Editing Tod Browning (section)

=== Magnum opus: ''Freaks'' (1932) ===
{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk | fontsize=100%|salign=center | quote=Freaks may be one of the most compassionate movies ever made. – Film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] in ''The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929–1968'' (1968) p. 229}}

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk | fontsize=100%|salign=center | quote=Not even the most morbidly inclined could possibly find this picture to their liking. Saying it is horrible is putting it mildly. It is revolting to the extent of turning one's stomach...Anyone who considers this [to be] entertainment should be placed in the pathological ward in some hospital. — [[Harrison's Reports]], 16 July 1932<ref name=":13">Sobchack, 2006 p. 28</ref><br />If ''Freaks'' has caused a furor in certain censor circles, the fault lies in the manner in which it was campaigned to the public. I found it to be an interesting and entertaining picture, and I did not have nightmares, nor did I attempt to murder any of my relatives. — ''[[Motion Picture Herald]]'', 23 July 1932<ref name=":13" />}}

After the spectacular success of ''Dracula'' (1931) at Universal, Browning returned to MGM, lured by a generous contract and enjoying the auspices of production manager Irving Thalberg.<ref>Harvey, 2009: "Dracula's enormous popularity fast-tracked Browning's return to MGM, under highly favorable financial terms and the protection of longtime ally, production chief Irving Thalberg.<br />Cady, 2004 TCM: "Brought back at some cost to MGM, Browning made his ultimate horror movie ''Freaks'' (1932)."</ref> Anticipating a repeat of his recent success at Universal, Thalberg accepted Browning's story proposal based on [[Tod Robbins]]' circus-themed tale [[Spurs (short story)|"Spurs"]] (1926).<ref>Eaker, 2016: "After the 1931 box office success of Browning's Dracula and Whale's Frankenstein, MGM second- in-command Irving Thalberg approached Browning and asked him to come up with something to outdo both of those films. Browning responded with his manifesto, Freaks."<br />Baxter, 1970 p. 101: "Browning had been hired by Metro to make a more ambitious version of the many circus films then being produced. Characteristically, he took as his subject not a conventional drama of life under the [[wikt:big top| ]] but a cynical story called "Spurs" by fantasy writer [[Tod Robbins]]."<br />Towlson, 2012: "In the case of Freaks it seems that Thalberg hired Browning to direct, but Browning had known of the short story, "Spurs," on which Freaks is based for years..."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 p. 14: "The dwarf in "Spurs" is a hideously arbitrary and vicious individual compared to the victimized Hans in Freaks."</ref>

The studio purchased the rights and enlisted screenwriter [[Willis Goldbeck]] and [[Leon Gordon (playwright)|Leon Gordon]] to develop the script with Browning.<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 34: Sobchack, reports that Browning (who produced the film for MGM), convinced Thalberg that the story by Tod Robbins was suitable for adaption, and Thalberg purchased the rights.<br />Morris and Vieira, 2001: "In mid-1931, MGM production head Irving Thalberg summoned scenarist Willis Goldbeck [and] commissioned Goldbeck to write a vehicle for Browning's comeback, something 'even more horrible than Dracula.'"<br />Henry, 2006 p. 42</ref> Thalberg collaborated closely with the director on pre-production, but Browning completed all the actual shooting on the film without interference from studio executives.<ref>Towlson, 2012: "While Browning helped Thalberg oversee the whole production [for Freaks], there is no evidence that the mogul interfered during shooting once production commenced. Browning was left alone to direct.<br />Rosenthal, 1975 pp. 58–59: "Tod Browning had the good fortune of being a complete filmmaker, producing and developing scenarios for many of his pictures. Without this kind of independence Freaks, undoubtedly the most personal film made at MGM during the Thirties, would have been an impossible project."</ref> Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's president, [[Louis B. Mayer]], registered his disgust with the project from its inception and during the filming, but Thalberg successfully intervened on Browning's behalf to proceed with the film.<ref>Eaker, 2016: "From the beginning of Freaks' genesis...Louis B. Mayer, was vehemently opposed to it even at the conceptual stage, and his objections only intensified... Fortunately, Thalberg came to Browning's aid and saved filming from being sabotaged on numerous occasions."<br />Sobchack, 2006 p. 34: "Thalberg came to Browning's defense in relation to ''Freaks'' (1932)."</ref> The picture that emerged was Browning's "most notorious and bizarre melodrama."<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 27</ref>

