| Description |
2 videodiscs (approximately 204 min.) : sound, black & white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet. |
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digital rdatr |
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optical rdarm |
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mono rdacpc |
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video file rdaft |
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Blu-ray |
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region A rdare |
| Series |
Criterion collection ; 1194.
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| Note |
Originally released as three films in 1932, 1927, and 1925. |
| Contents |
Freaks / director, Tod Browning ; producer, Irving Thalberg ; screenplay, Willis Goldbeck and Leon Gordon, based on the short story "Spurs," by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins ; dialogue, Edgar Allan Woolf, Al Boasberg (1932) (62 minutes) (1.37:1 aspect ratio) -- The unknown / directed by Tod Browning ; story by Tod Browning ; scenario by Waldemar Young (1927) (67 min.) (silent) (1.33:1 aspect ratio) -- The mystic / directed by Tod Browning ; story by Tod Browning ; scenario by Waldemar Young (1925) (74 min.) (silent) (1.33:1 aspect ratio). |
| Credits |
The mystic: composer, Dean Hurley. |
| Cast |
Freaks: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Henry Victor, Harry Earles, Daisy Earles, Rose Dione, Daisy Hilton, Violet Hilton, Schlitze Surtees, Josephine Joseph, Prince Randian, Olga Roderick, Frances O'Connor, Martha Morris, Elvira Snow, Jenny Lee Snow, Angelo Rossitto, Edward Brophy, Matt McHugh, Johnny Eck, Peter Robinson, Elizabeth Green, Minnie Woolsey, Albert Conti, Michael Visaroff, Murray Kinnell, Hooper Atchley, Jerry Austin, Mathilde Comont, Ernie S. Adams, Edith, Delmo Fritz, Constantine Romanoff, Sidney Bracey. |
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The unknown: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning, John St. Polis, Julian Rivero, Billy Seay, Tom Amandares, Louise Emmons, Italia Frandi, Venezia Frandi, Polly Moran, Margaret Bert, Paul Desmuke. |
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The mystic: Aileen Pringle, Conway Tearle, Mitchell Lewis, Robert Ober, Stanton Heck, David Torrence, Gladys Hulette, DeWitt Jennings, Carrie Daumery, Joseph Hazelton. |
| Summary |
Freaks: A tale of love, deception, and retribution set among troupe of carnival sideshow performers, shunned by society because of their physical deformities. |
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The unknown: An unrequited infatuation leads a circus knife-thrower on the run from the law into a troubled state, but when the circus owner discovers the desperate man's secret identity, things become markedly worse. |
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The mystic: A confederacy of unsavory characters conspire to cheat an heiress out of her fortune by way of conducting fraudulent séances. |
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The world is a carnival of criminality, corruption, and psychosexual strangeness in the twisted pre-Code shockers of Tod Browning. Early Hollywood's edgiest auteur, Browning drew on his experiences as a circus performer to create subversive pulp entertainments set amid the world of traveling sideshows, which, with their air of the exotic and the disreputable, provided a pungent backdrop for his sordid tales of outcasts, cons, villains, and vagabonds. Bringing together two of his defining works (The Unknown and Freaks) and a long-unavailable rarity (The Mystic), this cabinet of pre-Code curiosities reveals a master of the morbid whose ability to unsettle is matched only by his daring compassion for society's most downtrodden. |
| Audience |
MWT rating: NR. |
| System Details |
Blu-ray ; region A ; 1080p (full screen aspect ratios) ; LPCM mono ; Dolby Digital stereo. |
| Language |
English audio and English intertitles with musical score. |
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English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. |
| Subject |
Circus performers -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Freak shows -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Sideshows -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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| Genre |
Blu-ray discs.
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Feature films.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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| Added Author |
Browning, Tod, 1880-1962, film director, screenwriter.
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Thalberg, Irving G., 1899-1936, film producer.
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Goldbeck, Willis, screenwriter.
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Young, Waldemar, 1878-1938, screenwriter.
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Ford, Wallace, 1898-1966, actor.
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Baclanova, Olga, 1899-1974, actor.
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Hyams, Leila, 1905-1977, actor.
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Gordon, Leon, 1884-1960, screenwriter.
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Ates, Roscoe, 1895-1962, actor.
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Victor, Henry, 1892-1945, actor.
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Earles, Harry, actor.
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Earles, Daisy, actor.
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Dione, Rose, 1875-1936, actor.
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Hilton, Daisy, 1908-1969, actor.
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Hilton, Violet, 1908-1969, actor.
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Schlitzie, 1901-1971, actor.
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Joseph, Josephine, 1891-1966, actor.
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Randian, Prince, actor.
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Roderick, Olga, actor.
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O'Connor, Frances, 1914-1982, actor.
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Morris, Martha, 1902-1937, actor.
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Snow, Elvira, actor.
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Snow, Jenny Lee, actor.
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Rossitti, Angelo, actor.
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Brophy, Edward, 1895-1960, actor.
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McHugh, Matt, actor.
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Eck, Johnny, actor.
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Robinson, Peter, 1874-1947, actor.
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Green, Elizabeth, 1905-2001, actor.
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Woolsey, Minnie, actor.
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Conti, Albert, 1887-1967, actor.
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Visaroff, Michael, 1892-1951, actor.
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Kinnell, Murray, 1889-1954, actor.
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Atchley, Hooper, 1887-1943, actor.
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Austin, Jerry, 1892-1976, actor.
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Comont, Mathilde, 1886-1938, actor.
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Adams, Ernie, 1885-1947, actor.
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Edith (Actor), actor.
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Fritz, Delmo, actor.
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Romanoff, C., 1897-1977, actor.
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Chaney, Lon, 1883-1930, actor.
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Bracey, Sidney, 1877-1942, actor.
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Kerry, Norman, actor.
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Crawford, Joan, 1908-1977, actor.
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De Ruiz, Nick, actor.
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George, John, 1898-1968, actor.
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Lanning, Frank, 1872-1945, actor.
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Sainpolis, J. F. (John F.), 1873-1946, actor.
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Rivero, Julian, 1890-1976, actor.
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Seay, Billy, actor.
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Amandares, Tom, actor.
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Emmons, Louise, 1858-1935, actor.
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Frandi, Italia, actor.
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Frandi, Venezia, actor.
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Moran, Polly, 1883-1952, actor.
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Bert, Margaret, actor.
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Desmuke, Paul, actor.
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Pringle, Aileen, 1895-1989, actor.
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Tearle, Conway, 1878-1938, actor.
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Lewis, Mitchell, 1880-1956, actor.
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Ober, Robert, actor.
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Heck, Stanton, 1877-1929, actor.
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Torrence, David, 1864-1951, actor.
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Hulette, Gladys, actor.
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Jennings, DeWitt, 1872-1937, actor.
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Daumery, Carrie, 1863-1938, actor.
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Hazelton, Joseph, 1853-1936, actor.
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Hurley, Dean, composer.
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Motion picure adaptation of (work) : Robbins, Tod, 1888-1949.
Spurs.
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Criterion Collection (Firm), publisher.
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| Added Title |
Container of (work) : Freaks (Motion picture)
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Container of (work) : Unknown (Motion picture : 1927)
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Container of (work) : Mystic (Motion picture)
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Sideshow shockers |
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Freaks |
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Unknown |
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Mystic |
| Standard No. |
715515287814 |
| Music No. |
CC3492BD Criterion Collection |
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