FREAKS (1932)
Horror noir tearjerker melodrama telling the story of Hans, a dwarf who falls in love with the circus trapeze artist who flirts with him out of sadistic pleasure. The movie is populated with real circus performers of the time; the freaks are heartbreakingly beautiful and moving. And the trapeze artist and strongman in this movie are among the most reprehensible characters in the history of story, and yet they come across as so authentic and human. Watch out for Johnny Eck, the man with no lower half of his body who walks on his hands. He’s perhaps the most beautiful.
