Original Vintage Sci Fi Horror Movie Memorabilia Collectibles Theater Film Posters For Sale
Tod Browning's "Freaks", 1932
Original Vintage Horror Sci Fi Movie Poster Lobby Card

You know the story behind this historical film.  This lobby card is from the 1949 release of this 1932 film, which was considered so abominable for the public to see it was banned in Great Britain. . One of the most desirable cards of the set , the "Torso Man".  AMAZING Near Mint condition!

Goes without saying this won't last long.

* See enlargeable image above

* We have been so fortunate to recently acquire the entire lobby card set of eight from this film.  See the others below under Also Recommended.

Freaks (Excelsior, R-1949). Lobby Card (11" X 14").
Tod Browning was one of Hollywood's most highly acclaimed directors when he made this shocking film which harkened back to his early years as a circus performer. The film, originally released in 1932, was considered so scandalous that MGM pulled it from release and it directly led to Browning's decline as a director. The film sat on a shelf until 1949 when distributor Dwain Esper secured the right and re-released it.

FREAKS History:
The original 1932 one sheet for this film has (as far as we know in over 40 years collecting) never appeared on the market. The insert sold at auction in 2009  for about $110,000.  A 1932 lobby card sold in 2010 for $15,500. 

NOTE:   None of the 1932 posters and lobby cards showed the "Freaks".  One 1932 lobby card shows them at the dinner table, but the "Freaks" are mostly hidden from view.   Only the 1949 Posters like this lobby explicitly shows any of the "Freaks", with actually photo images (Not animation).  
This is most likely because in 1932 the film was considered taboo and too extreme for the early 1930s culture.    The film  was actually banned at the time in Britain.

The Human Torso Man:

Prince Randian (sometimes misspelled Rardion or Randion; October 12, 1871 – December 19, 1934), also nicknamed Pillow Man, The Snake Man, The Human Torso, The Human Caterpillar and a variety of other names, was a Guyanese-born American performer with tetra-amelia syndrome and a famous limbless sideshow performer of the early 1900s, best known for his ability to roll cigarettes with his lips.

He was brought to the United States by P.T. Barnum in 1889, at the age of 18, and was a popular Coney Island carnival and circus attraction for 45 years. In 1932, he was featured in the film Freaks, in which he is seen lighting up a cigarette with a match.

Randian (whose birth name is unknown) was born with no arms or legs in Demerara, British Guiana. He was Hindu and spoke Hindi, English, French, and German. According to a passenger manifest of SS Parima from April 14, 1917, he had lived previously at Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. With his wife, known as Princess Sarah (apparently a Hindu woman, born c. 1872), he fathered 5 children. Their children included Mary Randian (born c. 1893), Richard Randian (born c. 1901), Elizabeth Randian (born c. 1904), and Wilhelmina Randian (born c. 1904). In the 1920s he was working for Krause Amusement Company and lived in Plainfield, New Jersey. He and his wife lived at 174 Water Street, Paterson, New Jersey, until his death