Freaks

Tod Browning had somewhat of a mixed career in Hollywood, receiving wide acclaim for directing Dracula (1931) and bringing the horror film into the sound era but then his career faltered as he struggled to find another project that would interest him and not rehash the main themes of his most successful movie. With Universal dominating the horror scene with Dracula, Frankenstein and (later) Bride of Frankenstein, MGM wanted a horror film of their own to compete with Universal and brought Tod Browning (who had worked with the studio on The Unholy Three, 1930) on board to direct a film based on Spurs, a short story written by Tod Robbins in 1923 about circus performance.

There was a personal element to this film as, in his early years, Browning had been a member of a travelling circus and knew from personal experience what the 'freakshow' people were really like and how they were treated by the 'normal' people, whether inside the circus or audiences. The film, released in 1932, was Freaks and became extremely controversial, just about finishing Tod Browning's career in the same way that Peeping Tom would do for Michael Powell nearly 30 years later.

At a very brief 60 minutes (these were the days before horror films broke the two hour mark), the film follows Hans, the diminutive circus owner who is engaged to another midget, Freida. However, his attention is soon seized by Cleopatra, a beautiful Russian trapeze artist who seems to have eyes for Hans, but she is an avaricious woman who is only interested in Hans because of his money and is still having a relationship with Hercules, the circus strongman.

Cleopatra eventually convinces Hans to break off his engagement with Frieda and marry her but, shortly after the wedding dinner at which all of the other 'freaks' openly accept Cleopatra chanting "We accept her! We accept her! One of us! One of those! Gooble gobble, gooble gobble!" At this point, she loses it and throws the huge goblet of champagne over them but Hans accepts her apology and they move in together but, because Cleopatra has been poisoning him as she wants him to die so she can inherit his money, Hans falls dangerously ill but he and the other circus performers figure out what is going on and, when another performer, Venus, overhears Cleopatra telling Hercules about her plot, their suspicions are confirmed and Hans figures out the most appropriate punishment possible.


Freaks was an extremely brave film for Browning to make and, even more gutsy, was the call to do away with prosthetics, costumes and heavy make-up and cast people who were born with real birth defects and congenital abnormalities. The film was met with scathing reviews and there was a great deal of consternation about whether it broke the Production Code or any laws. Many movie theatres refused to show it, it was banned in the UK (and remained that way for 30 years) and it wasn't that great equaliser for which MGM had hoped.

I am of the opinion that Browning made a very thoughtful and sensitive film about the way that 'circus freaks' are viewed and treated by the general public and it is in the dinner scene he realised this is a sideshow performers are not freaks, but Cleopatra. There is something strangely disquieting about seeing the 'pinheads' (microcephalics), conjoined twins and 'The Human Torso' (the completely limbless Prince Randian) appearing on your screen but, as they live, work and behave like everyone else, you see them as regular people making a living with what they have and how they were born rather than some sort of repugnant set of weirdos who have no place in society.


I stumbled across Freaks as I saw a newspaper article describing it as 'the most controversial film ever made' and immediately went online to buy the DVD. It is something I've seen several times since then and I think it's a crying shame that the approximately 30 minutes of footage that Browning was forced to cut from the film has been lost for eternity. Although I don't prefer it, I consider it a better film than Dracula which is very stagey and creaky (for me, that's part of its charm) and it is unsurprisingly a film that has grown in reputation over the years, now selected for preservation in the United States National film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". As the majority of the actors had never been on screen before, their thespian talents are less than Olivier-esque that they deliver their lines with conviction and emotion and even the actors who grew up in the silent era, such as Henry Victor (who plays Hercules), were occasionally confined to small roles because of the way they spoke (Victor, despite being born in London, grew up in Germany and had a pronounced accent).


The Disc

Extra Features
The commentary with film historian and author David Kalat is a fairly dry and gappy affair but, when he does speak, it is clear that he knows his stuff as he tells you the background to just about every actor, what they did before and after the film, that Irving Thalberg , the head of MGM, originally wanted this to be a big 'event' movie with named actors, such as Myrna Loy (as Cleopatra, but who begged not to be involved because she was horrified by the script) and Jean Harlow as Venus) but they were overridden by Browning who wanted unknown (or largely unknown actors. Kalat has written a book on a film called Offend One and You Offend Them All: The Making of Tod Browning's Freaks and he does come across like an enthusiastic academic and the commentary may have been better as a double act with someone who is more of a fan and can talk when Kalat is nothing to say but, as it is, this is well worth a listen.

There is a Special Message Prologue (2:34) which explains that people stricken with abnormalities from birth are not there to be ridiculed, laughed at or mistreated but should be afforded the same decency as everyone else in the world, concluding "we presents the most startling horror story of the ABNORMAL and THE UNWANTED".

Freaks: The Sideshow Cinema (1.03:21) features David Skal, author Johnny Meah, a sideshow performer, actor/historian Todd Robbins, Jerry Maren, who played all of the munchkins and Mark Povinelli , a midget actor, who talk about various aspects of the film in a comprehensive feature length piece that covers the background, casting, pretty much every member of the cast, talking about their lines on and off-screen, before moving on to its production, public reaction, its aftermath and its lasting impression. If commentaries aren't your thing then this will provide all the information you need and, even if you have listened to the commentary, this is a brilliant companion piece that will survive more than one viewing.


The Picture
For a film in its eighth decade, Freaks looks remarkably good with only the slightest hints of scratches, print damage and inconsistent contrast levels. The worst scene is the epilogue when Hans is visited by Phroso and Venus, who bring Frieda along to meet her millionaire sweetheart which is very patchy and with high levels of grain, scratches and other print damage that has not been digitally treated.

The cinematography is remarkably good and there are some rather bizarre anachronisms such as the number of freaks in one circus and the size of the dressing room tent compared to the big top but these are very easy to overlook and the overall appearance of the film is of one that has been photographed and directed by extremely skilled practitioners.


The Sound
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono English track is nice and clear that he only lives that are difficult to make out being the result of actors who couldn't enunciate very well and had never acted before. The score is remarkably effective, especially when it comes to the rainsoaked climax which is a moment of true cinematic horror and one of the scariest sequence ever filmed.

There are excellent English subtitles as well as those in French and Spanish.


Final Thoughts
Freaks is a thoroughly strange film with some of the most horrific imagery that you are ever likely to see -- the final reveal is something that, although slightly unconvincing by today's standards, you can imagine happening to you and would really be something that nightmares are made of. I think this is probably Tod Browning's masterpiece and, although it took several decades to be recognised as such, that's no bad thing as it really is a terrific film that tackles the whole idea of circus freaks, what it is like to live in such an environment and with such people and has done so with great compassion.

If you like horror movies and haven't seen this then you are really missing out and should order the DVD immediately!