Freaks (1932)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Tod Browning

Writer:

Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins (story)
(more)

Release Date:

20 February 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Can a full grown woman truly love a MIDGET ?

Plot:

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Plot Keywords:

Freak | Midget | Trapeze Artist | Circus | Poison

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Wallace Ford	...	Phroso
Leila Hyams	...	Venus
Olga Baclanova	...	Cleopatra
Roscoe Ates	...	Roscoe (as Rosco Ates)
Henry Victor	...	Hercules
Harry Earles	...	Hans
Daisy Earles	...	Frieda
Rose Dione	...	Madame Tetrallini
Daisy Hilton	...	Siamese Twin
Violet Hilton	...	Siamese Twin
Schlitze	...	Himself
Josephine Joseph	...	Half-Woman, Half Man
Johnny Eck	...	Half Boy
Frances O'Connor	...	Armless Girl
Peter Robinson	...	Human Skeleton
Olga Roderick	...	Bearded Lady
Koo Koo	...	Herself
Prince Randian	...	The Living Torso (as Rardion)
Martha Morris	...	Armless Girl
Elvira Snow	...	Pinhead (as Zip)
Jenny Lee Snow	...	Pinhead (as Pip)
Elizabeth Green	...	Bird Girl
Angelo Rossitto	...	Angeleno
Edward Brophy	...	Rollo Brother
Matt McHugh	...	Rollo Brother (as Mat McHugh)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Aasen	...	Giant (uncredited)
Ernie Adams	...	Sideshow patron (uncredited)
Jerry Austin	...	Dwarf throwing knife on Hercules (uncredited)
Louise Beavers	...	Maid (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Hans' Butler (uncredited)
Albert Conti	...	Landowner (uncredited)
Tiny Doll	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Edith	...	Little Girl crawling on her knees (uncredited)
Delmo Fritz	...	Sword Swallower (uncredited)
Murray Kinnell	...	Freakshow Barker (uncredited)
Tom London	...	(uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Jean the Caretaker (uncredited)

Directed by
Tod Browning

Writing credits
Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins		(story "Spurs") (as Tod Robbins)
Al Boasberg		uncredited
Willis Goldbeck		uncredited
Leon Gordon		uncredited
Charles MacArthur		uncredited
Edgar Allan Woolf		uncredited

Produced by
Tod Browning	....	producer
Dwain Esper	....	producer (reissue) (uncredited)
Harry Rapf	....	producer (uncredited)
Hildegarde Stadie	....	producer (reissue) (uncredited)
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Merritt B. Gerstad		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Basil Wrangell		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons		(uncredited)
Merrill Pye		(uncredited)

Production Management
Harry Sharrock	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Ryan	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Will Sheldon	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Errol Taggart	....	first assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
G.A. Burns	....	sound (uncredited)
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
David S. Horsley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Oliver T. Marsh	....	additional photographer (uncredited)
Paul Vogel	....	additional photographer (uncredited)

Other crew
Will Sheldon	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Excelsior (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Joseph Brenner Associates (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Magnus Opus (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1932) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Tornado Film (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Forbidden Love (USA) (informal title)
Nature's Mistakes (USA) (informal title)
The Monster Show
Fenómenos (Uruguay) (Venezuela) [es]
Freaks (Austria) (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
A Parada dos Monstros (Portugal) [pt]
Barnum (France) [fr]
Dziwolagi (Poland) [pl]
Freaks - La monstrueuse parade (France) [fr]
Freaks - Missgestaltete (Germany) (DVD box title) [de]
Freaks - kummajaiset (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
La Parade des monstres (France) [fr]
La monstrueuse parade (France) [fr]
La parada de los monstruos (Spain) [es]
Monstres (France) [fr]
Monstros (Brazil) [pt]
Sirkussällskapet (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Sirkusseurue (Finland) (informal title) [fi]

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Italy:(Banned) (original rating) | Italy:T (VHS/DVD rating) (self applied) | Finland:(Banned) (1932) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-16 (1972) (Finnish Film Archive) | Australia:PG | Germany:16 | UK:12 (re-rating) (2001) | UK:15 (video rating) (1995) | UK:R (original rating) | UK:X (re-rating) (1963) | USA:Unrated | Ireland:(Banned) (1999)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Dwarf John George -- for reasons unknown -- does not appear in "Freaks", even though a role was specifically written for him in the screenplay.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the scene in which Hans' friends menace Cleopatra in the wagon, the flute soundtrack doesn't match the finger movements of the dwarf playing the flute.

Quotes:

Roscoe: [whenever he asks only one of the two Siamese twins to stay, and the twins have to leave together] You always use that as a excu-excuse, an alib-b-b-bi.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Butters' Very Own Episode (#5.14)" (2001)

Disturbing & Thought Provoking

The subject of human disability is still a taboo subject in Cinema, even over 70 years since this film's release.

It's difficult to imagine what impact this film would have had in the 1930's, but as it still has the ability to shock ( through the images of bodily deformity ) I can understand why many shunned and disowned this work, and why it totally ruined Todd Browning's film career.

The basic premise - that beauty is more than skin deep - can appear to be wielded with a sledgehammer, but perhaps the contemporary audience needed to be hit harder in order to make them understand the point.

The film is short ( due to enforced cuts ), and at times can move rather slowly and can appear rather 'stagey' which is a trait of many films from the 20's / 30's.

But don't let that put you off. The plot is simple, but it's the telling of the story rather than the story itself that is important. And you really do need to remind yourself that these are real people - not actors - and this was the live they led.

I rate it 9 outa 10 because they really don't make them like this any more.