Side Shows
In Harlan Ellison’s masterful essay about his time spent as a runaway
in a travelling carnival, "Gopher in the Gilly" (reprinted and available
in The
Essential Ellison), he suggests that once you look behind the
tent flaps at a carny and at the debased humanity of the side show, the
dark side of human nature is no longer a mystery. Indeed, filmmakers have
long been fascinated with the circus — particularly in Europe and
in the films of Federico Fellini — but there are only a few that
reflect the dark side, the seamy underbelly of society that exists in
the American travelling circus and carnival. A few European films may
qualify — Jodorowsky’s Santa
Sangre (which I reviewed in April
1999) perhaps, and Bergman’s underrated Sawdust
and Tinsel — but it’s a trio of American films that best
represent the voyeuristic appeal of the carny. Just in time for early
summer…
Click on the title to read the full review
Nightmare Alley
(1947)
Directed by Edmund Goulding
"It only remains for the film to be resurrected and restored, and
hopefully that is in the cards. If not, one of the great lost films
stays lost — truly, in this case, a pity..."
Carny (1980)
Directed by Robert Kaylor
"Like Nightmare Alley, the film was too dark, too atmospheric
for a big audience, but those of us who saw it in its brief theatrical
run in 1980 never forgot it..."
Freaks (1932)
Directed by Tod Browning
"Completely unforgettable — almost anyone who has seen it has never
forgotten their first viewing of it — this brief film has scenes of
poetic horror and wonderful scenes of the freaks being all too human..."
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