On-Air Film Review: Carney Brad! Review of ‘Nightmare Alley’

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CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 16th, 2021, reviewing the film noir remake of “Nightmare Alley,’ directed by Guillermo del Toro, in theaters on December 17th, 2021.


Rating: 3.0/5.0

This is his remake of a 1947 film noir that starred Tyrone Power in the original. Here Bradley Cooper is Stan, a drifter who ends up at a 1930s carnival, where he learns to be a “mind reader” from Peter (David Strathaim) and Zeena (Toni Collette). He falls in love with Molly (Rooney Mara) and they run away to start a popular nightclub act in Chicago called The Great Stanton. One audience member is Lilith (Cate Blanchett), who is a therapist of Chicago’s elite. She recruits The Great Staton to scam the rich, feeding him their secrets in exchange for blackmail cash.

“Nightmare Alley” opens in theaters on December 17th. Featuring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Willem Dafoe, Mary Steenburgen and Rooney Mara. Screenplay adapted by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Rated “R”

Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full on-air review of “Nightmare Alley”

Nightmare Alley
Photo credit: Searchlight Pictures

Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full on-air review of “Nightmare Alley”