Length: 64 minutes
Director: Tod Browning
www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913
Eric's Impressions: It's no surprise that this film was directed by Tod Browing - the Tim Burton of his time - the champion of soceity's outcasts. I was disappointed to find out that the studio made Browning change the ending to something happy because it wasn't needed. There was plenty of pleasure to be found in the revolt of the freaks against the evil trapeze artist and strongman. The opening message along with the early barkings of the carnival baker foreshadow the appreciation you should and must have at the conclusion of the film for all people no matter what he/she may look like.
Natalie's Impressions: I was afraid I would be too deeply disturbed by this film to get through it but I loved every second of it. There is a tremendous amount of heart in this film. Not only does it send a very important moral lesson, but it is is so artfully done. However, it does strike me as slightly ironic that the people in the film will be forever immortalized and remembered for the "freaks " that they were and not for anything else they did in life. In regards to the ending, I almost don't mind the way Browning had to end the film because the final scene is not what I remember from the film. The penultimate scene that he wanted to end the film with, is the one that stands out in my mind when I think of this movie.
COUNTDOWN: Just 952 movies to go!
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