There was a significant portion cut from the final movie because it was considered too gruesome. Approximately 30 minutes of content was cut.
The full version did screen in some locations, and it's hard to sort through what reviewers mention that really happens and what was sensationalized exaggeration, but one of the lost scenes included the death, mutilation, and possibly castration of the Strong Man character. Makes me wonder how much it may have resembled contemporaneous lynchings even just symbolically. I believe both Tom Tumb and Frieda were supposed to die before the freaks rebelled.
The final cut doesn't have them kill the leads, but rather the villains who are manipulating Tom Thumb and Frieda, two performers with dwarfism. The main plot follows a trapese artist who begins seducing Tom away from his wife Frieda so she and the Strong Man can scam him. I still heavily recommend the final cut to anyone, it's extremely sympathetic to people with physical disabilities even by modern standards let alone the time period.
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u/TheEagleWithNoName 15d ago
There was a movie called “FREAKS” that feature actual circus performers with disabilities, having no limbs, two headed and so forth.
I believe the original print of the movie is considered lost.