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Disfigurement Major 
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ALT__TITLE |
Nature's
Mistakes |
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DISABILITY |
Disfigurement Dwarf |
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Koo the Bird
Girl Josephine Joseph |
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Frances
O'Connor, Elizabeth Green |
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NOTES |
B/W. One of
first 'talkies'. |
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This film
would never be made today and you may find it |
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difficult to
get a copy (it's now on video and DVD). But make |
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the effort
because despite the display of circus 'freaks' you |
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won't see
many films with such respect for their actors. This |
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respect may
not be unequivocal but such a positive image |
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results from
this film you shouldn't feel sorry for its |
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Besides the
dwarf leads, there is a man/woman, a man 'cut |
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off' below
his waist, the Siamese twins and the 'pinheads'. |
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And the
husband of one of the Siamese twins stutters. They are like
characters in a Hieronymous Bosch painting.
There is a simple story of a dwarf man loved by his dwarf
girlfriend while he hopelessly besotted with a normal sized
woman. But it is the life of these circus folk that entrances us.
Yes, we gawp but then we empathise. There are indeed
bizarre touches like the heavy Teutonic accent and bearing of
the dwarf man. The pinheads remain somewhat aloof finding
it difficult to communicate. In the end it is the 'normal' people
who are the side-show.
Johnny Eck also starred in "Tarzan, the Ape Man" (1932)and
Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) unaccredited. Though it's
possible his scenes were cut.
Probably the most
significant film in this list. |
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Notes
See Joe Bates
Freaks site
Johnny's World: The
Life and Works of Johnny Eck
Missing Link |
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