'Freaks': A Controversy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tod Browning

Tod Browning, born into a relatively wealthy Louisville family in 1880, joined the circus at the age of sixteen. Browning was an outsider and so the circus industry, at the time still using sideshow "freaks", was a rather fitting environment for the future director.

His time as a circus performer influenced most of his later directorial work and this influence is most clearly seen in 'Freaks', a film that caused much controversy in the 1930s. Other films were influenced in a much less explicit way, with recurring themes which championed the outsider, promoted the underdog and sympathised with the ostracised. Prior to the release of 'Freaks', Browning directed the original film version of 'Dracula', released in 1931, which starred Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye.

Answer: Cleopatra

Cleopatra is one of the characters who would be considered "normal" when compared, as is expected, to the titular freaks. Hans, one of the many dwarfs featured in the film, was smitten with Cleopatra, an infatuation that would lead to him being taken advantage of. Cleopatra was one half of a secret romance, the other half being the strong man of the circus, Hercules. Knowing that Hans was interested in Cleopatra, the clandestine couple decided to play a cruel prank on the sideshow dwarf; Cleopatra was to pretend that she was romantically interested in Hans!

Answer: She discovered Hans was due to inherit a large estate.

Olga Baclanova's character, Cleopatra, was only ever interested in one thing and that was herself. Hans was due to inherit quite a substantial amount of money and Cleopatra had come to know about this; her thoughts instantly turning to how much better her life could be if only she had wealth. Looking for her ticket out of the freak show she decided that she had to immerse herself in its culture more deeply, expressing her love for Hans.

It was of course just a mean-spirited ploy to extract money from a very vulnerable individual, but what Cleopatra didn't count on was the strength of the bond between the freaks at the circus.

Answer: Goblet of wine

Whilst sounding as though it is a rather trivial part of the film, the scene actually turns out to be one of the most memorable. It contrasts the deceitful and aloof nature of Cleopatra with the accepting and warm nature of the so-called freaks. The goblet of wine that is passed around everybody at the table could be seen to show unity amongst those at the circus, all present taking a sip of the same wine; we are all the same despite our superficial skin-deep differences. A circus chant also contributes to making this scene a memorable one, "We accept her! We accept her! One of us! One of us! Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble!"

This scene culminates in Cleopatra being, if you excuse the expression, freaked out; the warm acceptance of the freaks repulsed Cleopatra, much like it did the majority of the film's original audience.

Answer: That she had an affair with another circus performer.

Cleopatra starts to get so uncomfortable that she deems it necessary to admit that she is having an affair with the strong man of the circus, Hercules. Announcing to the circus her infidelity seems far preferable to her than getting any closer to these people she so despises.

The saddest part about the whole thing is that Hans is so hopelessly infatuated by Cleopatra that he is willing to forgive her, despite it being apparent that this relationship, which remained without sincere affection and certainly without a sexual component, wasn't a loving and compassionate one.

Answer: Poison

As is expected, Cleopatra is not very happy being married to Hans but can't divorce him because she would lose her entitlement to his imminent inheritance. She is thus forced to the extreme; she would try to end his life and she chooses poison as the method to effect that outcome.

In fact she has already started the poisoning process by the end of the wedding reception; the wine that Hans has been drinking on what is supposed to be one of the happiest nights of his life is continually being spiked with poison. Hans eventually falls ill due to sustained consumption of poison, though his ailing could symbolically be taken to represent the effect of Cleopatra's toxic nature.

Answer: Venus

Leila Hyams from New York City, who at the time of filming was in her late 20s, played Venus, a character who was presented to the audience as the moral alternative to the devious Cleopatra. Venus overheard Cleopatra and Hercules discussing their plans to poison Hans and steal his fortune. Being a friend of the freaks, Venus decided to notify them about Cleopatra's intentions. With the freaks informed of Hans' situation, they decide to do something to rectify it and this leads the viewer into the final few scenes of the film; for the audience of the 1930s, the "worst" part of the film had yet to arrive.

Answer: She gets turned into a freak.

For Cleopatra, her fate is to be one worse than death; she is turned into a freak! The audiences at the time objected to pretty much all of the film and the ending was considered one of the most objectionable parts in the minds of those who actually stayed to catch the finale.

After the freaks are informed of the murderous scheme devised by Cleopatra, they decide to confront her; the warm inclusiveness that was once offered to Cleopatra, and which she so rudely refused to embrace, turns into a distant memory; anger its replacement.

The freaks deformed her limbs, tarred her and feathered her; Cleopatra, now the "human duck", does become "one of us" after all.

Answer: No

Hercules was Cleopatra's genuine love interest and he was just as keen as she was to gain access to the money that didn't belong to him. Due to Hercules being an accomplice, the freaks targeted him as well as Cleopatra; in the original production he was castrated, but this was cut from the version that was released to the wider public and the footage of this scene is now deemed lost. In the post-production version, the version that has survived to the modern day, the fate of Hercules is left unknown and unmentioned.

Such was the negative response generated amongst attendees of the test screenings, that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to cut nearly thirty minutes of action from the original film. The result is a disjointed movie that is just over one hour in duration. Despite the loss of nearly a third of the film and the subsequently confused nature of the final release, the movie is still of major significance as it gives a rare glimpse of the life of those who are not your typical Hollywood sort; a completely different group of people got their moment in the spotlight. Their efforts weren't appreciated at the time but the film is now recognised by the United States National Film Registry as a film worth preserving due to it being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Answer: Nobody, the physical conditions of the freaks were real.

This is the source of the controversy; Tod Browning would not use prosthetics to manufacture the appearance of the sideshow performers in 'Freaks', preferring instead to use real people with real conditions. The audiences of the 1930s were simply not ready for such performers to be shown on the big screen. This is a great example of how a film's reception gives an insight into social history. By using performers such as Violet Hilton and her sister Daisy (conjoined twins), Tod Browning alienated his audience and his career as a top Hollywood director was to come to an end, partly because of this.

Jack Pierce, who wasn't involved in 'Freaks', was one of the early greats in the field of makeup artistry. Pierce is perhaps best known for his work on the appearance of Frankenstein's monster played by Boris Karloff. His career in the film industry came to an end in 1962, which was more than a decade before the introduction of the Oscar for Best Makeup.