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Freaks - kummajaiset

Original title: Freaks
  • 19321932
  • K-12/9K-12/9
  • 1h 4m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
47K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,660
710
Olga Baclanova, Harry Earles, and Henry Victor in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
Watch Warner Archive Trailer
Play trailer1:09
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaHorror

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.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.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.

IMDb RATING
7.8/10
47K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,660
710
  • Director
    • Tod Browning
  • Writers
    • Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins(suggested by story: "Spurs")
    • Willis Goldbeck(screenplay)
    • Leon Gordon(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Wallace Ford
    • Leila Hyams
    • Olga Baclanova
  • Director
    • Tod Browning
  • Writers
    • Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins(suggested by story: "Spurs")
    • Willis Goldbeck(screenplay)
    • Leon Gordon(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Wallace Ford
    • Leila Hyams
    • Olga Baclanova
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 303User reviews
    • 161Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Warner Archive Trailer
    Trailer 1:09
    Warner Archive Trailer

    Photos349

    Jerry Austin, Tod Browning, Johnny Eck, Elizabeth Green, Martha Morris, Peter Robinson, Olga Roderick, Schlitze, Elvira Snow, and Jenny Lee Snow in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Olga Baclanova, Daisy Earles, Harry Earles, and Henry Victor in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Jerry Austin, Tod Browning, Johnny Eck, Elizabeth Green, Josephine Joseph, Peter Robinson, Olga Roderick, Schlitze, Elvira Snow, and Jenny Lee Snow in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Olga Baclanova and Harry Earles in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Roscoe Ates, Daisy Hilton, and Violet Hilton in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Josephine Joseph in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Olga Baclanova and Harry Earles in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Roscoe Ates, Daisy Hilton, and Violet Hilton in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Edward Brophy, Josephine Joseph, and Matt McHugh in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Matt McHugh and Prince Randian in Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)
    Freaks - kummajaiset (1932)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Wallace Ford
    Wallace Ford
    • Phroso
    Leila Hyams
    Leila Hyams
    • Venus
    Olga Baclanova
    Olga Baclanova
    • Cleopatra
    Roscoe Ates
    Roscoe Ates
    • Roscoe
    • (as Rosco Ates)
    Henry Victor
    Henry Victor
    • Hercules
    Harry Earles
    Harry Earles
    • Hans
    Daisy Earles
    Daisy Earles
    • Frieda
    Rose Dione
    Rose Dione
    • Madame Tetrallini
    Daisy Hilton
    Daisy Hilton
    • Siamese Twin
    Violet Hilton
    Violet Hilton
    • Siamese Twin
    Schlitze
    Schlitze
    • Pin Head
    Josephine Joseph
    Josephine Joseph
    • Half Woman-Half Man
    Johnny Eck
    Johnny Eck
    • Half Boy
    Frances O'Connor
    Frances O'Connor
    • Armless Girl
    Peter Robinson
    Peter Robinson
    • Human Skeleton
    Olga Roderick
    Olga Roderick
    • Bearded Lady
    Koo Koo
    Koo Koo
    • By Herself
    Prince Randian
    Prince Randian
    • The Living Torso
    • (as Rardion)
    • Director
      • Tod Browning
    • Writers
      • Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins(suggested by story: "Spurs")
      • Willis Goldbeck(screenplay)
      • Leon Gordon(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The on-screen romance between Hans and Frieda was very subdued because the roles were being played by real life brother and sister Harry Earles and Daisy Earles.
    • Goofs
      In the first shot after the "Wedding Feast" title card, we see Violet Hilton & Daisy Hilton playing soprano saxophones, but we only hear a harmonica being played.
    • Quotes

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

    • Alternate versions
      Reissue prints included a two-and-a-half minute written prologue about historical interpretations and contemporary studies of "misshapen misfits." These same prints remove the MGM Lion (the studio having disowned the film for many years).
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Le contrôle de l'univers (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      Gruesome Tales
      (uncredited)

      Music by William Axt and Erno Rapee

    User reviews303

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    "Living, Breathing Monstrosities.."
    Those that have seen either 1930's gangster film, "The Public Enemy" or "Little Caesar" will be familiar with the opening scrawl of the amazing film, "Freaks." In the 1930's it seemed as though the filmmakers had to set up the audience or apologize, in a way, for what they were about to see. The opening, before the title card, explains how "freaks" or human oddities have been treated by society. It tells how such deformed people were shunned from society, but, how they have normal thoughts and feelings just like the rest of us. This truly is the power of this truly moving, funny, very strange, and ultimately frightening film from the "Dark Carnival" mind of director Tod Browning...

    No reason to do a summary here, that ruins the experience for new audiences to discover on their own and the rest of the reviewers have all ready done a stellar job, I'm sure, of giving plot synopsis.

    Let's say that the average viewer will be stunned at first by the fact that real deformed dwarfs, midgets,siamese twins, and other "oddities" were the actors in this film. And that, in itself, lends the film its mysterious power and casts its spell on the viewer as much now in 2004 as I'm sure it did in the 30's and upon its rediscovery in the 1960's.

    The tone of this film varies throughout. At it's center really are several relationships: Hans and his fiancée; Hans and the "Big" Lady, Cleopatra; Frozo the Clown and Venus; Hercules the strong man and Cleopatra, and of course the "Freaks" vs. Hercules and Cleopatra and the special code of the Freaks.

    There are several lame 1930's jokes an example: "I thinks she likes you, b-b-b-but h-he don't!" stutters a clown in the circus when the half male/female character walks by Hercules and stops to take a gander. It's a strange, perverse joke and an example of what you're in for with this movie.

    The power of the film is within the freaks themselves. We are invited to gawk, stare, but, ultimately sympathize with them. We want to see anyone who threatens them get their comeuppance and boy do they ever get that!

    The freak that will freak you out the most: The Living Torso, Radian.

    You'll love Frozo and Venus and pull for them throughout.

    You'll root for Hans and Frida.

    You'll enjoy Rosco the clown's humorous performance.

    You'll be truly disturbed by the classic; uber-horror scene of the freaks crawling with knives in the mud in the rain-storm revenge sequence toward the end. Some of the most classic images in all of film not just horror.

    I love it when Hans calls other "big" people in the circus who make him angry : "Swine!" He rules.

    When the title card: THE WEDDING FEAST comes up you too will be truly FREAKED out! I love this movie and it has quickly become one of my favorites of all time right along-side 1930's classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.
    helpful•74
    10
    • Tom_Powers30
    • Aug 9, 2004

    FAQ5

    • What is 'Freaks' about?
    • Is "Freaks" based on a book?
    • Are the freaks real or just actors in costumes?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 20, 1932 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Sirkussällskapet
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $310,607 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,072
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 4 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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