Tod Browning
Encyclopedia
Tod Browning was an American
motion picture
actor
, director
and screenwriter
.
Browning's career spanned the silent
and talkie
eras. Best known as the director of Dracula
(1931), the cult classic Freaks (1932), and classic silent film collaborations with Lon Chaney
, Browning directed many movies in a wide range of genres.
, the second son of Charles Albert and Lydia Browning, and the nephew of baseball star Pete Browning
. As a young boy, he put on amateur plays in his backyard. He was fascinated by the circus and carnival life, and at the age of 16 he ran away from his well-to-do family to become a performer.
Changing his name to "Tod", he traveled extensively with sideshow
s, carnival
s, and circuses. His jobs included working as a talker (barker
, as the term is also known, isn't correct) for the Wild Man of Borneo, performing a live burial act in which he was billed as "The Living Corpse", and performing as a clown
with the Ringling Brothers Circus
. He would draw on this experience as inspiration for some of his film work.
He performed in vaudeville
as an actor
, magician
and dancer. He appeared in the Mutt and Jeff and The Lizard and the Coon acts, and in a blackface
act titled The Wheel of Mirth alongside comedian Charles Murray
.
, he met D. W. Griffith
. He began acting along with Murray on single-reel nickelodeon
comedies for Griffith and the Biograph Company
.
In 1913 Griffith split from Biograph and moved to California
. Browning followed and continued to act in Griffith's films, now for Reliance-Majestic Studios, including a stint as an extra in the epic Intolerance. Around that time he began directing, eventually directing 11 short films for Reliance-Majestic. Between 1913 and 1919, Browning would appear as an actor in approximately fifty motion pictures.
In June 1915, he crashed his car at full speed into a moving train. His passengers were film actors Elmer Booth
and George Siegmann
. Booth was killed instantly, while Seigmann and Browning suffered serious injuries, including in Browning's case a shattered right leg and the loss of his front teeth. During his convalescence, Browning wrote scripts, and did not return to active film work until 1917.
(1917), about a riverboat
captain who sacrifices himself to save his passengers from a fire. It was well-received.
Browning moved back to New York in 1917. He directed two films for Metro Studios, Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp
and The Jury of Fate
. Both starred Mabel Taliaferro
, the latter in a dual role achieved with double exposure
techniques that were groundbreaking for the time. He moved back to California in 1918 and produced two more films for Metro, The Eyes of Mystery
and Revenge
.
In the spring of 1918 he left Metro and joined Bluebird Productions, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures
, where he met Irving Thalberg
. Thalberg paired Browning with Lon Chaney, Sr.
for the first time for the film The Wicked Darling
(1919), a melodrama in which Chaney played a thief who forces a poor girl from the slums into a life of crime and possibly prostitution. Browning and Chaney would ultimately make ten films together over the next decade.
The death of his father sent Browning into a depression that led to alcoholism. He was laid off by Universal and his wife left him. However, he recovered, reconciled with his wife, and got a one-picture contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. The film he produced for MGM, The Day of Faith
, was a moderate success, putting his career back on track.
Thalberg reunited Browning with Lon Chaney for The Unholy Three
(1925), the story of three circus performers who concoct a scheme to con and steal jewels from rich people using disguises. Browning's circus experience shows in his sympathetic portrayal of the antiheroes. The film was a resounding success, so much so that it was later remade in 1930 as Lon Chaney's first (and only) talkie. Browning and Chaney embarked on a series of popular collaborations, including The Blackbird and The Road to Mandalay. The Unknown (1927), featuring Chaney as an armless knife thrower and Joan Crawford
as his scantily clad carnival girl obsession, was originally titled Alonzo the Armless and could be considered a precursor to Freaks
in that it concerns a love triangle involving a circus freak, a beauty, and a strongman. London After Midnight (1927) was Browning's first foray into the vampire genre and is a highly sought-after lost film
which starred Chaney, Conrad Nagel
, and Marceline Day
. The last known print of London After Midnight was destroyed in an MGM studio fire in 1967. In 2002, a photographic reconstruction of London After Midnight was produced by Rick Schmidlin
for Turner Classic Movies
. Browning and Chaney's final collaboration was Where East is East (1929), of which only incomplete prints have survived. Browning's first talkie was The Thirteenth Chair (1929), which was also released as a silent and starred Bela Lugosi
.
