Atlanta. In the United Kingdom, the film was banned by the British censors, and remained as so for more than 30 years before being passed with an X rating in August 1963. Box office Freaks was a box-office bomb, recording a total loss of $164,000. It grossed $289,000 in the United States, and $52,000 internationally. Though not a financial success, the film had greater earnings in smaller cities such as Cincinnati, Boston, and Saint Paul than it did in larger metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles or Chicago. Critical response Contemporaneous Despite the extensive cuts, the film was still negatively received by moviegoers, and remained an object of extreme controversy amongst the public upon initial release. Critics' responses were also divided. MGM attempted to address criticisms of exploitation by promoting the film as one compassionate toward its subjects, with tagline such as "What about abnormal people? They have their lives, too!" At the time of its release, the film was regarded by numerous critics as marking the end of Browning's career. Freaks became the only MGM film ever to be pulled from release before completing its domestic engagements, and it was pulled from distribution after its New York engagements concluded in the summer of 1932. Disillusioned by the backlash the film received, MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer sold the distribution rights to Dwain Esper for a 25-year period for $50,000. A number of reviews were not only highly critical of the film, but expressed outrage and revulsion. Harrison's Reports wrote that "Any one who considers this entertainment should be placed in the pathological ward in some hospital." In The Kansas City Star, John C. Moffitt wrote, "There is no excuse for this picture. It took a weak mind to produce it and it takes a strong stomach to look at it." The Hollywood Reporter called the film an "outrageous onslaught upon the feelings, the senses, the brains and the stomachs of an audience." Variety also published an unfavorable review, writing that the film was "sumptuously produced, admirably directed, and no cost was spared, but Metro heads failed to realize that even with a different sort of offering the story is still important. Here the story is not sufficiently strong to get and hold the interest, partly because interest cannot easily be gained for too fantastic a romance." The review went on to state that the story "does not thrill