FAQ for
Freaks (1932) More at IMDbPro »

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Freaks is based on a short story, Spurs, by American author Tod Robbins [1888-1849]. Spurs was first published in the February 1923 issue of Munsey's Magazine. It is also included in Robbins' anthology Who Wants a Green Bottle? and Other Uneasy Tales (1936).

Yes. Spurs is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License, and a copy can be obtained here.

The "freaks" featured in the movie are actual individuals who have appeared as "freaks" in various carnival, circus, and vaudeville shows. Consequently, we are introduced to real midgets Hans (Harry Earles) and Frieda (Daisy Earles), Siamese twins Daisy Hilton and Violet Hilton, Half Boy Johnny Eck, Armless Girl Frances O'Connor, the Living Skeleton Peter Robinson, Bearded Lady Olga Roderick, the Living Torso Prince Randian, Bird Girl Elizabeth Green, and pinheads Schlitze, Zip (Elvira Snow), and Pip Jenny Lee Snow.

"Pinhead" is a term used to describe a cephalic disorder known medically as Microencephaly or "small brain" in which the head fails to grow while the face develops normally, producing a child with a small head and a receding forehead. Microencephaly can occur due to a genetic disorder or to other maternal factors, such as alcoholism, diabetes, or German measles (Rubella), that stunt the growth of nerve cells in the brain of a developing fetus. Similar to microencephaly is another disorder called Anencephaly or "no brain", in which the child is born without a brain or only the rudiments of a brain stem. Having no brain, ancephalics never gain consciousness and usually die within a few days after birth, while microencephalics may survive into adulthood but with associated problems such as retardation, dwarfism, and speech or motor disorders.

When the freaks find out that Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) has been poisoning Hans in order to obtain his inheritance, they attack her and Hercules (Henry Victor) with various knives. The final two scenes occur some years later. The first scene revisits the opening scene, and we see Cleopatra in her box, looking like a squawking human chicken, her tongue cut out, one eye gouged, and her legs hacked off. In the last scene, Venus (Leila Hyams) and Phroso (Wallace Ford) reunite Frieda with Hans, who has been living in seclusion in his mansion.