(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.
After directing the boxing melodrama The Iron Man (1931), Browning began work on Freaks (1932). Based on the short story "Spurs
" by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins
, the screenwriter of The Unholy Three, the film concerns a love triangle between a wealthy dwarf, a gold-digging aerialist, and a strongman; a murder plot; and the vengeance dealt out by the dwarf 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.
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 Béla Lugosi
(spoofing his Dracula image).
After that, Browning directed The Devil-Doll
(1936), originally titled The Witch of Timbuctoo, from his own script. It starred Lionel Barrymore as an escapee from an island prison who avenges himself on the people who imprisoned him using living "dolls" who are actually people shrunk to doll-size and magically placed under Barrymore's hypnotic control. Browning's final film was the murder mystery Miracles for Sale (1939).
accidentally published an obituary for him. Even his neighbors rarely saw him. In the late 1950s he developed throat cancer, necessitating tongue surgery. When his brother Avery died in 1959, he attended the funeral from a private room and would not let family members see him.
Tod Browning died on October 6, 1962, aged 82. He is interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Browning's career spanned the silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
and talkie
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
eras. Best known as the director of Dracula
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
(1931), the cult classic Freaks (1932), and classic silent film collaborations with Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, Browning directed many movies in a wide range of genres.
Early life
He was born Charles Albert Browning, Jr., in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, the second son of Charles Albert and Lydia Browning, and the nephew of baseball star Pete Browning
Pete Browning
Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning was an American center and left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1882 to 1894 who played primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels, becoming one of the sport's most accomplished batters of the 1880s...
. As a young boy, he put on amateur plays in his backyard. He was fascinated by the circus and carnival life, and at the age of 16 he ran away from his well-to-do family to become a performer.
Changing his name to "Tod", he traveled extensively with sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
s, carnival
Traveling carnival
A traveling carnival is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, animal acts or sideshow curiosities. A traveling carnival is not set up at a permanent location, like an amusement park, but is moved from...
s, and circuses. His jobs included working as a talker (barker
Barker (occupation)
A barker is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing public, describing attractions of show and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other feature believed to incite listeners to attend entertainment...
, as the term is also known, isn't correct) for the Wild Man of Borneo, performing a live burial act in which he was billed as "The Living Corpse", and performing as a clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
with the Ringling Brothers Circus
Ringling brothers
The Ringling brothers were seven siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in McGregor, Iowa and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, they were the children of Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling...
. He would draw on this experience as inspiration for some of his film work.
He performed in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, magician
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
and dancer. He appeared in the Mutt and Jeff and The Lizard and the Coon acts, and in a blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
act titled The Wheel of Mirth alongside comedian Charles Murray
Charles Murray (comedian)
Charles Thomas McKinnon "Chic" Murray , was a Scottish comedian and actor. He appeared in various roles on British television and filmmost notably in the 1967 version of Casino Royaleand portrayed Liverpool Football Club manager Bill Shankly in a musical...
.
Beginnings of a film career
Later, while Browning was working as director of a variety theater in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he met D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
. He began acting along with Murray on single-reel nickelodeon
Nickelodeon movie theater
The Nickelodeon was a multi-purpose theater that was popular from about 1900 to 1914. Usually situated in converted storefronts, the Nickelodeon featured motion pictures, illustrated songs, slide shows and lectures...
comedies for Griffith and the Biograph Company
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1928. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over three thousand short...
.
In 1913 Griffith split from Biograph and moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Browning followed and continued to act in Griffith's films, now for Reliance-Majestic Studios, including a stint as an extra in the epic Intolerance. Around that time he began directing, eventually directing 11 short films for Reliance-Majestic. Between 1913 and 1919, Browning would appear as an actor in approximately fifty motion pictures.
