February 1
2017
TTOK is happy to host Simon’s SIlver Screenings: Freaks
Tod Browning’s “Freaks” (1932) is an intimate and touching portrayal of backstage circus life. Browning, who joined a travelling circus at 16, chose to feature performers from the contemporary sideshow circuit, appalling audiences and leading to the film being banned in the United Kingdom for 30 years.
Through Browning’s scenes of domestic and social life amongst the circus performers – including conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, “Half-Boy” Johnny Eck, hermaphrodite Josephine Joseph, and others – the simple story of a trapeze artist and a strongman (Olga Baclanova and Henry Victor) plotting to swindle and murder a wealthy dwarf (Harry Earles), becomes a humanist piece on the struggle of outsiders to find respect and a community of their own.
One of us! One of us! We accept you! So join us for “Freaks” at The Theatre on King!
Simon’s Silver Screenings features movies from the early decades of horror film-making, a time when artists were learning the ropes of a new medium as much as they were experimenting with its potential. Movies introduced by Simon Turner and his brainbox of arcane trivia! Screenings will include subtitles, movie-talkers more than welcome!
