Tod Browning

Charles Albert Browning, Jr. (July 12, 1880 - October 5, 1962), better known as Tod Browning, was an American film actor and director whose career spanned the silent and talkie eras. Best known as the director of Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi and the cult classic Freaks (1932), he directed many movies in a wide range of genres.

Talkies

After Chaney's death in 1930, Browning was hired by Universal Pictures to direct Dracula (1931). Although Browning wanted to hire an unknown European actor for the title role and have him be mostly offscreen as a sinister presence, budget constraints and studio interference necessitated the casting of Bela Lugosi and a more straightforward approach. Although the film is now considered a classic, at the time Universal was unhappy with it and preferred the Spanish-language version filmed on the same sets at night.

Related Topics:
1930 - Universal Pictures - Dracula - 1931

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After directing the boxing melodrama The Iron Man (1931), he began work on Freaks (1932). Based on a short story by the screenwriter of The Unholy Three, it concerns a love triangle between a wealthy midget, a gold-digging aerialist, and a strongman, a murder plot, and the vengeance dealt out by the midget and his fellow circus freaks. The film was highly controversial, even after heavy editing to remove many disturbing scenes, and was a commercial failure. Browning's career was derailed.

Related Topics:
1931 - Freaks - 1932

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Browning found himself unable to get his requested projects greenlighted. After directing the drama Fast Workers (1933) starring John Gilbert, who was also not in good standing with the studio, he was allowed to direct a remake of London After Midnight, originally titled Vampires of Prague but later retitled Mark of the Vampire (1935). In the remake, the roles played by Lon Chaney in the original were split between Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi (spoofing his Dracula image). After that he directed The Devil Doll (1936), originally titled The Witch of Timbuctoo, from a script he wrote himself. It starred Lionel Barrymore as an escapee from an island prison who avenges himself on the people who imprisoned him using magically animated dolls. His final film was the murder mystery Miracles for Sale (1939).

Related Topics:
1933 - John Gilbert - Mark of the Vampire - 1935 - Lionel Barrymore - The Devil Doll - 1936 - 1939

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~