What was so scandalous about "Nightmare Alley" (1947)?
On the Wikipedia page for "Nightmare Alley" (1947) it says
....the film was not a financial success upon its original release, due in part to protests against some of the scandalous content
I did not think the content seemed too scandalous. What are they talking about? What, specifically, were these "protests"? Protests about what? The guy drinks and kisses the lead actress a few times. What is so scandalous about that?
Best Answer
This is the 1940s and in this movie we have unmarried sex with a young woman and another woman admitting she sleeps around. The MC sleeps with both these women, off screen. There is a carnival geek eating live chickens. There is psychotherapy at a time many considered this itself a form of quackery. The whole premise based on an unscrupulous manipulator ripping people off with elements of mysticism.
I believe the writer of the wiki article uses the term protest in a lighter sense of social commentary rather than placards and marching. In the articles supplied references in wiki this reprinted review from 1947 is as close as you get to scathing others being rather positive.
Pictures about "What was so scandalous about "Nightmare Alley" (1947)?"
Nightmare Alley - Full Movie - GOOD QUALITY (1947)
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