Tonight on TCM I’m in heaven.  Three of my favorite movies, in one place, within the span of a few hours — it doesn’t get much better than this!  First up is Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932); I love it because I’ve had an interest in sideshow attractions forever, and this fascinating movie is an opportunity to appreciate some of the real-life performers who once graced the ten-in-one stage.  Prince Randian, the human caterpillar, is amazing; he’s a trunk – no arms, no legs – and he’s incredible to watch as he lights his own cigarette.  Johnny Eck the Half Boy is probably the most appealing of the performers, his sunny face and amazing hand-walking dexterity is a joy to behold. 

It’s great to see the Hilton Sisters, Violet and Daisy, a lovely pair of conjoined twins who went onto make their own biographical film Chained for Life in 1951.  Life ultimately wasn’t too kind to the Hiltons (they died forgotten and in relative poverty at age 60), but they had been able to achieve the good life at least for a time, and certainly deserved it.  The armless Frances O’Connor is also a friendly presence in the movie.  (Those of you who enjoyed the HBO series Carnivale can clearly see its antecedent in Freaks.)

Next up, director David Lynch’s The Elephant Man is a complete artistic triumph, a movie so well-crafted that even those who might be turned off by the subject matter – though I can’t imagine it – couldn’t help but be moved by its power and grace.  John Hurt is sincere and touching in the title role of the afflicted Joseph Merrick, and Anne Bancroft has a small but radiant turn as Mrs. Kendal the (real-life) actress who arranges a night at the theatre for the sensitive, artistic Elephant Man.  (I think it’s my favorite sequence in the movie; always good to see some English Panto on the screen!)  Especially effective is the evocative black-and-white photography and authentically sooty milieu of late nineteenth century Victorian England.  If, while watching the movie, you can even for a moment imagine what it might have been like to be the unfortunate Merrick, then this movie will have changed your life for the better.  The Elephant Man’s lasting strength as art and story is delineating the bitter cruelty of “otherness” that human beings love to cast out on certain chosen victims.  Joseph Merrick was certainly fortunate in at least one way; he ran into Dr. Treves who, whether for reasons of medical curiousity, kindess, or chance at professional recognition – or no doubt probably a combination of all three – managed to give Merrick some measure of comfort and serenity. 

And later there’s the Ray Harryhausen-special effects-laden adventure masterpiece Mysterious Island, with the dashing Michael Craig as the Union officer who, along with a batch of cohorts – friend and foe – finds himself in the Jules Verne Civil War-era version of TV’s Lost.  Who needs mysterious polar bears and black smoke entities when you’ve got Harryhausen’s giant crabs, mega-bees and marauding poultry?  Mysterious Island is also a chance to see the incomparable British actress Joan Greenwood as Lady Fairchild, a to-the-manor-born gal who’s more than a match for whatever the island throws at her.  I’ve no doubt seen this movie a hundred times, and it never fails to work for me.  Hope you feel the same way!

Thanks, TCM, for a great night of TV! 

(And thanks also to the terrific site The Johnny Eck Museum for that great graphic of Johnny!  I also recommend checking out Elizabeth J. Anderson's excellent Phreeque website for more information on amazing sideshow performers, and also SideshowWorld.com for another great reference source for all things sideshow.  For Merrick, Bill Greenwell's fascinating Lost Lives project page puts the Elephant Man into context of the 1881 census where he's listed as a resident of a workhouse; definitely check this out if you are a history fan and want to be immersed in the time.  Jeanette Sitton has a comprehensive Joseph Merrick website, very well done.  Thanks to all for amazing information — isn't the internet wonderful?)