plays at being the film noir that 1947's Nightmare Alley actually was, that is before going full del Toro with the violence and the gore near the end.
The movie is cast to the brim with fine actors, though many of them really too old to be the characters they are playing. Bradly Cooper was a particular stand out in the age department, this guy should really be closer to 30. His love interests here are played by a wonderful Toni Collette, a peak adorable Roony Mara, and Cate Blanchett who gives frankly too much. David Strathairn takes a completely forgettable character from the first film and makes him one of the most memorable things about this movie. Richard Jenkins is scary, and I've never been scared by him before.
On the whole I prefer the period simplicity of the original film, but the remake has some good moments and looks fantastic. I'd give both films ***
No comments:
Post a Comment