Freaks (1932)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Tod Browning

Writer:

Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins (story)

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

Also Known As:

Forbidden Love (USA) (informal title)
Nature's Mistakes (USA) (informal title)
The Monster Show

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Colour:

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:

The film was rejected for UK cinema showing in 1932 and again in 1952. It was finally passed for cinema with an uncut X rating in May 1963, making it one of the longest bans in UK film history.

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:

Freaks: We accept you, one of us! Gooble Gobble!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Clerks: The Last Episode Ever (#1.6)" (2001)

The Most Reviled Film of its Time

Grotesque and shocking motion picture from one of the first masters of horror pictures. Deals with the realities of what people who are physically deformed go through when working at the circus. In the film they are a close bunch who live by their own code of ethics. Told through the flashback structure, the movie tells the story of a group of circus performers who get revenge when there is an attempt of murder on one of their own to get his money. Like Straw Dogs(1971), Freaks(1932) is disturbing and relentless in its imagery.