In June 1915, he crashed his car at full speed into a moving train. His passengers were film actors Elmer Booth
Elmer Booth
William Elmer Booth was an US-American actor. He was born in Los Angeles, California and was the elder brother of film editor Margaret Booth....
and George Siegmann
George Siegmann
George Siegmann was an American actor in the silent film era. His more notable roles include Silas Lynch in Griffith's Birth of A Nation , the guard in the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, Porthos in The Three Musketeers , Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist , and Dr...
. Booth was killed instantly, while Seigmann and Browning suffered serious injuries, including in Browning's case a shattered right leg and the loss of his front teeth. During his convalescence, Browning wrote scripts, and did not return to active film work until 1917.
Silent feature films
Browning's feature film debut was Jim BludsoJim Bludso
Jim Bludso is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning. It was Browning's first feature film as a director. Contemporary sources are variable on the matter of whether the direction was a joint effort between Browning and the film's star, Wilfred Lucas. In their book Dark Carnival: The Secret...
(1917), about a riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
captain who sacrifices himself to save his passengers from a fire. It was well-received.
Browning moved back to New York in 1917. He directed two films for Metro Studios, Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp
Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp
Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Mabel Taliaferro - Peggy Desmond* Thomas Carrigan - Captain Neil Dacey * William J. Gross - Anthony Desmond...
and The Jury of Fate
The Jury of Fate
-Cast:* William Sherwood - Donald Duncan* Mabel Taliaferro - Jaques Jeanne* Frank Bennett - François Leblanc * Charles Fang - Ching* Albert Tavernier - Henri Labordie* Bradley Barker - Louis Hebert* H. F. Webber - Duval Hebert...
. Both starred Mabel Taliaferro
Mabel Taliaferro
Mabel "Nell" Taliaferro was an American stage, and a silent screen actress, known as the Sweetheart of American Movies...
, the latter in a dual role achieved with double exposure
Double Exposure
Double exposure is a photographic technique in which two images are captured and combined into a single image.Double exposure may also refer to:* Double patterning, a technique for improving the resolution of patterning semiconductors...
techniques that were groundbreaking for the time. He moved back to California in 1918 and produced two more films for Metro, The Eyes of Mystery
The Eyes of Mystery
The Eyes of Mystery is a 1918 silent mystery film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Edith Storey - Carma Carmichael* Bradley Barker - Jack Carrington* Harry Northrup - Roger Carmichael * Frank Andrews - Quincy Carmichael...
and Revenge
Revenge (1918 film)
Revenge is a 1918 Western film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Edith Storey - Alva Leigh* Wheeler Oakman - Dick Randall* Ralph Lewis - 'Sudden' Duncan* Alberta Ballard - Riger Lil* Charles West - Donald Jaffray...
.
In the spring of 1918 he left Metro and joined Bluebird Productions, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, where he met Irving Thalberg
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...
. Thalberg paired Browning with Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
for the first time for the film The Wicked Darling
The Wicked Darling
The Wicked Darling is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning. The film was considered to be a lost film, until a copy was found in Europe in the 1990s. The copy now resides in the Nederlands Filmmuseum.-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Mary Stevens...
(1919), a melodrama in which Chaney played a thief who forces a poor girl from the slums into a life of crime and possibly prostitution. Browning and Chaney would ultimately make ten films together over the next decade.
The death of his father sent Browning into a depression that led to alcoholism. He was laid off by Universal and his wife left him. However, he recovered, reconciled with his wife, and got a one-picture contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. The film he produced for MGM, The Day of Faith
The Day of Faith
The Day of Faith is a 1923 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Eleanor Boardman - Jane Maynard* Tyrone Power, Sr. - Michael Anstell * Raymond Griffith - Tom Barnett* Wallace MacDonald - John Anstell...
, was a moderate success, putting his career back on track.
Thalberg reunited Browning with Lon Chaney for The Unholy Three
The Unholy Three (1925 film)
The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent film melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Tod Browning.The film was remade in 1930 as a talkie. In both the 1925 and the 1930 version, the roles of Professor Echo and Tweedledee are played by Lon Chaney and Harry Earles respectively...
