Movie Review: Freaks (1932)

Freaks (1932) directed by Todd Browning

A gold digger named Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) has engaged guy Hans (Harry Earles) totally wrapped around her little finger. His fiancee Frieda (Daisy Earles) is distraught, especially because Hans has an inheritance which seems like the gold digger's real interest. He winds up marrying Cleo, only to have some awkward moments at the wedding reception with his co-workers. The co-workers are ready to help him get revenge when it becomes clear she is poisoning Hans.

What sounds like a typical film noir is anything but typical, because the workplace is a traveling circus. The gold digger is a blonde trapeze artist and the guy is a dwarf. His fiancee is also a dwarf and they hang out with the other side show acts--the bearded lady, the bird woman, the siamese twins,  the half-woman half-man, the legless guy, the legless and armless guy, etc. They are the eponymous "freaks." So Cleo isn't exploiting just some film noir chump. He's a disrespected minority already being exploited for his abnormality. The film doesn't skimp on depicting her as a horrible person. She's romantically interested in the circus's strong man, Hercules (Henry Victor), who also mocks and laughs at Hans and his comrades. Cleo clearly plans to be with Hercules after she inherits Hans's fortune.

After they discover the scheme, the side show crowd bands together to enact a horrible revenge (viewers know this is coming because the opening shows an urban freak show where Cleopatra has wound up, though viewers don't see what has happened to her). Both Cleo and Hercules are pursued on a literally dark and stormy night. The action is tensely directed but before they are actually attacked, the film cuts back to the urban freak show where Cleo's new side-show appearance is revealed. The punishment fits the crime and is also too awful for words. The movie ends with a bittersweet reunion between Hans and Frieda.

The movie is highly sympathetic toward the deformed characters who are played by people with actual deformities. The issue of exploitation is not just internal to the plot, the movie itself blurs the line between an honest depiction and a salacious exploitation. For example, the film hints more than once at the awkwardness of sex given their various conditions. The main characters are well developed. The filmmakers strive to make their life look as normal as can be and succeed to a great extent. But the cast is large enough that a lot of people seem to be there for little more than appearance. It's hard not to be troubled by their plight and it's hard not to sympathize with them as they stalk Cleo and Hercules at the end. They have the same potential for good or evil that every other person has. In a moral sense, the movie affirms the normality of the so-called freaks. They are human beings and are (mostly) treated as such by the filmmakers if not by the characters in the film.

Recommended, though this movie is very tough to watch and not for the squeamish even though there is no real blood and minimal violence.

Book Review: Hellboy: The Midnight Circus by Mike Mignola et al.

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus written by Mike Mignola and draw by Duncan Fegredo

In 1948, the young Hellboy sneaks out of the B.P.R.D. Headquarters in Connecticut at night to smoke a cigarette he filched from some guys in the lunchroom. Just as he finds a nice tree behind which he can light up, he hears a lone drummer on a nearby path. It's a clown playing a drum. Hellboy follows, seeing a poster for a circus. He forgets the cigarette and runs off to see the circus. Naturally it's much more than it appears to be.

The story provides an interesting reflection on Hellboy as seen through the story of Pinocchio. Hellboy discusses the plot of Pinocchio with the circus ring master which brings to mind Hellboy's own desire to be a regular human. Professor Broom, his foster father, wants to give Hellboy as much of a normal childhood as he can have. Others (both humans at the B.P.R.D. and demons at the circus) are concerned about Hellboy's fated role. Is he the harbinger of destruction or even the destroyer himself? It's a mystery that still hasn't been solved, though clearly the older Hellboy in the other stories resists what others tell him is his fate.

The story here is interesting though the young Hellboy is mostly passive in the second half of the story. He is just a kid after all...no need to make him grow up too soon. The book is enjoyable but it does seem like it is little more than a single-issue comic released in a hard-cover format at hard-cover prices.

Sample quote--Mike Mignola's dedication of the book:

For Carlo Collodi, who taught me everything I know about what a puppet should be. And for Ray Bradbury, who confirmed my worst fears about the circus.

Tower Circus, Blackpool

The Tower Circus in Blackpool has long been a popular spot. They run through the summer until early November and usually have a Christmas pantomime as well. The star of the show is Mooky the Clown, son of Mooky the Clown, who is also son of another Mooky the Clown. At least, that's what our hotel manager told us. He was a pretty funny clown and even has his own wikipedia article, so he's achieved some level of fame (and it says his circus heritage goes back seven generations on his father's side and nine on his mother's, so the hotel guy wasn't kidding).

When we first arrived, we had to wait in a Disneyesque line. It went from room to room in the tower. We finally made it to the performance room which was set as a conventional one-ring circus. The seating was general admission but we were early enough that we found good seats.

Some of the lesser performers were selling souvenirs

An announcement came on saying that face painting was available for any children interested. L was excited so I took her down to the ring to get dolled up. She was pretty happy with what she got.

L the clown

L's new nose made it back to the hotel, but eventually it succumbed to curious prying and was split in half. So it didn't make it out of Blackpool in one piece. Her fascination had abated by then, so no tears were shed. But back to the circus!

It wasn't long before the circus started. The variety of acts was quite nice, including acrobatics, juggling, trapeze, comedy routines, audience participation, etc. Some routines were more impressive than others. The two best were the woman with one, then two, then multiple hula hoops, and the Mississippi Gamblers who did these amazing jumps using a long wooden plank. The only bad act was the sharp-shooter because it was too obviously fake and went on for a while.

The show was a good two hours including an intermission, during which the kids wandered around checking out the venue.

Intermission was also time for more photos!

Mommy and J on their way back from exploring

Some of Mooky's best jokes:

• "His dad was a G.I. and his mom was R.A.F., so he's a giraffe."
•  One routine had the ringmaster's "wife" come out sleepwalking and she would take an item off Mooky (like his wallet and his clothes). Each time, the ringmaster would tell Mooky, "Don't wake her up, it could be fatal. I'll return it in the morning just like new." After Mooky had been stripped down to his comical underwear, the sleepwalking wife came one last time, took Mooky's arm, and led him off. Mooky told the ringmaster, "Don't wake her up, it could be fatal. I'll return her to you in the morning just like new."

We had a great time at the circus and the experience has given us confidence that J and L could make it through a theatre performance. We're going to a Christmas pantomime this year, which will show up in the blog sooner or later, I'm sure.