In his early years, Dracula director Tod Browning had been a member of a traveling circus. So it comes as no surprise that Freaks, borrows a great deal from his own personal experiences.
The film follows a beautiful trapeze artist named Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova), who seduces and marries a sideshow midget named Hans (Harry Earles) in order to get at his money. The close-knit society of "freaks" which work at the circus with them quickly welcome Cleopatra into their family and in one of the films, most memorable moments; chant "one of us, one of us." In unison while the on looking Cleopatra shrinks back in disgust. She maliciously tells them all the freaks that she will never be grotesque like them, while her secret lover, Hercules the strongman (Henry Victor), howls with laughter. Cleopatra then humiliates her smitten husband by openly kissing the lecherous Hercules and the community soon realizes a threat is in their presence. When Hans falls ill, the group figures out that Cleopatra and Hercules have been slowly poisoning him, and so they plan a horrible, ironic revenge.
Then, as we cheer in the final horrifying scenes, we realize that it is the “freaks” with whom we’ve been identifying with the whole time. And that these circus performers are not the monsters that they appear to be, but it is the so called normal people are the real freaks.
This idea may seem cliché nowadays, but this film was truly revolutionary. In casting real circus performers, the viewer really gets a feel for the lifestyle. And, even though they may not be the best actors, the cast delivers a unique perspective for the time. This was 1932 and so this movie was something that hadn’t really been seen before and truly was ahead of its time. Browning took his own experiences and made a movie that was horrifying, yes, but also a film with something to say. He made a movie by the freaks for the freaks and , for the most part, produced a film which still holds up well today.
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