Director: Tod Browning
Writers: Clarence Aaron ‘Tod’ Robbins, Willis Goldbeck
Stars: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova
1 Hour, 4 Minutes
Amazon Link: [https://amzn.to/2WxguCw]
Synopsis
First, a non-PC note. I am going to refer to most of the cast of the film as “freaks” because, well, that’s the title of the movie, and it’s what they are called throughout.
We start out watching a carnival barker gives a speech and leads the people over to see the first freak in their show. We don’t get a look at her yet, but the man says that she used to be a beautiful acrobat, but something happened to her…
We switch to the past, where Hans and Frida, a couple of well-dressed, squeaky-voiced dwarves watch Cleopatra perform, and the Hans likes her, while Frieda is jealous.
The next day, we see landowners come around to run the freak show staff off his property. It’s three pinheads and three dwarves along with a normal-looking caretaker. The man feels pity for them and allows them to stay.
The strongman and the transvestite joke about the half man/half woman. Venus breaks up with Hercules the strongman, and she whines in front of Phroso the clown. Phroso leaves and stops to talk to the Siamese twins. Hercules stops by Cleopatra’s tent and has a drink with her. She fixes him eggs. “How many do you want?” “I’m not hungry, how about six?” He sees Venus outside and goes out and punches her in the face. Hans sends over a fruit basket for Cleopatra, and she and Hercules laugh while they share it.
The next day, Frieda and Venus are talking about Hans and Frieda’s problems. Hans keeps giving Cleopatra money and gifts, and Frieda doesn’t like that. Cleopatra is clearly taking advantage of the little man, but he doesn’t see it. They all laugh at the little guy. Many of the freaks don’t like Cleopatra, since she’s normal and looks down on all the real freaks.
Venus and Phroso are romantically involved. Daisy and Violet, the Siamese twins, are also having two separate affairs. Cleopatra keeps stringing Hans along while splitting the loot with Hercules. Frieda and Hans argue about Cleopatra; Hans has inherited a fortune. Cleopatra hears about the fortune and starts seeing Hans in a different light. She comes up with a plan on the spot: Marry Hans and kill him.
We fast forward to the wedding night, and Everyone is happy and drunk except Frieda. Hans watches as Cleopatra kisses Hercules just to make him jealous. She’s poisoned his drink. The freaks all chant “Gooble Gobble. We accept her. One of us!” Cleopatra is now part of the tribe. She “freaks” out, calling them all freaks. She doesn’t appreciate their acceptance, and she screams at everyone. Hans passes out.
Venus goes to Hercules and threatens to call the police if he doesn’t fix things. It’ been a week since Cleo poisoned Hans, and Hans is still bedridden. She fixes him more “medicine,” and she’s putting something else in there too. One of the dwarves watches her through the window. Hans spits the medicine out while she’s not looking. Everyone knows what’s she’s up to, including Hans, but now he has a plan too.
Hercules tries to kill Venus, but Phroso intervenes. The wagon tips over in the rain, and everyone moves outside into the storm and the mud. Hercules is surrounded by armed dwarves and pinheads crawling through the muck after him. Some of the dwarves get their revenge on Cleopatra.
We go back to the present, and the carnival barker shows us what became of Cleopatra. The freaks turned her into a… duck? Yeah, I don’t know how that happened, but that’s basically what she looks like now.
Years later, Venus and Phroso bring Frieda to see Hans, now fully recovered and obviously very wealthy. The two of them finally get together and have a happy ending.
Commentary
For being as old as this it, it looks pretty sharp. The story is fairly weak, but the film is clearly just an excuse to see all the interesting freaks. There are a lot of unique characters here, far more than I can mention in this brief review.
If you’re a fan of American Horror Story, you’ll see a lot of similarities with the “Freak Show” season. They clearly based a lot of the characters and designs from this. I still have to wonder though, if Hans was that rich, why did he continue to work for a freak show where he was laughed at by literally everyone?