#Phroso

[filmjunky-99]

f r e a k s, 1932 🎬 dir. tod browning 'We accept her, one of us. We accept her, one of us. Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble.'

[moonysfavoritetoast]

YOU WILL REGRET HAVING PHROSOS RAHSHHSHDHDJ/j

huh

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Lon Chaney as Phroso in a publicity still for West of Zanzibar (1928). Lon has two entries among my best 1,001 movies - The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

[raynbowclown]

West of Zanzibar

When his dying wife returns with a baby girl a year after leaving him for Crane (Barrymore), the trader who crippled him, a Limehouse magician named Phroso (Chaney) vows to get even. West of Zanzibar Continue reading Untitled

[random-racehorses]

Random Real Thoroughbred: TRUUS

TRUUS is a chesnut mare born in The Netherlands in 1950. By EMIR DIRAN out of PHROSO. Link to their pedigreequery page: https://www.pedigreequery.com/truus

[frankendavis]

For the commemorative birthday of Leonidas Frank Chaney AKA Lon Chaney Sr. for tomorrow.

[maneatingbadger]

'By the way, just what is a phroso?' One ounce ginger syrup, one ounce lemon syrup, dash of rum, dash of bitters, one egg, phosphate to taste, shake over cracked ice, strain, serve with nutmeg.

William Least Heat-Moon, River Horse: The Logbook of a Boat across America

[gfreya860]

5 Old Horror Movies That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time

Horror movies have been more popular than any other film genre for more than a decade. These movies are scary, fearful and include a great storyline. These nail-biting movies draw more attention of the audiences because of their stunning action and thrilling sequences. There are a lot of horror movies made in the past several years, but some of them seemed with too many upsetting tones, graphic imagery, and terrifying themes and have been considered under the category of those movies that are far ahead of their time. In this article, we have listed the five horror movies out of many horror classics that have proved to be far ahead of their time.

Freaks (1932)

The film Freaks is one of the horror classics, which was directed and produced by Tod Browning. The film stars Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, and Leila Hyams in the main roles, and they portray the characters of Phroso, Cleopatra, Roscoe, and Venus, respectively. The story of the film revolves around a trapeze artist. She joins a carnival sideshow performers’ group and has a plan to seduce and kill a dwarf in the group in order to acquire his inheritance. However, the plan of trapeze artist eventually flops and leads to various dangerous consequences. The film features a group of circus performers, who are actually real-life performers, and this casting decision at that time has been considered way ahead of its time.

The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein is one of the most famous Sci-Fi horror movies, which was released in the year 1935 and directed by James Whale. It was the first sequel to the film Frankenstein that was released in the year 1931. Elsa Lanchester portrays the character of Mary Shelley and the titular character bride of Frankenstein in this film. This movie has also been considered as one of the best sequels of a real horror-comedy film. The film also boasts an early prominent female lead, and it was well-received by the viewers at that time and still gets appreciated on today’s date. The film shows a blend of horror and humor when Dr. Frankenstein, portrayed by Colin Clive, tries to create a female companion for its monster that is bolt-necked.

Diabolique (1955)

Diabolique is one of the most famous French psychological horror-thriller movies, which was released in the year 1955 and directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The film includes Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, and Véra Clouzot in the main roles and portrays the characters of Nicole Horner, Michel Delassalle, Alfred Fichet, and Christina Delassalle, respectively. When this film was released in the U.S., it received a lot of negative responses, but with the moving time, the film has been reconsidered as one of the genuine masterpieces. The story of the film revolves around a revengeful wife who plans to kill her husband along with one of his mistresses.

Night Of The Hunter (1955)

The Night of the Hunter is another famous thriller-horror film, which was directed by Charles Laughton and released in the year 1955. The film includes Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, and Shelley Winters in the main roles, and they portray the characters of Reverend Harry Powell, Rachel Cooper, and Willa Harper, respectively. It was the only film which was directed by an actor who also won an Oscar Award. The film has been considered as one of the best horror movies of its time as it was an incredible masterstroke in suspense and terror. The story of the film revolves around Harry Powell, who is a religious man and gets to know from a fellow prisoner that an amount of $10,000 is buried somewhere on the property of the man and it was stolen cash. The story of the film has been considered well ahead of its time.

