Freaks (1932)

"And now folks, if you will just step right this way, you are about to witness the most amazing, the most astounding, living monstrosity of all time."

A crowd of people walk through a carnival tent moving along handmade wooden railings listening to a barker describe each sideshow attraction, when the group approaches one exhibit and a woman screams and turns away in sheer terror.




Original Theatrical Poster

So begins Tod Browning's seminal horror classic Freaks, a little movie about the deformed oddities that comprise this strange carnival world.

The story moves back in time, the screams of the woman replaced with the jaunting rhythm of calliope music as Cleopatra, a trapeze artist, dangles high in the air.

Cleo is beautiful, her short wavy hair pulled tight against her head, her smile bright, easily noticeable from across the room; her dark stare that of Medusa's, hard to shake from the ground below. And she is being watched.

Down on the ground looking smaller than a normal person would from the trapeze ropes is Hans, a midget sideshow performer who is infatuated with Cleopatra. Hans is engaged to Frieda, a fellow midget performer, but cannot ignore his attraction to the "most beautiful big person" swinging majestically above his head.

Hans spoils Cleo with gifts and expensive wines forcing Frieda to confront Cleo about her love for Hans, and also informs her of Hans' inheritance which will allow him to leave the circus performing lifestyle for good. Cleo, who has no intention of starting a relationship with Hans, is reveling in the spoils of her suitor and when she finds out about his riches, she wants more. Cleo uses her sex appeal to coax the strongman Hercules to devise a plan to get Hans' money.

Hans asks Cleo to marry him and she accepts, which results in the most famous scene in the film, showing the freaks accepting a "normal" person into their group.

After the wedding feast debacle, Frieda and the other freaks learn of Cleo's plan to murder Hans and run off with Hercules and the money. But just like any close knit group, the freaks devise their own plan to protect one of their own.

I was reminded of this late-night classic when AMC premiered Freakshow in February, a reality program scheduled as part of the channel's Thursday night lineup. The show follows former music producer Todd Ray's Venice Beach freakshow establishment as he searches for unique talent to bring to his show. Ray's show features a couple of unique performers such as George Bell, "The Tallest American," standing at a remarkable 7' 8"; the counterpoint to Bell, "The Amazing Ali," a 3' 5" little person; Morgue, who gets his name from his special brand of "shock" acts; Marcus "The Creature," his body covered from head to toe in tattoos and piercings; and Murrugun "The Mystic," known for his sword swallowing skills.

The freaks on AMC's program are no doubt strange, but not one of them compares to the sideshow performers featured in the early horror classic Freaks.

Freaks was unique among Pre-Code horror films in that the look of the "freaks" in the film was not achieved by using special makeup effects. Instead, Browning cast real sideshow oddities for the roles which helped add a sense of realism to the characters. Browning, who is most famous for directing Dracula the year before, used his experiences as a contortionist in a carnival when developing the story of Freaks.

The most rememberable freaks are Daisy and Violet Hilton, twins conjoined at the hip; the "pinheads," a name given to performers who where born with microcephaly, a condition where the person is born with a small skull and brain; and Prince Randian, also known as "The Human Torso" because of his being born without any limbs. Here's a great scene in which Prince Randian shows off one of his talents.

Both Freaks and Freakshow present the sideshow as a business where their performers are placed on a pedestal for the world to see. But Ray builds up his attractions as performers and talents, not deformed freaks put out in front of the world simply for display. Rather, he scours the country for unique talent yet to be seen, offering audiences the chance to see someone truly magnificent, and it doesn't matter how much money he has to spend to get what he wants on display. The performers on Freakshow are normal people like me and you; the shows tag line is normal is relative. When not putting on a show, they spend time together as a family, whether it be bowling, acquiring more acts for their show, or helping each other integrate into "normal" society. Generally, the cast members are accepted by the outside world, albeit some looks and remarks, but in their business that should be expected.

Browning (center) poses with cast of "freaks" on set

Where Ray and his business is solely for entertainment and monetary purposes, Browning offers the viewer a tragic view of a different culture of society, a culture which in the 1930's was viewed as a grotesque offshoot of the mainstream and even rejected by their own kind. A woman takes the pinheads and other members of the sideshow down to the river to spend time in the sun when two men walk up and tell her they have to leave. The woman begs to let them stay, mentioning that the sun is good for the children. One man responds, "Children? They are monsters." There's a scene where Frieda tells Hans, "To me you're a man, but to her you're something to laugh at." Of course Frieda is referring to Cleo's new found interest in Hans, but even as a member of the circus family, Cleo her self is disgusted with the "freaks," as seen in the video clip. Freaks shows the mix of life between the "freaks" and the "normals," where the acrobats make fun of the oddities that surround them. Others are more accepting such as Phroso the clown and Venus, another circus performer, but for the most part the freaks are outcasts even in a place where they should be accepted.

But it's in how the television program and the film show how these "freaks" interact with each other that determines how they want to be viewed by society. The performers in the Freakshow are making money, living in the real world, whereas the "freaks" in the film are stuck in a traveling troupe, falsely portrayed as monsters who live by an honorable code as seen in the film's horrifying conclusion, intentionally playing upon the stereotypes of how society views them as terrifying, disfigured oddities.

Trashed by critics and film audiences during it's initial theatrical run, even receiving a ban from the British film censors for over 30 years for disturbing content (one woman threatened to sue MGM over her miscarriage), Freaks proved to uphold the feelings that mainstream culture placed on sideshow performers, even resulting in the beginning of the end to Browning's career as a director. But Freaks has received considerable recognition over the years, gaining notoriety as a midnight movie in the 1960's and 1970's, selection into the National Film Registry in 1994, and along with AMC's current Freakshow, proves that America's curiosity with the sideshow is still strong, but for what reasons?

After watching Freaks, one is let to wonder who the real monsters are: the "freaks" or the "normals?" The carnival barker at the beginning of the film says, "You laugh at them. Shutter them. And yet but for the accident of birth, you might even be as they are."