Freaks Among Greatest of All Cult Classics
Controversial, Oft-Censored 1932 Thriller Blends Real Horror, Pathos
Dec 11, 2008
A low-budget marvel, the infamous Freaks is populated by real-life sideshow miscreants in a surprisingly conventional, albeit hoary, story of unrequited love, cruelty and vengeance. Audiences of any era would find Freaks intriguing; that it was released in the depths of the Depression heightens the fascination.
What’s also surprising is how fast the freaks’ shocking appearances wear off. We quickly adjust to their otherness, which becomes almost invisible as we begin to focus on the story.
Tod Browning Also Directed Dracula
Freaks was a pet project of Tod Browning, who directed classics including Lon Chaney Sr.’s legendary (and lost) London After Midnight, plus Chaney's The Unholy Three -- both the silent version and the 1930 sound remake -- and Dracula with Bela Lugosi.
What Browning brought to the production was a tremendous respect for and understanding of his misshapen cast members.
As a teenager, Browning literally ran away to join the circus. According to author Danny Peary, Browning “befriended the sideshow freaks and witnessed firsthand the public’s simultaneous feelings of morbid fascination, fear, and pity toward them.” (Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful, Dell Publishing Co., 1981)
Story of Unrequited Love and Revenge
The tale centers on Hans, a Little Person (i.e., midget) played by Harry Earles. Although Hans is engaged to another Little Person, Frieda (played by his real-life sister, Daisy), he is smitten with Cleopatra, a normal-sized performer with the troupe.
Cruel Cleo, played with full-throated abandon by Russian actress Olga Baclanova, flirts with the love-struck little man in order to pry money from him. She’s secretly involved with the circus strongman, the venal Hercules (Henry Victor). When they learn Hans has a sizable inheritance, they conspire to get it by maneuvering Hans into dumping Frieda – and marrying Cleopatra.
Clueless Hans is thrilled at Cleo’s sudden attentions, while the crestfallen Frieda tries to put on a brave face, hoping Hans will come to his senses.
Gothic Chase Sequence
The tale turns nightmarish at the wedding dinner, when Cleopatra’s outrageous behavior turns the freaks against her. We begin to sense the freaks’ unspoken code of conduct – a philosophy that drives the story to its conclusion.
The rest of the film plays like a huge, steep amusement park slide: steep, fast, frightening and utterly compelling. The action culminates in a gothic chase through the driving rain as the freaks, well, freak out.
The final moments, which bookend the opening scene, reveal Cleopatra’s fate. The scene gets mixed reactions to this day -- some dismiss it as absurd, while others see the denouement as a wondrous mix of horror and pathos. Either way, it’s unforgettable and the one true ending Browning intended; censored prints through the years have offered truncated versions of the film.
Olga Baclanova Compelling
Baclanova, a formidable figure in silent films, seems to be having such a good time that she makes her thoroughly loathsome character strangely compelling. The performance is proof of what many actors say -- that playing villains is simply a lot more fun than playing heroes.
Others in the cast include second-banana stalwart Wally Ford as Phroso, a big-hearted circus clown whose warm friendships with the freaks is a joy to watch. And the beautiful Leila Hyams does a creditable turn as a seal trainer. Together, they represent the way Browning would have all normally-developed adults regard the so-called “freaks” – with compassion, understanding and respect.
Of course, the real stars are the ones you’ve never heard of. Like Randian, the limbless “torso man” who rolls his own cigarettes; Siamese twins Violet and Daisy Hilton; Olga the bearded lady; Johnny Eck, the boy with half a torso; Pete Robinson the Living Skeleton; and Josephine-Joseph – half woman and half man, among others. It’s clear by their wooden performances that these aren’t actors. But as people living in society’s margins, their eccentricities seem to compensate for and explain away their strange speech patterns.
Superior “Message” Movie
Far from a perfect film, Freaks’ story is creaky and, as noted, some performances are wince-inducing. But the movie is unforgettable, and despite the freaks’ behavior toward the end, the story is instructive and insightful.
Forget all those condescending “message” movies like Gentleman’s Agreement and The Defiant Ones. Freaks – restored in recent years but widely censored in 1932 and banned in England for three decades – really shows genuine tolerance for people who deserve to be considered solely on their merits as human beings.
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