Page "Tod Browning" Paragraph 14

After directing the boxing melodrama The Iron Man ( 1931 ), Browning began work on Freaks ( 1932 ).

Based on the short story " Spurs " by Clarence Aaron " Tod " Robbins, the screenwriter of The Unholy Three, the film concerns a love triangle between a wealthy dwarf, a gold-digging aerialist, and a strongman ; a murder plot ; and the vengeance dealt out by the dwarf and his fellow circus freaks.

The film was highly controversial, even after heavy editing to remove many disturbing scenes, and was a commercial failure.

Browning's career was derailed.