Saturday, November 12, 2005
Tod Browning's Freaks - 1932
Viewing Ambiance: Mid t0 half dark - there's some stuff you might want to see really well and film quality is not all that great.
Intoxicants: Stick with wine or light beer for this one.
Food: Fried Chicken
Discussion:
Freaks was supposed to be a horror film. I can imagine, for a audience un-used to slasher flicks, Freddie Krueger, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw, that it would be fairly horrific and frightening. We have become desensitized - but then, the people who lived while this film was made also were used to seeing physical abnormalities that have all but been eliminated for most of us in the US.
Freaks is based on a short story called "Spurs" by Tod Robbins about a circus midget who falls for a conniving trapeze artist who is determined to marry him and take his money. Her treachery is avenged by the other circus freaks. In the film, the midget is played by Harry Earles (later of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz) and the conniving trapeze artist is played by Olga Baclanova - a stage actress who transitioned into film as a "B" actress.
The bulk of the film is populated by non-normal people - there are a few micro-encephaletics (then called pin-heads), a man born without arms or legs (called a human torso or human caterpillar) - Prince Randian does this really cool trick where he lights a cigarette that he rolled using only his tongue, 2 armless woman, a bearded lady, a human skeleton, a "turtle girl," a man born without legs (Johnny Eck), a Bird Girl, and another midget called Angeleno - during the wedding feast, Angeleno does a very good "C-Walk" dance which is amazing considering that there were not exactly a lot of Crips walking around in 1932, also there were a pair of Siamese Twins - the Hilton Sisters - Violet and Daisy.
Viewing this film takes a lot of use of the word "Considering."
As in, considering the fact that it was made in the 1930's it is surprisingly well constructed. Some of it is hokey, no doubt, but there are a few really good parts and some actual shocking scenes that aren't too melodramatic.
And, considering the fact that the director and many of the actors either came directly from silent films or had no acting experience outside of the sideshow, it's not badly acted (Daisy Earles eases into her part, but for the most part she sounds as if she is reading her lines).
Olga is appropriately evil and conniving - she is a good actress. Harry Earles is a good actor (Daisy is his sister, not his wife). Johnny Eck (the half boy) is charming, as is another midget, Angeleno Rossitto (the C-Walker).
The Wedding Feast scene freaked me out the most. It seemed like a surreal nightmare - since I typically have nightmares two days after seeing a scary movie it remains to be seen if this one will seep into my subconscious. The pin-heads freaked me out the most - they looked exactly like R. Crumb's depictions - and their names were Zip and Pip.
Some of the accents were so thick as to be nearly incomprehensible at times - even those of the lead, Henry Earles. But, after a while you get used to not understanding what the "Freaks" say, even with the captions on.
The film really shows the family behind the circus. They are very in-tune with one another. In fact, as the barker says at the beginning of the show "you offend one, you offend them all."
Overall this movie was well worth a watch - and short enough to keep your attention. As far as the bonus features go - the commentary was good, but the documentary was more rewarding as they talk about each individual freak and what they brought to the table.
For example - the human worm - his personal assistant on the film was his son. So apparently, he led a fairly full life. Also, we learn that the Hilton Sisters freaked out F. Scott Fitzgerald in the studio commissary one day.
Netflix has it. Get it, I say.
Intoxicants: Stick with wine or light beer for this one.
Food: Fried Chicken
Discussion:
Freaks was supposed to be a horror film. I can imagine, for a audience un-used to slasher flicks, Freddie Krueger, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw, that it would be fairly horrific and frightening. We have become desensitized - but then, the people who lived while this film was made also were used to seeing physical abnormalities that have all but been eliminated for most of us in the US.
Freaks is based on a short story called "Spurs" by Tod Robbins about a circus midget who falls for a conniving trapeze artist who is determined to marry him and take his money. Her treachery is avenged by the other circus freaks. In the film, the midget is played by Harry Earles (later of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz) and the conniving trapeze artist is played by Olga Baclanova - a stage actress who transitioned into film as a "B" actress.
The bulk of the film is populated by non-normal people - there are a few micro-encephaletics (then called pin-heads), a man born without arms or legs (called a human torso or human caterpillar) - Prince Randian does this really cool trick where he lights a cigarette that he rolled using only his tongue, 2 armless woman, a bearded lady, a human skeleton, a "turtle girl," a man born without legs (Johnny Eck), a Bird Girl, and another midget called Angeleno - during the wedding feast, Angeleno does a very good "C-Walk" dance which is amazing considering that there were not exactly a lot of Crips walking around in 1932, also there were a pair of Siamese Twins - the Hilton Sisters - Violet and Daisy.
Viewing this film takes a lot of use of the word "Considering."
As in, considering the fact that it was made in the 1930's it is surprisingly well constructed. Some of it is hokey, no doubt, but there are a few really good parts and some actual shocking scenes that aren't too melodramatic.
And, considering the fact that the director and many of the actors either came directly from silent films or had no acting experience outside of the sideshow, it's not badly acted (Daisy Earles eases into her part, but for the most part she sounds as if she is reading her lines).
Olga is appropriately evil and conniving - she is a good actress. Harry Earles is a good actor (Daisy is his sister, not his wife). Johnny Eck (the half boy) is charming, as is another midget, Angeleno Rossitto (the C-Walker).
The Wedding Feast scene freaked me out the most. It seemed like a surreal nightmare - since I typically have nightmares two days after seeing a scary movie it remains to be seen if this one will seep into my subconscious. The pin-heads freaked me out the most - they looked exactly like R. Crumb's depictions - and their names were Zip and Pip.
Some of the accents were so thick as to be nearly incomprehensible at times - even those of the lead, Henry Earles. But, after a while you get used to not understanding what the "Freaks" say, even with the captions on.
The film really shows the family behind the circus. They are very in-tune with one another. In fact, as the barker says at the beginning of the show "you offend one, you offend them all."
Overall this movie was well worth a watch - and short enough to keep your attention. As far as the bonus features go - the commentary was good, but the documentary was more rewarding as they talk about each individual freak and what they brought to the table.
For example - the human worm - his personal assistant on the film was his son. So apparently, he led a fairly full life. Also, we learn that the Hilton Sisters freaked out F. Scott Fitzgerald in the studio commissary one day.
Netflix has it. Get it, I say.