(1925), the story of three circus performers who concoct a scheme to con and steal jewels from rich people using disguises. Browning's circus experience shows in his sympathetic portrayal of the antiheroes. The film was a resounding success, so much so that it was later remade in 1930 as Lon Chaney's first (and only) talkie. Browning and Chaney embarked on a series of popular collaborations, including The Blackbird and The Road to Mandalay. The Unknown (1927), featuring Chaney as an armless knife thrower and Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
as his scantily clad carnival girl obsession, was originally titled Alonzo the Armless and could be considered a precursor to Freaks
Freaks
Freaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...
in that it concerns a love triangle involving a circus freak, a beauty, and a strongman. London After Midnight (1927) was Browning's first foray into the vampire genre and is a highly sought-after lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
which starred Chaney, Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
, and Marceline Day
Marceline Day
Marceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....
. The last known print of London After Midnight was destroyed in an MGM studio fire in 1967. In 2002, a photographic reconstruction of London After Midnight was produced by Rick Schmidlin
Rick Schmidlin
Rick Schmidlin is a film preservationist and silent film scholar, and an occasional producer-director whose work has focused on restorations, reconstructions and documentaries...
for Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
. Browning and Chaney's final collaboration was Where East is East (1929), of which only incomplete prints have survived. Browning's first talkie was The Thirteenth Chair (1929), which was also released as a silent and starred Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
.
Talkies
After Chaney's death in 1930, Browning was hired by Universal Pictures to direct DraculaDracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
(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
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
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.
After directing the boxing melodrama The Iron Man (1931), Browning began work on Freaks (1932). Based on the short story "Spurs
Spurs (short story)
"Spurs" is a short story by Tod Robbins. The story was published in February 1923 in Munsey's Magazine and included in Robbins' 1926 anthology Who Wants a Green Bottle? and Other Uneasy Tales...
" by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins
Tod Robbins
Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins was an American author of horror and mystery fiction. Robbins attended Washington and Lee University and—along with Mark W...
, the screenwriter of The Unholy Three, the film concerns a love triangle between a wealthy dwarf, a gold-digging aerialist, and a strongman; a murder plot; and the vengeance dealt out by the dwarf 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.
Browning found himself unable to get his requested projects greenlighted. After directing the drama Fast Workers (1933) starring John Gilbert
John Gilbert (actor)
John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover," he rivaled even Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw...
, 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
Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
(1935). In the remake, the roles played by Lon Chaney in the original were split between Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
and Béla Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
(spoofing his Dracula image).
After that, Browning directed The Devil-Doll
The Devil-Doll
The Devil-Doll is a horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring a cross-dressing Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan as his daughter, Lorraine Levond...
(1936), originally titled The Witch of Timbuctoo, from his own script. It starred Lionel Barrymore as an escapee from an island prison who avenges himself on the people who imprisoned him using living "dolls" who are actually people shrunk to doll-size and magically placed under Barrymore's hypnotic control. Browning's final film was the murder mystery Miracles for Sale (1939).
Director filmography
- Miracles for SaleMiracles for SaleMiracles for Sale is a 1939 mystery film directed by Tod Browning and starring Robert Young and Florence Rice. It was Browning's final film as a director. The film is based on a locked-room mystery novel by well-known mystery writer Clayton Rawson, Death from a Top Hat, which was the first to...
(1939) - The Devil-DollThe Devil-DollThe Devil-Doll is a horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring a cross-dressing Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan as his daughter, Lorraine Levond...
(1936) - Mark of the VampireMark of the VampireMark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
(1935) - Fast WorkersFast WorkersFast Workers, also known as Rivets, is a 1933 drama film starring John Gilbert and Robert Armstrong as construction workers and romantic rivals for the character played by Mae Clarke. The film was based on the unproduced play Rivets by John W...
(1933) - FreaksFreaksFreaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...
(1932) - Iron ManIron Man (1931 film)Iron Man is a 1931 drama film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lew Ayres, Robert Armstrong and Jean Harlow. It is a bit of an anomaly for Browning, who is more associated with horror and melodrama than sports films....
