Who directed the 1947 film noir Nightmare Alley?

Edmund Goulding directed the 1947 film noir Nightmare Alley.

The film stars Tyrone Power as Stanton Carlisle, an ambitious carnival worker who learns the techniques of mentalism and turns them into a ruthless career. Joan Blondell plays Zeena Krumbein, an experienced performer who helps introduce him to the carnival's secrets.

Nightmare Alley was adapted from William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel, with a screenplay by Jules Furthman. Power personally pushed 20th Century Fox to acquire the novel because he wanted to move beyond the romantic and swashbuckling roles associated with his earlier career.

The film is sometimes confused with other major noirs directed by Joseph H. Lewis, Robert Siodmak, or Jules Dassin. Its unusual carnival setting, bleak ambition story, and Power's performance eventually helped it gain recognition as a classic, despite its lack of major commercial success on initial release.