Tod Browning: Five Films for Newcomers
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Today marks the sixtieth anniversary of director Tod Browning’s passing, but it also falls in October: the month of Halloween haunts. For both of these reasons, it makes sense to look back on the iconic filmmaker and assess what may be the best of his works, considering he was one of cinema’s finest horror minds (although he did dabble in other genres). What cuts down our options of films to pick from is the fact that a lot of Browning classics, like London After Midnight, The Big City, and others, are lost: they are mostly or entirely non-existent at this point, due to improper preservation and/or probable misplacement. So, I’m going to go with films that I’ve actually seen (and you can watch as well). Here are five films for newcomers of the films of Tod Browning.
5. The Devil-Doll
The penultimate film of Browning’s career, 1936’s The Devil-Doll features some of the late filmmaker’s blunt commentary (here, he’s tackling the idea that there are just too many humans on Earth, and we are running out of space to live) and his twisted visions (how a shrinking ray can be used to commit crimes). The film stars Lionel Barrymore: a prisoner answering to the misdeeds of another, who seeks revenge in a reality where people can be shrunken down to the size of toys (I’ll let Browning’s film showcase the extent of where the director’s warped ideas are willing to go here).
4. West of Zanzibar
Browning worked with Lon Chaney — the Man of a Thousand Faces — quite often, and so you will see him pop up more than once here. In this example, he plays The Great Phroso (a magician that gets paralyzed mid fight with another Browning veteran: one Lionel Barrymore) in West of Zanzibar. This film feels like a mixture of many tropes Browning would be known for, including taboo subject matter, greed, vengeance, and comeuppance.
3. The Unknown
The best Lon-Chaney-starring film that Tod Browning made (that isn’t lost, mind you) is the silent film The Unknown. Chaney is an armless knife thrower (well, kind of: he’s actually a wanted fugitive that has disguised himself by hiding his arms and joining the circus) whose motives aren’t always clear (but Chaney is horrifying to watch, because you just know he is going to snap at any moment). A film that is part spectacle and part horror, The Unknown is a brisk sixty minutes, but every second feels suspenseful to the point of nausea.
2. Dracula
Arguably the best known Browning film is his Bela Lugosi version of Dracula. Before the film became the Golden Age classic it is known as (with all of the memorabilia, tributes, and parodies to boot), it really was America’s answer to Nosferatu: a spooky hour with the Count himself. It was the first talkie horror motion picture, and Lugosi’s signature accent was instantly imbedded in the souls of all that were spellbound. However, as beloved as this film is, it isn’t the ultimate place to start for those that are wanting to discover Browning films (I, personally, also prefer The Unknown, but Dracula is a must-see nonetheless).
1. Freaks
Here it is: one of film’s most polarizing, taboo, challenging watches. Browning’s Freaks is unquestionably his magnum opus, but it is still difficult through and through. Featuring actual people that were associated with the circus, Freaks follows the abuse and maligning of those with disabilities; in fact, the film pretty much destroyed Browning’s career because audiences at the time hated that the film featured people with disfigurements due to being disturbed by them (which is heartbreaking to hear). Nowadays, Freaks is horrifying for other reasons: the way society mocks these performers, as well as the awful protagonist, Cleopatra, that has a change of heart and starts scheming ways to exploit those around her. I do warn you that Freaks is intense, but it is absolutely the most powerful film that Tod Browning ever made.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.