Editing Freaks (1932 film) (section)

===Development===
[[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) had purchased the rights to [[Tod Robbins]]'s short story "[[Spurs (short story)|Spurs]]" in the mid-1920s at [[Tod Browning]]'s urging for a reported $8,000.{{sfn|Mank|2005|p=124}} [[The Doll Family|Harry Earles]], a dwarf who had appeared in Browning's ''[[The Unholy Three (1925 film)|The Unholy Three]]'' (1925)—and who would ultimately star as Hans in ''Freaks''—had originally proposed the idea of making a film version of "Spurs" to Browning.{{sfn|Hartzman|2006|p=139}} The studio agreed to hire Browning to direct the project based on his past success at [[Universal Pictures]] with ''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' (1931) and for his collaborations with [[Lon Chaney]].{{sfn|Mank|2005|p=123}}

In June 1931, MGM production supervisor [[Irving Thalberg]] offered Browning the opportunity to direct ''[[Arsène Lupin (1932 film)|Arsène Lupin]]'' with [[John Barrymore]]. Browning declined, preferring to develop ''Freaks'', a project he had started as early as 1927; Browning had worked with a traveling carnival prior to becoming a filmmaker.{{sfn|Smith|2012|p=86}} Screenwriters [[Willis Goldbeck]] and [[Elliott Clawson]] were assigned to the project at Browning's request.{{sfn|Jensen|2012|p=201}} Leon Gordon, Edgar Allan Woolf, [[Al Boasberg]] and an uncredited [[Charles MacArthur]] would also contribute to the script.{{sfn|Jensen|2012|p=201}} The script was shaped over five months.{{sfn|Jensen|2012|p=201}} Little of the original story was retained beyond the marriage between a dwarf and an average-sized woman and their wedding feast, and the setting—originally France—was relocated to the United States.{{sfn|Jensen|2012|p=201}} Both Thalberg and [[Harry Rapf]] served as uncredited co-producers on the film.{{sfn|Peterson|2009|p=36}}