FEATURE FILM

Alias Nick Beal

6.8/10
TMDB35 votes
1949Original: English93 min

After straight-arrow district attorney Joseph Foster says in frustration that he would sell his soul to bring down a local mob boss, a smooth-talking stranger named Nick Beal shows up with enough evidence to seal a conviction. When that success leads Foster to run for governor, Beal's unearthly hold on him turns the previously honest man corrupt, much to the displeasure of his wife and his steadfast minister.

Genres: Drama, Crime
Cast: Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell, George Macready, Fred Clark

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THE STORY & THE PEOPLE

About Alias Nick Beal

No man ever held more terrible power over women than this tall dark handsome stranger from nowhere!

Alias Nick Beal (1949) is a film in the drama, crime genres. Directed by John Farrow. The cast includes Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell, George Macready.

Released
1949-03-04
Original language
English
Runtime
93 minutes
Status
Released
Production countries
United States of America
Production companies
Paramount Pictures
Directors
John Farrow
Writers
Jonathan Latimer, Mindret Lord

Alias Nick Beal cast & characters

Audience reviews

6.8/10 from 35 TMDB votes. Ratings and reviews are supplied by TMDB. Reviews are attributed to their original authors.

John Chard

TMDB member review

Old Nick - Crafty Devil. Alias Nick Beal (AKA: A few other titles...) is directed by John Farrow and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from the Mindret Lord story. It stars Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell and George Macready. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Lionel Lindon. It's the Faustian legend filmed through film noir filters as Thomas Mitchell's politician unwittingly…

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Old Nick - Crafty Devil. Alias Nick Beal (AKA: A few other titles...) is directed by John Farrow and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from the Mindret Lord story. It stars Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell and George Macready. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Lionel Lindon. It's the Faustian legend filmed through film noir filters as Thomas Mitchell's politician unwittingly makes a deal with Ray Milland's suspicious Nick Beal. Nicholas Beal - Agent. It's all fogs, smogs and smoky pubs here, it's 1949 and John Farrow and his team are having a great time of things blending Faust with politico machinations. Narrative thrust comes by way of corruption and character disintegration, sprinkled naturally with your good old cinematic staple of good versus evil in bold type. Don't touch him! He doesn't like it! Milland is superb here, his Nick Beal is the ultimate Machiavellian Mannipulator, and the chief film makers really bring these traits to the fore. Beal is a bundle of smug grins and glinting eyes, he just appears in scenes, Farrow cunningly using various props and persons to suddenly unleash his little old devil when he is least expected. Around Nicky there are subtle changes of clothes and snatches of dialogue that hit the requisite devilish notes, Totter is our darling who is caught in Old Nick's trap, Mitchell (great) even more so. The last time I was here was quite exciting. City was on fire. Picked up quite a lot of recruits that night. Made quite a transportation problem. Lionel Lindon and Franz Waxman are also key components to what makes the pic work. Waxman (Sunset Blvd.) deftly shifts between big bass drums for thunder clap effects, to delicate swirls that give off other worldly - eerie - effects. Lindon (I Want to Live!) does great work isolating the eyes in light, while his fog and shadows work wouldn't be amiss in a Val Lewton picture. This is a criminally under seen movie, it's far from perfect because the collage of genre influences give it a very unbalanced feel, but there's so much fun, spookiness and technical craft on show to make it a must see movie for fans of the stars, noir and supernatural tinged pictures. 8/10

Questions about Alias Nick Beal

What is Alias Nick Beal about?

After straight-arrow district attorney Joseph Foster says in frustration that he would sell his soul to bring down a local mob boss, a smooth-talking stranger named Nick Beal shows up with enough evidence to seal a conviction. When that success leads Foster to run for governor, Beal's unearthly hold on him turns the previously honest man corrupt, much to the displeasure of his wife and his steadfast minister.

Who stars in Alias Nick Beal?

Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell, George Macready, Fred Clark, Geraldine Wall. See the cast cards above for character names.

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