Yes.....what's with the blown out contrast?
This is a screenshot from: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-ray_review_137/nightmare_alley_blu-ray.htm
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Here's the above screen-shot with the contrast tamed in Photoshop. The shadow and highlight details are still there even in a web image degraded by further compression etc.
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The people who butchered The Magnificent Ambersons probably thought as you do: detail must be probably lit or it is bad for the film's presentation. Here is Robert Carringer's audio commentary for the Criterion edition of the film explaining this point. The original shots by Stanley Cortez are dark and shadowy, while the butchered shots are lit full-on with generic studio lighting that exposes much more detail. It is eerily similar to the example you use in your screenshots. But is that exposure right for the film? Clearly it's not for Ambersons. I haven't seen the Nightmare Alley Blu-ray, but given its subject matter, it most likely isn't right for it either.