In a small travelling circus in France, dwarf performer Jacques has fallen in love with the troupe's bareback rider, Jeanne Marie.
At the couple's wedding feast, Jeanne Marie drunkenly insults her new husband, declaring that she could carry her "little ape" on her shoulders from one side of France to the other.
She begs him for protection from Jacques, who is forcing her to make good on her cruel taunt and carry him a distance equal to the width of France on her shoulders.
Browning began working to adapt the story as early as 1927 and was given the greenlight to direct by MGM production supervisor Irving Thalberg in June 1931.
The final script, titled Freaks, retained little of the original source material other than the marriage of a wealthy dwarf to an average-sized performer (in this case, a trapeze artist) and the wedding feast.