Nightmare Alley (2021)

Willem Dafoe: Clem Hoatley

Photos 

Quotes 

• Clem Hoately : Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! Is he a man or beast? This creature has been examined by the foremost scientists and pronounced, unequivocally, a man. I am prepared to offer you folks one last chance to witness this supreme oddity. Where did it come from? Begotten by the same and threat that got us all walking on this earth, but gone wrong somehow in maternal womb. Not fit for living. Is it a beast, or is it a man? You're in luck, because tonight, you will see him feed! Come on in and find out. Is he a man... or beast?

• Stanton Carlisle : How do you ever get a guy to geek?

  Clem Hoately : Oh, I ain't gonna crap you up. It ain't easy. You gotta pick up a broken drunk. A real alkie, a two bottle-a-day fool, see?

  Stanton Carlisle : Pick him up from where?

  Clem Hoately : Nightmare alleys, train tracks, flophouses, you name it. Lot of folks came back from the war addicted to the poppy, to booze. Now, opium really sinks its claws, but you reel 'em in with booze. You tell 'em, "I got a little job for you. It's a temporary job." Make sure you emphasize that. "Just temporary, until we get ourselves another geek." You spike it with that opium tincture. One drop per bottle, that's all. But, oh... oh, now, this is what he thinks is heaven. So, you say to him like this, you say to him, "Well, I gotta get me a real geek." He says, "Ain't I doing okay?" You say, "Like crap you're doing okay. "You can't draw a real crowd faking a geek. "You're through." And you walk off. Now, that night, you drag out the lecture, you lay it on thick. All the while you're talking, he's thinking about sobering up, getting the crawling shakes, the screaming, the terrors. You give him time to think that over while you're talking. Then, you throw him the chicken. He'll geek.