TOD BROWNING'S SIDESHOW SHOCKERS

Depicted below is my favorite Father's Day gift, the recent Criterion blu-ray collection spotlighting the carnival-themed films of Tod Browning, one of Hollywood's original auteurs. This collection features stunning new 2K digital restorations of Browning's FREAKS, THE UNKNOWN, and THE MYSTIC. I recommend watching them all (particularly if you have an interest in the roots of modern day horror cinema), as these are three of the most important American films of the 1920s and '30s. One hopes Criterion will soon release a follow-up collection that includes such equally impressive films as Browning's THE SHOW, WEST OF ZANZIBAR, and THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (this latter film marks the first time Browning worked with Bela Lugosi, a full two years before DRACULA).

After imbibing the trilogy of movies included in TOD BROWNING'S SIDESHOW SHOCKERS, I suggest reading Gary D. Rhodes' Rondo Award-nominated book, TOD BROWNING'S REVOLT OF THE UNDEAD (2022), which includes my 13,000-word essay entitled "'We Didn’t Lie to You, Folks!': The Thin Line Between Deception and Foma in the Worlds of Tod Browning." The essay analyzes a baker's dozen of Browning's most memorable films: THE UNHOLY THREE (1925), THE MYSTIC (1925), THE SHOW (1927), THE UNKNOWN (1927), LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927), WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928), WHERE EAST IS EAST (1929), THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929), DRACULA (1931), FREAKS (1932), MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935), THE DEVIL-DOLL (1936), and MIRACLES FOR SALE (1939). You can hear Gary D. Rhodes and I discussing Browning and his films at great length on the 10-27-22 episode of J.G. Michael's PARALLAX VIEWS podcast.

And apropos of nothing, here's a photo of me enjoying my Father's Day cigar (See's chocolate variety)...