FREAKS: A VISUAL RECORD

"Can a full grown woman truly love a midget?"

- Freaks theatrical poster art

Shunned by moviegoers during its initial release on February 12, 1932 and alternately panned and praised by critics, Tod Browning's FREAKS (MGM) did not gain the full cult status it has today until after it was released on Beta, VHS and LaserDisc to home audiences in 1986. Prior to that, it had only screened with limited or one-off special showings, further fueling its reputation. Back in the summer of '74 or'75 my buddy Doug and I had the great fortune of watching it on the big screen at a theater in Hollywood during one of its rare showings. It was a very special occasion, indeed.

Famed (and feared) Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons wrote after seeing FREAKS: "I came into the Criterion Theater from the gayety of Mrs. Gardner Sullivan's [wife of screenwriter/producer C. Charles Sullivan] luncheon party and I felt as if I had suddenly fallen asleep and were having a weird nightmare . . ."

There is no shortage on accounts of the making of FREAKS. I have listed a few resources that cover the topic in great detail at the bottom of this post, both in its production and critical assessment. What follows here is a visual record of the film, including posters, stills, contemporaneous articles and reviews and other ephemera.

NOTE: Identifying the photographer for the stills shown here has proved to be elusive and it is likely that there was more than one. Some sources believe that it was Merritt B. Gerstad, the uncredited cinematographer of FREAKS (also Browning's LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT). Some say that it was the uncredited additional photographers Oliver T. Marsh and Paul Vogel. As mentioned, it could be any or all of these individuals, including those unnamed assigned from MGM's stills department.

Posters:

Cast photos:

Schlitzie and Wallace Ford.

Olga Baclanova.

Leila Hyams.

Wallace Ford and Leila Hyams.

Henry Victor.

Henry Victor and Olga Baclanova.

Johnny Eck.

Prince Randian.

Daisy and Harry Earles.

Daisy and Violet Hilton.

Jenny Lee and Elvira Snow.

Josephine Joseph.

Francis O'Conner.

Peter Robinson.

Martha Morris.

Schlitze Metz:

Tod Browning "directs" Schlitze.

Stills (originals):

The Wedding Feast:

Scenes from the climax:

Behind the scenes:

Pressbooks:

Original pressbook examples [Source: Heritage Auctions]

Pressbook from 1949 re-release

Lobby Cards (1949 re-release):

Articles:

Reviews (original release):

The Script [Source: Heritage Auctions]:

Brochure:

Movie Herald:

FURTHER READING:

Skal, David J. and Savada, Elias. Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning, Hollywood's Master of the Macabre (Anchor Books, 1995).

Skal, David J. and Savada, Elias. "Offend One and You Offend Them All: The Making of Tod Browning's Freaks (book excerpt); FILMFAX #53 (Nov.-Dec. 1995).

Herzogenrath, Bernd. The Films of Tod Browning (Black Dog Publishing, 2006).