(1931) - DraculaDracula (1931 film)Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
(1931) - Outside the LawOutside the Law (1930 film)Outside the Law is a crime film directed by Tod Browning and starring Edward G. Robinson. It is a remake of the 1920 film of the same name, also directed by Browning.-Cast:* Edward G...
(1930) - The Thirteenth ChairThe Thirteenth ChairThe Thirteenth Chair is a 1929 mystery film directed by Tod Browning. It is based on a 1916 play of the same name by Bayard Veiller.-Cast:* Conrad Nagel as Richard Crosby* Leila Hyams as Helen 'Nellie' O'Neill...
(1929) - Where East Is EastWhere East Is EastWhere East Is East, is a 1929 silent movie starring Lon Chaney, Sr. as an animal trapper in Laos. The picture is Chaney's penultimate silent film and the last of his collaborations with director Tod Browning...
(1929) - West of Zanzibar (1928)
- The Big CityThe Big City (1928 film)The Big City is a 1928 crime film directed by Tod Browning. It is now a lost film. The last known print of the film had been sent to Australia in the late 1950s...
(1928) - London After MidnightLondon After Midnight (film)London After Midnight aka The Hypnotist is a silent mystery film with horror overtones produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall, and Polly Moran and was directed by Tod Browning. It is also a lost film, quite...
(1927) - The Unknown (1927)
- The ShowThe Show (1927 film)The Show is a 1927 silent American drama film directed by Tod Browning, based upon C.T. Jackson's 1910 novel, The Day of Souls.-Plot:A Hungarian carnival troupe follows a young girl who reforms a tearaway after her old suitor tried to kill him with a poisonous lizard.-Cast:* John Gilbert - Cock...
(1927) - The Road to MandalayThe Road to Mandalay (film)The Road to Mandalay is a 1926 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Lon Chaney - Singapore Joe* Lois Moran - Joe's Daughter* Owen Moore - The Admiral* Henry B. Walthall - Father James* Sojin - English Charlie Wing...
(1926) - The BlackbirdThe BlackbirdThe Blackbird is a 1926 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Plot:The Blackbird is a thief who uses a second identity when necessary: a rescue mission keeper with contorted legs, known as his bishop brother The Bishop. He lives above a cheap bar in the Limehouse district, where his alter ego The...
(1926) - Dollar DownDollar Down-Cast:* Ruth Roland - Ruth Craig* Henry B. Walthall - Alec Craig* Mayme Kelso - Mrs. Craig* Earl Schenck - Grant Elliot* Claire McDowell - Mrs. Meadows * Roscoe Karns - Gene Meadows* Jane Mercer - Betty Meadows...
(1925) - The MysticThe MysticThe Mystic is a 1925 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning, who later directed MGM's Freaks . Aileen Pringle's gowns in the film were by already famous Romain de Tirtoff .-Plot:...
(1925) - The Unholy ThreeThe Unholy Three (1925 film)The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent film melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Tod Browning.The film was remade in 1930 as a talkie. In both the 1925 and the 1930 version, the roles of Professor Echo and Tweedledee are played by Lon Chaney and Harry Earles respectively...
(1925) - Silk Stocking SalSilk Stocking SalSilk Stocking Sal is a 1924 drama film directed by Tod Browning. As with most Evelyn Brent starring FBO films of the mid 1920s, Silk Stocking Sal is a lost film.-Cast:* Evelyn Brent - 'Stormy' Martin* Robert Ellis - Bob Cooper...
(1924) - The Dangerous FlirtThe Dangerous FlirtThe Dangerous Flirt is a 1924 melodrama directed by Tod Browning, which is now considered to be lost.-Cast:* Evelyn Brent as Sheila Fairfax* Edward Earle as Dick Morris* Sheldon Lewis as Don Alfonso...
(1924) - White TigerWhite Tiger (film)White Tiger is a 1923 crime film directed by Tod Browning and featuring Wallace Beery in a supporting role.- Cast :* Priscilla Dean - Sylvia Donovan* Matt Moore - Dick Longworth* Raymond Griffith - Roy Donovan* Wallace Beery - Count Donelli / Hawkes...
