Tod Browning

Directing

Tod Browning

Born — Died

1880-07-12 — 1962-10-06

Place of birth

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

53 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Tod Browning (12 July 1880 – 6 October 1962) 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tod Browning, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia​

Known for

Dracula poster
7.2

A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves and drives the agent to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.

Dracula

1931

Freaks poster
7.8

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Freaks

1932

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

Mark of the Vampire poster
6.2

Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampiric assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body, are certain that the vampire is either the mysterious Count Mora or his daughter. Receiving little help from the law, occult expert Professor Zelen is sought to assist with their investigation.

Mark of the Vampire

1935

The Unknown poster
7.5

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.

The Unknown

1927

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces poster
6.8

Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and celebrated for his horror films, becomes the subject of this documentary.

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

2000

Film credits

1910s · 8 titles

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

No artwork available
9.0

Bill, an initially unkempt office boy, world is changed when he becomes infatuated with Genevieve Reilly, a girl working in a different office. Driven by his desire to attract her attention, Bill begins to clean up his act and appearance, eventually turning into what a jealous coworker terms a "regular dude". The film culminates in Bill taking Genevieve out to lunch to impress her with his new, sophisticated persona.

Bill Takes a Lady Out to Lunch... Never Again

1914

No artwork available
6.2

Office boy Bill encounters a group of anarchists and inadvertently involves one of them in a scheme to open a safe. The "W.W.W.'s" stands for "We Won't Work", a comedic take on the real-life labor movement, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or "Wobblies").

Bill Joins the W.W.W.'s

1914

No artwork available
10.0

Office worker Ethel decides to host a luncheon party on the office roof while her boss is away. Two male co-workers, Bill and his pal, decide they should be invited as well and join the party uninvited. Ethel, displeased by their intrusion, enlists her other male guests to remove the pair from the roof, conflict of a comic nature ensues.

Ethel's Roof Party

1914

No artwork available
7.0

Silent comedy short film about Mr. Hadley's fiancée, Ethel, and her new "steady" relationship with a lunch counter employee named Bill.

Ethel Has a Steady

1914

No artwork available
8.0

A group of stenographers decide to host a ball and invite their boss, Mr. Hadley, as the guest of honor. The plot revolves around a mix-up involving masquerade costumes.

Bill and Ethel at the Ball

1914

No artwork available
9.0

Casey flirts with fruit vendor Nina and eats her boyfriend Pedro's fruit without paying. A furious Pedro, a Black Hand gang member, sends Casey a death threat demanding $500. Seeking to escape his wife, Casey alters the note to threaten his "wife" instead of his "life" and tells her to hide. He returns to flirt with Nina, but Pedro captures and locks him in a mill. Both Nina and Mrs. Casey alert the police and join the rescue. At the mill, Nina is angry to see Casey embrace his wife. Mrs. Casey discovers the truth about the altered note, humiliates her husband by stripping him of his uniform, and takes him home for punishment.

Casey's Vendetta

1914

No artwork available
9.0

Mr. Hadley shows Bill a photograph of his fiancée, Alice Mordaunt, and instructs Bill to admit her immediately should she arrive at the office. Bill leaves for lunch. Upon his return, he discovers his boss kissing Ethel, who is Mr. Hadley's sister, not his fiancée. Bill, unaware of their family relationship, is horrified, believing his boss is being unfaithful to Alice Mordaunt. Feeling a strong sense of loyalty to the absent fiancée, Bill decides to get even with his boss. He informs Mr. Hadley's real fiancée, Alice, about his boss's perceived "duplicity". The outcome is a comical situation as Bill's interference leads to misunderstandings and fallout, which is how Bill "squares it" with his boss.

How Bill Squared It with His Boss

1914

Behind the camera

Dracula poster
7.2

A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves and drives the agent to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.

Dracula

1931

Dracula poster
7.2

A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves and drives the agent to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.

Dracula

1931

Dracula poster
7.2

A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves and drives the agent to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.

Dracula

1931

Freaks poster
7.8

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Freaks

1932

Freaks poster
7.8

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Freaks

1932

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

Mark of the Vampire poster
6.2

Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampiric assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body, are certain that the vampire is either the mysterious Count Mora or his daughter. Receiving little help from the law, occult expert Professor Zelen is sought to assist with their investigation.

Mark of the Vampire

1935

Mark of the Vampire poster
6.2

Sir Borotyn, a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampiric assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto, and the physician who analyzes the body, are certain that the vampire is either the mysterious Count Mora or his daughter. Receiving little help from the law, occult expert Professor Zelen is sought to assist with their investigation.