A "morality play", ''Freaks'' centers around the cruel seduction of a circus sideshow midget Hans ([[The Doll Family|Harry Earles]]) by a statuesque trapeze artist Cleopatra ([[Olga Baclanova]]). She and her lover, strongman Hercules ([[Henry Victor]]), scheme to murder the diminutive Hans for his inheritance money after sexually humiliating him. The community of freaks mobilizes in Hans' defense, meting out severe justice to Cleopatra and Hercules: the former trapeze beauty is surgically transformed into a sideshow freak.
<ref>Barson, 2021: "Browning delivered a surprise with Freaks (1932), a truly shocking morality play that boldly cast a number of actual sideshow performers."</ref>

Browning enlisted a cast of performers largely assembled from carnival freak shows—a community and milieu both of which the director was intimately familiar. The circus freaks serve as dramatic and comedic players, central to the story's development, and do not appear in their respective sideshow routines as novelties.<ref>Eaker, 2016: "...Browning only shows the freaks in their natural, behind the scene, daily environment. Browning never resorts to showing the freaks on stage or in performance."<br />Sobchack, 2006 p. 27: "Not only does the film treat the freaks compassionately, it also allows for a humor that underscores their humanity and Browning's respect for them."</ref><ref>Eaker, 2016: "During filming, many on the MGM lot found the sight of the freaks so disturbing that they sought to have the production stopped..."</ref>

Two major themes in Browning's work—"Sexual Frustration" and "Reality vs. Appearances"—emerge in ''Freaks'' from the conflict inherent in the physical incompatibility between Cleopatra and Hans.<ref>Towlson, 2017 Part 2: "Reality vs. appearance (physical beauty masking perversity) is one of the key themes in Browning's work. Another is sexual frustration and emasculation. These themes lie at the very heart of Freaks."</ref>
The guileless Hans' self-delusional fantasy of winning the affection of Cleopatra—"seductive, mature, cunning and self-assured"—provokes her contempt, eliciting "cruel sexual jests" at odds with her attractive physical charms.<ref>Morris and Vieira, 2001: "...The "beautiful" characters – Cleopatra and Hercules, whose working lives depend (like movie stars) almost entirely on the way they look – are maimed or killed. The movie shows the folly of trusting the kind of beautiful surface..."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 pp. 35–36: "Sexual frustration is the very essence of Freaks...We are struck by the gross incongruity of the pair [and] the collision of absolute sexual opposites...an opportunity [for Cleopatra] to enjoy the kind of cruel sexual jest upon which she thrives." Browning emphasizes the disparity in their physical stature, appearance.</ref> Browning provides the moral rationale for the final reckoning with Cleopatra ''before'' she has discovered Hans' fortune and plans to murder him. Film historian Stuart Rosenthal explains:

{{blockquote|It is here that Browning justifies the disruption of an individual's sexual equanimity as a cause for retaliation. Cleopatra's decision to wed the dwarf for his wealth and then dispose of him is not, in itself, a significant advance in villainy...her most heinous crime is committed when she teases Hans by provocatively dropping her cape to the floor, then gleefully kneels to allow her victim to replace it upon her shoulders...This kind of exploitation appears more obscene by far than the fairly clean act of homicide.<ref name=":5" />}}

Browning addresses another theme fundamental to his work: "Inability to Assign Guilt". The community of freaks delay judgement on Cleopatra when she insults Frieda ([[Daisy Earles]]), the midget performer who loves Hans.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 36: See here for description of scene.</ref> Their social solidarity cautions restraint, but when the assault on Hans becomes egregious, they act single-mindedly to punish the offender. Browning exonerates the freaks of any guilt: they are "totally justified" in their act of retribution.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 14: "Since this is one of those rare instances in Browning's pictures in which guilt can be indisputably fixed, the freaks can be totally justified in their attack."</ref> Stuart Rosenthal describes this doctrine, the "crux" of Browning's social ideal:

