Freaks (film)
"Freaks" is a 1932 horror film directed by Tod Browning, based on a short story by Tod Robbins. The screenplay, crafted by William Goldbeck and Edgar Allan Wolf, explores the themes of love, betrayal, and community among circus performers who are considered "freaks" by societal standards. The story centers on a trapeze artist named Cleopatra, who schemes to marry a wealthy little person, Hans, while being in love with the strongman Hercules. Cleopatra and Hercules plot to murder Hans to seize his fortune, but the tight-knit community of circus performers unites against the conspirators when they uncover the plot. The film is notable for its portrayal of individuals with physical deformities, including microcephalic individuals, a limbless man, and conjoined twins, showcasing their deep loyalty to one another. Initially met with controversy and condemnation upon release, "Freaks" has since gained a cult following and is regarded as a classic, though its dark themes and portrayal of marginalized groups were considered too extreme for many audiences in the 1930s. The film reflects Browning's recurring interest in characters on the fringes of society, although it marked a turning point in his career, leading to diminished recognition in Hollywood.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Freaks (film)
Identification Film about people with physical anomalies who are displayed as curiosities in a traveling circus
Director Tod Browning
Date Released on February 20, 1932
Depression-era Americans were drawn to films that featured marginalized characters, such as dispossessed Oklahomans in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), gangsters in Scarface(1932), and even a gigantic simian antihero in King Kong(1933). However, when prominent Hollywood director Tod Browning, fresh from his success with Dracula (1931), released Freaks, the film was a spectacular failure that effectively ended his career.
With a screenplay by William Goldbeck and Edgar Allan Wolf, based on a 1923 short story by Tod Robbins, Freaks tells the story of the trapeze artist Cleopatra, who, though in love with the strongman Hercules, agrees to marry the midget Hans because of the fortune he has inherited.
Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) and Hercules (Roscoe Ates) intend to poison Hans (Harry Earles) after the marriage and claim his wealth. However, the circus “freaks”—who include, among others, microcephalic people (commonly known as “pinheads”), a limbless man, conjoined “Siamese” twin sisters, and a hermaphrodite—constitute a tightly knit community intensely loyal to one another. “Offend one and you offend them all” was a widely repeated line in the film’s publicity. After Cleopatra cannot hide her repulsion for her husband’s friends, the “freaks” become suspicious and discover the plot. During a late-night rainstorm, they hunt down the conspirators and wreak ghastly vengeance: Hercules is castrated, and Cleopatra is mutilated.
Impact
Many of Browning’s most popular films featured protagonists who existed outside respected society—drifters, criminals, show-business people. His biggest success, the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula, featured a foreign monster and was set in an insane asylum. However, with Freaks, Browning went too far. Americans of the 1930’s might have identified with the excluded and disenfranchised and might have fantasized about the freedom of a criminal lifestyle, but Freaks proved too dark and too grim for most moviegoers. Although it later came to be perceived as a classic, at the time it incited the wrath of local film watchdog committees. Browning lived into the 1960’s and made a few more films, but he never again enjoyed success or prestige in Hollywood.
Bibliography
Mark, Gregory William. Women in Horror Films, 1930s. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2005.
Skal, David J., and Elias Savada. Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning. New York: Anchor, 1995.