Mark of the Vampire

1935

The Unknown poster
7.5

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.

The Unknown

1927

The Unholy Three poster
6.7

Three sideshow performers form a conspiracy known as 'The Unholy Three' – a ventriloquist, midget, and strongman working together to commit a series of robberies.

The Unholy Three

1925

The Unholy Three poster
6.7

Three sideshow performers form a conspiracy known as 'The Unholy Three' – a ventriloquist, midget, and strongman working together to commit a series of robberies.

The Unholy Three

1925

The Devil-Doll poster
6.8

Respected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.

The Devil-Doll

1936

The Devil-Doll poster
6.8

Respected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.

The Devil-Doll

1936

London After Midnight poster
6.6

The abandoned Balfour House, the owner of which was found dead five years earlier, comes back to life with the arrival of two suspicious sinister-looking tenants.

London After Midnight

1927

London After Midnight poster
6.6

The abandoned Balfour House, the owner of which was found dead five years earlier, comes back to life with the arrival of two suspicious sinister-looking tenants.

London After Midnight

1927

Drifting poster
7.0

An American girl who helps operate a Shanghai opium ring meets an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she has to determine where her loyalties lie.

Drifting

1923

Drifting poster
7.0

An American girl who helps operate a Shanghai opium ring meets an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she has to determine where her loyalties lie.

Drifting

1923

West of Zanzibar poster
6.9

A magician seeks vengeance upon the man who paralyzed him and the illegitimate daughter he sired with the magician's wife.

West of Zanzibar

1928

West of Zanzibar poster
6.9

A magician seeks vengeance upon the man who paralyzed him and the illegitimate daughter he sired with the magician's wife.

West of Zanzibar

1928

Outside the Law poster
6.2

Silent Madden and his daughter Molly have left the criminal underworld of San Francisco thanks to the wise teachings of Chang Low, a Confucian master. But the evil Black Mike Sylva is determined to frame Madden to avenge a mistake from the past…

Outside the Law

1921

Outside the Law poster
6.2

Silent Madden and his daughter Molly have left the criminal underworld of San Francisco thanks to the wise teachings of Chang Low, a Confucian master. But the evil Black Mike Sylva is determined to frame Madden to avenge a mistake from the past…

Outside the Law

1921

The Day of Faith poster
8.0

Jane Maynard opens a mission in memory of philanthropist Bland Hendricks. John Anstell, son of a powerful and selfish millionaire, Michael Anstell, falls in love with Jane, to the old man's disapproval. Anstell tries to undermine Jane's work by hiring reporter Tom Barnett to write an unfavorable story about the mission.

The Day of Faith

1923

Iron Man poster
5.7

After prizefighter Kid Mason loses his opening fight, his wife Rose leaves him for Hollywood. Without her around, Mason trains and starts winning. Rose returns and wants Mason to dump his manager Regan and replace him with her secret lover, Lewis.

Iron Man

1931

Iron Man poster
5.7

After prizefighter Kid Mason loses his opening fight, his wife Rose leaves him for Hollywood. Without her around, Mason trains and starts winning. Rose returns and wants Mason to dump his manager Regan and replace him with her secret lover, Lewis.

Iron Man

1931

The Thirteenth Chair poster
5.5

Although his murdered friend was by all accounts a scoundrel, Edward Wales is determined to trap his murderer by staging a séance using a famous medium. Several of the thirteen participants had a motive, and one uses the cover of darkness to kill again. When someone close to the medium is suspected, she turns detective in hopes of uncovering the true perpetrator.

The Thirteenth Chair

1929

The Thirteenth Chair poster
5.5

Although his murdered friend was by all accounts a scoundrel, Edward Wales is determined to trap his murderer by staging a séance using a famous medium. Several of the thirteen participants had a motive, and one uses the cover of darkness to kill again. When someone close to the medium is suspected, she turns detective in hopes of uncovering the true perpetrator.

The Thirteenth Chair

1929

Sunshine Dad poster
5.5

The theft of a sacred diamond band from a Hindoo shrine starts the action.

Sunshine Dad

1916

Where East Is East poster
6.1

A Chinese wife returns to the American family she left behind in Southeast Asia and then moves in on her daughter's beau.