{{blockquote|''Freaks'' is the film that is most explicit about the closeness of equability and retribution. The freaks live by a simple and unequivocal code that one imagines might be the crux of Browning's ideal for society: 'Offend one of them, and offend them all'...if anyone attempts to harm or take advantage of one of their number, the entire colony responds quickly and surely to mete out appropriate punishment.<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 pp. 13–14<br />Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 194: Herzogenrath reminds us that "Offend one, offend them all" is a paraphrase from a passage in The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, 12:26–27.</ref>}}

Browning cinematic style in ''Freaks'' is informed by the precepts of [[German Expressionism (cinema)|German Expressionism]], combining a subdued documentary-like realism with "chiaroscuro shadow" for dramatic effect.<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 27: "Freaks combines the heightened chiaroscuro shadows and lightning bolts of Expressionism with a flat gray documentary style." And p. 28: "...the freaks' revenge on Cleopatra and Hercules is visualized in near Expressionistic style."<br />Towlson, 2012: "...''Freaks'' demonstrate a sophisticated use of staging, framing, editing, and camera movement...Browning's control of the editing...is reflected in his comment that 'the director does the real writing of the story in the cutting and projection rooms'...Browning's close involvement in all the facets of production, the guiding hand in the script-to-screen process, including the camera shots and the editing, seems to have been Browning's...the cinematic skill evidenced in ''Freaks''...is attributable mainly to him."</ref>

The wedding banquet sequence in which Cleopatra and Hercules brutally degrade Hans is "among the most discussed moments of ''Freaks''" and according to biographer Vivian Sobchack "a masterpiece of sound and image, and utterly unique in conception and realization."<ref>Sobchack, 2006 pp. 27–28: "...the famous wedding feast..sequence is a masterpiece of sound and image, and utterly unique in conception and realization."<br />Eaker, 2016: "The wedding banquet scene is still among the most discussed moments of Freaks." And: "The sequence is beautifully filmed by Browning."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 pp. 37–38: Rosenthal explains the significance of the scene.</ref><ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 196: The significance of the wedding banquet sequence presented here.</ref>

The final sequence in which the freaks carry out their "shocking" revenge and Cleopatra's fate is revealed "achieves the most sustained level of high-pitched terror of any Browning picture."<ref>Diekmann and Knörer, 2006 pp. 75–76: The final scene in ''Freaks'' "a shocking fit of grandguignolesque mutilation and horrific vengeance..."<br />Rosenthal, 1975 p. 50: See here of Browning's technical handling of the sequence.</ref>

''Freaks'' was given general release only after Thalberg excised 30 minutes of footage deemed offensive to the public.<ref>Eaker, 2016: "When Browning finished ''Freaks'', Thalberg, who had previously defended Browning, did not hesitate to cut nearly a half hour of footage from the film (and, as was the norm at that time, burned the excised footage)."<br />Conterio, 2018: "...Freaks (1932)...was altered by MGM, to avoid offending the public and religious groups. Up to 30 minutes was chopped from Freaks..."</ref>
Though Browning had a long history of making profitable pictures at MGM, Freaks was a "disaster" at the box office, though earning mixed reviews among critics.

Browning's reputation as a reliable filmmaker among the Hollywood establishment was tarnished, and he completed only four more pictures before retiring from the industry after 1939. According to biographer Alfred Eaker,  "''Freaks'', in effect, ended Browning's career."<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 59: "The disastrous public reaction to ''Freaks'' seems to have shaken front office confidence in the director. In the following seven years he worked on only four pictures..."<br />Barson, 2021: "...Freaks was greeted with almost universal revulsion upon its original release...''Freaks'' all but finished Browning's Hollywood career; he would direct only four more films."</ref><ref>Harvey, 2009: "...Freaks struck many as deeply distasteful and it proved a major contributor to Hollywood's stringent enforcement of the Production Code beginning in 1934. Though not universally decried at the time, Freaks was enough of a scandal and money-loser that Browning's career never fully recovered."<br />Eaker, 2016: "...''Freaks'', in effect, ended Browning's career."</ref>