Nightmare Alley

In this grim 1947 film noir Tyrone Power stars as a two-bit hustler working in a traveling  carnival where he learns the tricks of a mind-reading act that elevates him to the big time. He brings his act to fancy nightclubs and becomes the toast of high society until he meets up with a scheming psychologist, played by Helen Walker. Together, they plot to bilk her wealthy, credulous patients. 

Edmund Goulding directed this film that portrays 1930s America as “a sleazy, run-down carnival, where everyone is either on the make, a born sucker, or trapped in a real or psychological cage.” Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, and Mike Mazurka are featured as members of the carnival. 111 minutes. CC.

In Nightmare Alley Tyrone Power departed from his dashing leading man image and turned in a performance that he believed was the best of his career. The other members of the cast are equally fine especially the little known Helen Walker. This film was a box office flop in 1947 but modern critics like Eddie Muller of TCM's Noir Alley rate it very highly. Here is a link to Muller's intro.

Helen Walker and Tyrone Power