Where East Is East

1929

The Legion of Death poster
NR

Princess Marya and her brother, the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, are studying in the U.S. when word reaches them that Rasputin is to be killed. Paul is seized by Russian secret service men, but through Marya's appeal to Captain Rodney Willard, he is released. In Russia, Marya participates actively in the Revolution, while Willard, with whom she has fallen in love, joins the Allied Commission. Deeply troubled by the influence of German agents in Russia, Marya organizes the Legion of Death, a fighting unit of peasant women, and leads them into battle against the Germans. The legion suffers defeat and Marya is captured, but in the end, she wins her freedom.

The Legion of Death

1918

The Road to Mandalay poster
6.4

Singapore Joe is a captain onboard a ship bound for Mandalay with his wife, who lies gravely ill in her cabin. His wife dies giving birth to a daughter, and the Captain leaves the child in the care of his brother Father James, a priest who raises the girl as his own. 20 years pass, and the captain is now a hardened criminal with a blind eye who runs a Singapore brothel alongside a vile Chinese associate.

The Road to Mandalay

1926

The Virgin of Stamboul poster
6.7

Turkish chieftain Achmet Bey catches one of his many wives in adultery and murders her lover. Tossing aside the cuckolding wife, he abducts his harem an innocent girl. However, a brave American who loves her comes to her rescue.

The Virgin of Stamboul

1920

Dollar Down poster
7.0

Just before he propelled the crime melodrama to new, macabre heights in The Unholy Three, Browning directed this partially lost morality tale pertaining to a different kind of horror: that of a middle-class family living beyond their means and falling prey to moneylenders. Produced by and starring Ruth Roland for FBO Studios, a small operation that later became RKO Pictures, Dollar Down follows Roland as the spendthrift daughter of a manufacturing firm’s general manager (Henry Walthall), who pawns a ring purchased on credit to throw an extravagant party and sends the family’s livelihood into a tailspin. Because its last reel completely disintegrated before it could be copied, the film remains an ultra-rare curio that nonetheless captures an important chapter in Browning’s career before his successful string of films made for MGM.

Dollar Down

1925

Miracles for Sale poster
6.4

Retired performer Mike Morgan sells original illusions to fellow magicians, and although he believes in the supernatural, likes to expose sham psychics. This involves him in some mysterious murders.

Miracles for Sale

1939

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish poster
5.9

Coke Ennyday, the scientific detective, divides his time into periods of "Sleep", "Eat", "Dope" and "Drinks". In fact, he overcomes every situation with drugs: consuming cocaine to increase his energy or injecting it in his opponents to incapacitate them. To help the police, he tracks down a contraband of opium (which he eagerly tastes) transported within "leaping fishes", saving a "fish-blower" girl from blackmail along the way.

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish

1916

The Blackbird poster
6.4

Two thieves, the Blackbird and West End Bertie, fall for the same girl, a French nightclub performer named Fifi. Each man tries to outdo the other to win her heart.

The Blackbird

1926

White Tiger poster
5.3

International crooks Sylvia, Roy and 'Count Donelli' come to America and cooperate to rob wealthy homes by using a gimmick known as a chess-playing machine. Sylvia and Roy soon learn the truth about not only themselves but also their partner-in-crime.

White Tiger

1923

White Tiger poster
5.3

International crooks Sylvia, Roy and 'Count Donelli' come to America and cooperate to rob wealthy homes by using a gimmick known as a chess-playing machine. Sylvia and Roy soon learn the truth about not only themselves but also their partner-in-crime.

White Tiger

1923

The Show poster
6.1

Cock Robin is the swaggering ballyhoo man of a Hungarian sideshow known as the Palace of Illusions. The highlight of the show is a reenactment of Salome's dance of the seven veils, replete with the beheading of Jokanaan. The performer portraying Salome is in love with Cock Robin. Jealous, sinister The Greek is determined to eliminate that competition.

The Show

1927

The Show poster
6.1

Cock Robin is the swaggering ballyhoo man of a Hungarian sideshow known as the Palace of Illusions. The highlight of the show is a reenactment of Salome's dance of the seven veils, replete with the beheading of Jokanaan. The performer portraying Salome is in love with Cock Robin. Jealous, sinister The Greek is determined to eliminate that competition.

The Show

1927

Which Woman? poster
NR

Doris Standish's father insists upon her marriage to aging millionaire Cyrus W. Hopkins, but just before the wedding, the young woman runs from the house and leaps into a parked car, ordering the chauffeur to drive her quickly away. The driver is Jimmy Nevin, who, because Hopkins financially ruined his father, has agreed to help a gang of crooks in their plot to steal the bride's jewels and wedding presents. Realizing that Doris is not Mary Butler, his accomplice, Jimmy offers to accompany her home, but when she refuses to return, he takes her to the thieves' hideout.

Which Woman?

1918