The Shining (1980)

The Shining has been one of the most popular psychological horror films for several years. The film was released in the year 1980 and directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The film is a great adaptation of a novel of the same name written by Stephen King in the year 1977. It stars Jack Nicholson, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, and Shelley Duvall in the main roles, and they portray the characters of Jack Torrance, Dick Hallorann, Danny Torrance, and Wendy Torrance, respectively. This film was panned by the maximum viewers who saw the film at the time of its release, but the film was proved to be way ahead of its time as a horrific puzzle and gained huge popularity thereafter. On today’s date, this film has been considered as the all-time greatest horror film ever made.

This article concludes the five best horror classic movies that have been considered to be way ahead of their time.

Source: 5 Old Horror Movies That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time

[fromthedust]

William Mortensen (1897-1965)

photo of Courtney Crawford (Mortensen’s wife at the time) with some of his masks - 1924

paper mache masks: SKULL, GHOUL, IMP, FACE, DEMON, GORILLA, FAY WRAY 

Masked Woman - photograph - 1926

photo of Courtney Crawford with some of his masks - 1926

After being mustered out of the Army in 1918 Mortensen studied for a couple of years at the Art Students League in New York, where he left saying he was commended for his industry but was told he had “no talent for drawing”. He went back to his home state — Utah — where he became ‘increasingly conscious of his limitations as a draughtsman’ so he obtained a 5x7 camera and began experimenting with photography. He also began making masks. Some months later he decided to take both his masks and his camera west to Hollywood. After a few months he was hired to paint, design sets and costumes for director Ferdinand Pinney Earle’s production of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1922). From there he went on to work for Cecil B. de Mille designing sets and costumes and making ‘hundreds of masks’ in the next six years. Also during this time he  opened shop as a portrait photographer on Hollywood Boulevard.

above: Another couple of photos of Courtney Crawford posing more theatrically with his masks. In the close-up she holds the mask for the head of John the Baptist. 

above: Lon Chaney as ’Dead-Legs’ Phroso the Magician wearing a Mortensen mask in Todd Browning’s 1928 film ‘West of Zanzibar’. 

below: Mortensen also used the mask in a series of photographs on the theme of the INCUBUS.

[theunseeliefilmclub]

Film Review: Freaks Directed by: Tod Browning Written by: Clarence Aaron ‘Tod’ Robbins, Willis Goldbeck and Leon Gordon  Certificate: 15 Synopses:  “A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.”-Imdb

Freaks is an enjoyable film on the first watch. However it’s habit of redirecting to several different plot points, most of which lasted for on or two scenes, left little time for the main plot line. Which in the end left it feeling rushed. In fact the only side plot line I really cared for was the relationship between Phroso (Wallace Ford) and Venus (Leila Hyams). And I am not usually one for romances in non romantic movies. Olga Roderick's performance was also enjoyable in it’s own way as was Daisy and Violet Hilton’s.

If you’re a horror fan Freak’s is the kind of film you should see just to say you’ve seen it. But it's lack of focus makes it fall short.

My rating: 2/5

[mechanicalcurator]

Image from 'Phroso. [A romance.]', 001622057

Author: Hope, Anthony

Page: 30

Year: 1896

Place: London

Publisher: 5. New Publishing Co.

View this image on Flickr

View all the images from this book

Following the link above will take you to the British Library's integrated catalogue. You will be able to download a PDF of the book this image is taken from, as well as view the pages up close with the 'itemViewer'. Click on the 'related items' to search for the electronic version of this work.

[filmjunky-99]

f r e a k s, 1932 🎬 dir. tod browning 'The Freaks Get Their Revenge'

[connected2nature]

Essay 1: Option 2- Reforming America Through Horror

How low will we go to make ourselves feel better when we have nothing? To me, this seems to be a theme of 1930’s horror. Specifically, the advent of “Freakshows”. Mocking and degrading people who are different or “abnormal” to lessen the sting of the Great Depression. In Tod Browning’s Freaks, the main cast is made up of unique individuals who are a part of a circus sideshow in 1932. This story presents a compelling narrative of how much people feared the unknown. The deformed or strange people of this sideshow attract an almost cult following during this time. People are uncertain of many things and I think that freakshow horror specifically deals with uncertainty behind our economic futures, the progress of modern science, and fluidity of gender roles and sex during this period.