(1923) - The Day of FaithThe Day of FaithThe Day of Faith is a 1923 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Eleanor Boardman - Jane Maynard* Tyrone Power, Sr. - Michael Anstell * Raymond Griffith - Tom Barnett* Wallace MacDonald - John Anstell...
(1923) - DriftingDrifting (film)Drifting is a 1923 drama film directed by Tod Browning and featuring Wallace Beery in a supporting role. The movie was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Priscilla Dean is the main female antagonist....
(1923) - Under Two FlagsUnder Two Flags (1922 film)-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Cigarette* James Kirkwood - Cpl. Victor* John Davidson - Sheik Ben Ali Hammed* Stuart Holmes - Marquis de Chateauroy * Ethel Grey Terry - Princess Corona...
(1922) - Man Under CoverMan Under Cover-Cast:* Herbert Rawlinson - Paul Porter* George Hernandez - Daddy Moffat* William Courtright - Mayor Harper * George Webb - Jones Wiley* Edwin B. Tilton - 'Coal Oil' Chase * Gerald Pring - Holt Langdon...
(1922) - The Wise KidThe Wise Kid-Cast:* Gladys Walton - Rosie Cooper* David Butler - Freddie Smith* Hallam Cooley - Harry* Hector Sarno - Tony Rossi* Henry A. Barrows - Jefferson Southwick* C. Norman Hammond - Mr. Haverty...
(1922) - No Woman KnowsNo Woman Knows-Cast:* Max Davidson - Ferdinand Brandeis* Snitz Edwards - Herr Bauer* Grace Marvin - Molly Brandeis* Bernice Radom - Little Fanny Brandeis* Danny Hoy - Aloysius* E. Alyn Warren - Rabbi Thalman -Cast:* Max Davidson - Ferdinand Brandeis* Snitz Edwards - Herr Bauer* Grace Marvin - Molly Brandeis*...
(1921) - Outside the LawOutside the Law (1920 film)Outside the Law is a 1920 crime film directed by Tod Browning. Browning would remake the film in 1930.Outside the Law is considered to be one of the first psychologically driven films in the gangster genre. It was the second film on which Browning worked with Lon Chaney...
(1920) - The Virgin of StamboulThe Virgin of StamboulThe Virgin of Stamboul is a 1920 drama film directed by Tod Browning and starring husband and wife team Priscilla Dean and Wheeler Oakman and featuring Wallace Beery in a supporting role.-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Sari...
(1920)
- Bonnie Bonnie LassieBonnie Bonnie LassieBonnie Bonnie Lassie is a 1919 comedy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Mary MacLaren - Alisa Graeme* Spottiswoode Aitken - Jeremiah Wishart* David Butler - David* Arthur Edmund Carewe - Archibald Loveday...
(1919) - The Petal on the CurrentThe Petal on the CurrentThe Petal on the Current is a 1919 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Mary MacLaren - Stella Schump* Gertrude Claire - Stella's Mother* Fritzi Ridgeway - Cora Kinealy * Robert Anderson - John Gilley...
(1919) - The Unpainted WomanThe Unpainted WomanThe Unpainted Woman is a 1919 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Mary MacLaren - Gudrun Trygavson* Thurston Hall - Martin O'Neill* David Butler - Charley Holt* Laura La Varnie - Mrs. Holt...
(1919) - The Exquisite ThiefThe Exquisite ThiefThe Exquisite Thief is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning. Prints of this film survive.-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Blue Jean Billie* Thurston Hall - Algernon P. Smythe* Milton Ross - Det. Wood* Sam De Grasse - Shaver Michael...
(1919) - The Wicked DarlingThe Wicked DarlingThe Wicked Darling is a 1919 silent drama film directed by Tod Browning. The film was considered to be a lost film, until a copy was found in Europe in the 1990s. The copy now resides in the Nederlands Filmmuseum.-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Mary Stevens...
