Review of Freaks (1932) by Jennifer J — 09 Feb 2008

Good, but not GREAT Tod Browning movie I FINALLY got a chance to see after too too many years of hearing about it, wondering if I should see it because I'd be too grossed out by it, and finally just picking it up at the library to get it over with.

This movie is about the myriad of things that happen in a sideshow carnival behind the scenes, But more specifically, deals with a midget (harry Earles) falling in love with the trapeze woman played by Olga Baclanova, but the trapeze woman is only playing him for Earles' money! She's really in love with Hercules! The freaks don't like this. Chaos ensues.

This is a strange STRANGE piece which is definitely exploitive, and while we're told to imagine them as normal, situations abound (especially in the last act) that makes them, well, not. No thanks to Browning.

Filled with up and down performances (Daisy Earles as Harry Earles' fiancée paramour is especially bad) and a laughable-now conclusion, this is good for the novelty factor, but not much for anything else.