| Description |
2 videodiscs (203 min.) : sound and silent, black and 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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NTSC rdabs |
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video file rdaft |
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DVD video |
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Region 1 |
| Series |
Criterion collection ; 1194.
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| Note |
Originally released as three films in 1932, 1927, and 1925. |
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"Two DVD special edition features: new 2K digital restoration of 'Freaks'; new 2K digital reconstruction and restoration of 'The unknown' by the George Eastman Museum, with a new score by composer Philip Carli; new 2K digital restoration of 'The mystic', with new score by composer Dean Hurley; audio commentaries on 'Freaks' and 'The unknown' and an introduction to 'The mystic' by film scholar David J. Skal ; new interview with author Megan Abbott about director Tod Browning and pre-code horror; archival documentary on 'Freaks'; episode from 2009 of critic Kristen Lopez's podcast 'Ticklish business' about disability representation in 'Freaks'; reading by Skal of 'Spurs,' the short story by Tod Robbins on which 'Freaks' is based; prologue to 'Freaks,' which was added to the film in 1947; program on the alternate endings to 'Freaks'. |
| 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 |
DVD; NTSC; widescreen presentation; mono ; region 1 |
| Language |
In English ; English subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing. |
| Subject |
Sideshows -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Abnormalities, Human -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Outcasts -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Criminals -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Crime -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Swindlers and swindling -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Knife throwing -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Fugitives from justice -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Unrequited love -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Seances -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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Heiresses -- Drama -- Videodiscs.
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| Genre |
Horror films.
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Circus films.
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Crime 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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Gordon, Leon, 1884-1960, screenwriter.
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Young, Waldemar, 1878-1938, screenwriter.
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Ford, Wallace, 1898-1966, actor.
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Hyams, Leila, 1905-1977, actor.
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Baclanova, Olga, 1899-1974, actor.
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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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Bracey, Sidney, 1877-1942, actor.
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Chaney, Lon, 1883-1930, 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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Nehme, Farran Smith, writer of supplemental material.
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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. |
715515287913 |
| Music No. |
1194 |
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CC3493D |
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