(1919) - Set FreeSet Free (film)-Cast:* Edith Roberts - Roma Wycliffe* Harry Hilliard - John Roberts* Harold Goodwin - Ronald Blair* Mollie McConnell - Mrs. Roberts * Blanche Gray - Aunt Henrietta...
(1918) - The Brazen BeautyThe Brazen BeautyThe Brazen Beauty is a 1918 comedy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Priscilla Dean - Jacala Auehli* Gertrude Astor - Mrs. Augusta Van Ruysdael* Thurston Hall - Kenneth Hyde* Katherine Griffith - Aunt Ellen* Alice Wilson - Kate Dewey...
(1918) - The Deciding KissThe Deciding KissThe Deciding Kiss is a 1918 comedy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Edith Roberts - Eleanor Hamlin* Winifred Greenwood - Beulah Page* Hallam Cooley - Jimmy Sears * Hans Unterkircher - Peter Bolling...
(1918) - Which Woman?Which Woman?Which Woman? is a 1918 mystery film directed by Tod Browning and Harry A. Pollard.-Cast:* Ella Hall - Doris Standish* Priscilla Dean - Mary Butler* A. Edward Sutherland - Jimmy Nevin* Edward Jobson - Cyrus W. Hopkins* Andrew Robson - Peter Standish...
(1918) - RevengeRevenge (1918 film)Revenge is a 1918 Western film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Edith Storey - Alva Leigh* Wheeler Oakman - Dick Randall* Ralph Lewis - 'Sudden' Duncan* Alberta Ballard - Riger Lil* Charles West - Donald Jaffray...
(1918) - The Eyes of MysteryThe Eyes of MysteryThe Eyes of Mystery is a 1918 silent mystery film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Edith Storey - Carma Carmichael* Bradley Barker - Jack Carrington* Harry Northrup - Roger Carmichael * Frank Andrews - Quincy Carmichael...
(1918) - The Legion of DeathThe Legion of Death-Cast:* Edith Storey as Princess Marya* Philo McCullough as Captain Rodney Willard* Fred Malatesta as Grand Duke Paul* Charles K. Gerrard as Grand Duke Orlof...
(1918) - The Jury of FateThe Jury of Fate-Cast:* William Sherwood - Donald Duncan* Mabel Taliaferro - Jaques Jeanne* Frank Bennett - François Leblanc * Charles Fang - Ching* Albert Tavernier - Henri Labordie* Bradley Barker - Louis Hebert* H. F. Webber - Duval Hebert...
(1917) - Peggy, the Will O' the WispPeggy, the Will O' the WispPeggy, the Will O' the Wisp is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Mabel Taliaferro - Peggy Desmond* Thomas Carrigan - Captain Neil Dacey * William J. Gross - Anthony Desmond...
(1917) - Hands Up!Hands Up! (1917 film)Hands Up! is a 1917 Western film directed by Tod Browning. This was Colleen Moore's last film for Triangle/Fine Arts. D. W. Griffith had withdrawn from the Triangle arrangement and taken many performers and staff, who were under contract specifically with Fine Arts rather than Triangle. Moore's...
(1917) - A Love SublimeA Love SublimeA Love Sublime is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Wilfred Lucas - Philip* Carmel Myers - Toinette* F. A. Turner - The Professor A Love Sublime (also known as Orpheus) is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Wilfred Lucas - Philip* Carmel Myers - Toinette* F. A....
(1917) - Jim BludsoJim BludsoJim Bludso is a 1917 drama film directed by Tod Browning. It was Browning's first feature film as a director. Contemporary sources are variable on the matter of whether the direction was a joint effort between Browning and the film's star, Wilfred Lucas. In their book Dark Carnival: The Secret...
(1917) - PuppetsPuppets (film)Puppets is a 1916 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* DeWolf Hopper Sr. - Pantaloon * Jack Brammall - Harlequin* Robert Lawler - Clown* Pauline Starke - Columbine* Kate Toncray - The Widow* Edward Bolles - Pierrot...