For a lot of folks, the Great Depression was something that just happened one day, and they did not understand why. To have their livelihood and savings ripped away without an explanation generated massive amounts of anxiety and hysteria. Those anxieties desperately needed an outlet and within a year “monsters” and “freaks” hit the silver screen along with circus sideshows presenting grotesque things. Somehow seeing the “unexplainable” forms of strange human beings helped relieve the pent-up anxieties of an uncertain future. It’s almost as if life can continue in such a form, then maybe the reality of this depression isn’t so bad. 

There are many layers to our relationship with science and technology. In the 1930’s it is no different. Medical science during this period was exploding with improved procedures and the implementation of medications. This led to a greater number of World War I soldiers surviving their injuries and returning home looking very different from when they left.

It also increased birth survival rates that really gives those born with abnormalities a chance to live. As a society we are conditioned to judge ability based on appearances. Any deviation from what we perceive as “normal” is treated harshly and can lead to ostracizing an individual or group. In Freaks this is apparent even within the circus community as the more “able-bodied” performers assume a hierarchy of importance above the sideshow cast. In the “1931: American Abyss” David Skal writes of the first meeting between director Browning and Olga Baclanova; “…Browning took her to meet the rest of the cast, asking her not to faint…Then he shows me a girl that’s like an orangutan; then a man with a head and no legs, no nothing just a head and body like an egg…He shows me little by little and I could not look, I wanted to faint. I wanted to cry.” (Skal, pg 151-152) This is prior to filming any part of the movie. Olga is struck so suddenly by the uncanniness to these humans that she does not know how to feel or react.

One of the many subplots throughout Freaks alludes to if not blatantly points out the confused nature of sex in the 1930’s. Gender roles leading up to and during the Great Depression were in a state of flux. Phroso the clown is an excellent representation of how emasculated men felt during this time period. His statement to Venus in the movie “You should have caught me before my operation.” (Skal, pg 148) I think this one scene tells it all from the male perspective. Men were at that time seen as providers and yet no one can find work. As a result, they feel as ill-equipped to fulfill their proscribed role as Phroso the clown. On the other hand, women are as equally conflicted because they were called upon during WWI to work and provide while the men were at war. Now that the men have returned, how is it possible to go back to the way things were? I see the Siamese twins as representing this conflicted thought process of wanting to be independent, strong, and confident while also still wanting to be the demure housewife who is more traditionally accepted. There are at least 6 convoluted relationships going on in Freaks that defy the traditional romantic relationship model. I believe the use of deformed characters in Horror allows us to see a physical representation of how people felt about their roles as individuals and couples in 1930’s America. It is much easier to process people being physically unable to couple and procreate than it is to understand the psychological issues that prevent it.

The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror, by David J. Skal. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993.

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Lon Chaney as Phroso in a publicity still for West of Zanzibar (1928). It was remade in 1932 as Kongo. Both are honorable mentions to my best 1,001 movies.

[thepolterheist]

see one of the shots in freaks i see a lot is one of johnny eck walking towards the camera while smiling and talking and its like presented alongside more traditional horror shots. and like i get it seems a little intimidating bc he’s in a full tux and it’s shut from above him but in context it’s so not scary. he’s just coming over to hang out with two of his friends. immediately afterwards he climbs up some stairs and sits to listen to his friend talk about a dream he had. the actual line he’s saying is “hey, phroso! didja try that gag I told you about?” in like a nasal drawl. 

[kritikycz]

#10 - Zrůdy

Jeden z nejkontroverznějších a nejodsuzovanějších filmů své doby. Snímek, který zakončil velmi slibnou kariéru režiséra Toda Browninga. Zároveň film, který patří do zlatého fondu.   Zrůdy Freaks USA, 1932, 64 minut   Režie:   Tod Browning Scénář: Willis Goldbeck a Leon Gordon podle příběhu Clarence Aarona „Toda“ Robbinse Hrají: Olga Baclanova (Cleopatra) Wallace Ford (Phroso) Harry Earles (Hans) Daisy…- Více na https://www.kritiky.cz/filmove-recenze/101-nejlepsich-hororu/2019/10-zrudy/