Who directed the controversial 1932 film 'Freaks'?

'Freaks' is a 1932 American MGM pre-Code horror film produced and directed by Tod Browning. The original version of the film, running 90 minutes, was considered too shocking to be released, so several scenes were cut, resulting in an abridged runtime of 64 minutes. The original version no longer exists.

The film is based on elements from the short story "Spurs" by Tod Robbins. The eponymous characters were played by people who worked as carnival sideshow performers and had real deformities. The film stars Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova and Roscoe Ates. Among the deformed cast were dwarf siblings Harry and Daisy Earles, the torsoless Johnny Eck, the conjoined twin sisters Daisy and Violet Hilton, and Schlitzie.

Tod Browning, the film's creator-director and co-producer left his affluent family at the age of 16 to join a traveling circus; he drew on his personal experiences when devising 'Freaks'. Because of his success as the director of 'Dracula', he was given considerable leeway for a major studio's first horror film; this and the fact he was working in pre-Code Hollywood enabled a unique production. In the film, the physically deformed "freaks" are inherently trusting and honorable people, while the real monsters are two of the "normal" members of the circus who conspire to murder one of the performers to obtain his large inheritance.