(1916) - Everybody's Doing ItEverybody's Doing ItEverybody's Doing It is a 1916 short comedy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Howard Gaye - Society gentleman* Tully Marshall - Crook* Violet Radcliffe* Georgie Stone* Lilian Webster - Young woman...
(1916) - The Fatal Glass of BeerThe Fatal Glass of Beer (1916 film)The Fatal Glass of Beer is a 1916 short comedy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Jack Brammall - John* Elmo Lincoln* Tully Marshall - Cousin Henry* Teddy Sampson - Nell...
(1916) - Little MarieLittle MarieLittle Marie is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Walter Long* Seena Owen - Bianca Pastorelli * Charles West - Beppo Puccini * Tom Wilson - Sam Coggini...
(1915) - The Woman from Warren'sThe Woman from Warren'sThe Woman from Warren's is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Billy Hutton - Alice Thompson* F. A. Turner - Fred Thompson * Charles West - Hanson Landing* Lucille Young - Wynona Ware...
(1915) - The Burned HandThe Burned HandThe Burned Hand is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Miriam Cooper - Marietta* Cora Drew - Marietta's mother* William Hinckley - Billy Rider* Jack Hull* William Lowery - Marietta's father* F. A. Turner...
(1915) - The Living DeathThe Living DeathThe Living Death is a 1915 American short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* F. A. Turner as Dr. Farrell* Billie West as Naida Farrell* Edward Peil Sr. as Tom O Day...
(1915) - The Electric AlarmThe Electric AlarmThe Electric Alarm is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* A. E. Freeman - Ryley* Charles Gorman - Dick Ray* Lucy Payton - Mary's mother* Lilian Webster - Mary...
(1915) - The Spell of the PoppyThe Spell of the PoppyThe Spell of the Poppy is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning. It concerns Manfredi, a young opium addict.-Cast:* Eugene Pallette - Manfredi* Lucille Young - Zuletta* Joseph Henabery - John Hale...
(1915) - The Story of a StoryThe Story of a StoryThe Story of a Story is a 1915 short fantasy film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Eugene Pallette - John Penhallow* Miriam Cooper - His daughter* Frankie Newman* Charles Lee* Claire Anderson...
(1915) - The HighbindersThe HighbindersThe Highbinders is a 1915 short crime film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Eugene Pallette - Hop Woo* Seena Owen - Ah Woo * Billie West - Maggie Gallagher* Walter Long - Pat Gallagher* Tom Wilson - Jack Donovan...
(1915) - An Image of the PastAn Image of the PastAn Image of the Past is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning....
(1915) - The Slave GirlThe Slave GirlThe Slave Girl is a 1915 short Western film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Elmo Lincoln - Bob West * Teddy Sampson - Daughter* W. E. Lawrence - Fred Gilbert* Mary Alden - Sally* Miriam Cooper* Jennie Lee* O. R. MacDiarmid...
(1915) - The Lucky TransferThe Lucky TransferThe Lucky Transfer is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning. It was Browning's debut film as a director.-Cast:* Mary Alden - Helen Holland* Tom Wilson - Ford* Thomas Hull - Ransom* Vester Pegg - The clerk* Margery Wilson - The little girl...
(1915)
Retirement
After Miracles for Sale, Browning did some scenario work for MGM. In 1942 he retired and moved to Malibu. He became such a recluse that soon after his wife died in 1944, VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
accidentally published an obituary for him. Even his neighbors rarely saw him. In the late 1950s he developed throat cancer, necessitating tongue surgery. When his brother Avery died in 1959, he attended the funeral from a private room and would not let family members see him.
Tod Browning died on October 6, 1962, aged 82. He is interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Further reading
- Dark Carnival (1995) (ISBN 0-385-47406-7) by David J. SkalDavid J. SkalDavid J. Skal is an American cultural historian known for his writings on horror films and horror literature.-Early life:...
and Elias SavadaElias SavadaElias Savada is an American film historian and critic.The son of New York record store owner Morton Savada, Savada is the founder of the Motion Picture Information Service, which provides copyright research for film and television show producers...
.
External links
- Tod Browning bibliography via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center