SCFZ poll: Tod Browning

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Wait is today Friday? Plz hold off flip I have more to watch

[flip]

oh i haven't even tallied the previous poll, the bogdanovich, i think i'll leave them both open to tuesday (or longer if people want more time)

[Joks Trois]

Regarding the comparisons made earlier to Whale, it's definitely true that Browning does appear to be somewhat short changed comparatively. It's probably because he wasn't a technician like Whale, or Leni, so it's easier to overlook his more subtle command of mise-en-scene. I also think he was more interested in human psychology than those directors. In short, while I find their films to be more aesthetically pleasing and better paced, I do find myself more drawn to Browning's 'personality', for lack of a better term, especially the way he presents duality and 'destructive desire'. Many of Browning's films are about people whose obsessive desire/s lead them down the path of destruction. e.g. West of Zanzibar, The Unknown, The Black Bird etc.

He was also fascinated by the 'other' figures inability to become 'normal', especially once the line has been crossed, which destroys any possibility of 'reintegration'.

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He was also fascinated by the 'other' figures inability to become 'normal', especially once the line has been crossed, which destroys any possibility of 'reintegration'.

Well put. the similarities between The Black Bird, and The Unknown, are interesting when read in this light

[Joks Trois]

The 'twist' in The Black Bird, which I just watched yesterday, is perhaps a raw distillation of that perspective presented in a grimly humourous form.

[flip]

i feel like taking a break from poll stuff for a bit, so i'll just leave this and any other open polls open, and won't start up new polls, until i feel like getting back to them. sorry for the delay!

[flip]

if anyone was still watching browning films, i'll be happy to update the tally based if new ballots are posted over the next two or three days (if editing a ballot, please quote the original, and make a new post with the update)

i imagine the winners of this poll won't be much of a surprise, but what may be surprising is how well some of browning's less-heralded films did, it ended up being fairly close:

results

1. Freaks (1932) — 33 pts
2. The Unknown (1927) — 28 pts
3. Dracula (1931) — 23.5 pts
4. West of Zanzibar (1928) — 20 pts
5. The Devil-Doll (1936) — 19 pts
6. The Unholy Three (1925) — 14 pts
7. Mark of the Vampire (1935) — 13 pts
8. The Wicked Darling (1919) — 5 pts
9. Fast Workers (1933) — 3 pts
10. The Show (1927) — 2.3 pts
11. Outside the Law (1920) — 2 pts

[flip]

i have finally posted this to letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-275/